Kite Factory growth spurt triggers recruitment drive

Independent media agency The Kite Factory has, in the words of its founder and one-time CEO Mike Colling, been going “gangbusters” over the past six months, achieving 35% growth and scooping new billings of £15m in H1 2021.

Colling remains a director of the business, having handed the reins to chief executive Robin Trust and managing director James Smith, who rebranded the agency from MC&C in April 2019.

Over the past 12 months, the agency has experienced an impressive new business run, winning a significant number of new clients, including global gaming publisher Wargaming; entertainment-based retailer Lost Universe; hard seltzer brand White Claw and a host of charity clients including Crisis, Young Minds, The Brooke and Care Visions.

The agency credits its success to its strong and stable senior leadership team and committed employees, 18 of whom have recently been rewarded with promotions.

The 70-plus strong agency is now undergoing a major recruitment drive, with 14 new roles in market following the hiring of 10 new staff, including Tim Patten who joined from TM Lewin in 2020 and, most recently, Niki Grant, who joined in the new role of director of search on June 1.

Trust said: “When many took cover from the uncertainty of lockdown, we ensured our share of voice stood out in the marketplace and were vocal about the changes in audience behaviour and media developments and what benefits this meant for our clients.

“Our clients trusted us to make the right growth decisions, all backed-up by rigorous data analysis and it paid off in spades. We’re enormously proud of our brave clients, the team and all that we have achieved over the past 12 months.”

As well as its dedicated team, The Kite Factory has independent trading power and data and analytics capabilities which allowed them to model outcomes based on the market for every client daily, ensuring optimum effectiveness.

It also invested £1m in the development of its business intelligence platform, FlightDeck, which sits at the core of its newly refined “arts, heart & science” proposition and provides a holistic view of clients’ campaign performance and brand health vs their investment, resulting in optimal ROI.

Smith added: “I am proud to be leading a team of people who adapted immediately to the new ways of working and worked incredibly hard to make our business successful through one of the toughest periods I’ve lived through.

“We are looking forward to seeing just what we can achieve together with our clients during the rest of 2021.”