20 year milestone – a look back at our ‘oomph’ moments
O sprung out of the dot com boom back in 2005, quickly building a reputation as a creative agency that was doing something different for the region’s business community.
Since our inception O has supported clients to deliver more than £50m in economic impact for the region, helped attract 5 million visitors to the North East and connected over 500 NE businesses to our region’s youth talent through schools and community partnerships.
Our founder, Kari Owers, was recently awarded the first ever Impact Award at the region’s Entrepreneur Awards, for her approach to business, community and regional growth.
As the company turns 20 this year, she says: “I have always said there is nothing boring about business, and we are so lucky to get to find and tell stories that make a difference. I have had the privilege of sitting in boardrooms when multi-million pound deal announcements are crafted, created campaigns that stop the youth brain drain from the region, and helped global brands launch into the place we call home.
“Our own story hasn’t been linear. Just a couple of years into business we were hit by a double whammy – the credit crunch and the rise of social media. We pivoted hard and fast and invested in adopting new ways of storytelling in a multi-media age.
“That pace of change hasn’t stopped for 20 years, and now with the rise of AI, we find ourselves in another major shift. Our role is to advise organisations on how to embrace new ways of communicating and marketing their message. We wouldn’t change that for the world, it’s an exciting industry.”
Looking back over 20 years of change here in the North East, the team at O look back on some of O’s most memorable campaign and what they call ‘Oomph moments’….
OUR FIRST CLIENT – One Day
Our first ever client won at pitch was the charity Young Enterprise NE, who at the time were struggling to recruit support from businesses. We created the region’s first ever mass youth aspiration campaign called One Day and connected over 500 NE businesses to our regional youth talent pipeline through giving one day or their time, profits or expertise to helping raise enterprise aspirations in local schools.
2010 – TIME TO CHANGE, Ending the stigma
Every so often a campaign comes along that stops us in our tracks and Time to Change was one of those. Mental health was still very much a taboo subject over a decade ago, and we launched a region-wide roadshow that made sure we got everyone talking. From our award-winning ‘blue crew’ that popped up during the January sales to placing sofas in rural market towns for people to talk about how they were feeling, we learned so much along the way that has informed how we manage conversations at work every day.
2011 – POP CARD, Metro Pops the question
The launch of the region’s Pop Card was a very interesting Valentine’s Day for the team!
When we heard that the Pop Card was launching to the public for the very first time on 14 February, we knew the whole campaign needed to help the public “Pop the Question” about all things related to using the travel smartcard around the region.
Unveiling the Pop brand on a moving Metro train emerging from a tunnel to a platform of TV crews was not the only logistical challenge, getting permission to take balloons on board was by far a much harder task!
2015 – PARKDEAN BECOMES BIG BUSINESS NEWS
O managed the national media announcement of one the region’s biggest business deal, when Parkdean bought Park Resorts, creating a £1bn company to be Britain’s biggest holiday home park operator, with 73 sites across the country.
2016 – DR MARTENS, global goes local
Dr. Martens is just one of those brands that everyone has heard of – so when we got the call they wanted a UK agency to help them connect in every city they opened a store we were buzzing! Starting in Newcastle, we rocked and rolled our way from Belfast to Brighton opening their store network with live bands, street art and lots of local influencers and press.
DMs also gave us our first ever global influencer campaign, working with agency partners around the world to launch their DMs Lite range – that rocketed us into the world of creator marketing.
2016 – ELRING KLINGER – a visit from the future king
We’ve managed numerous royal and MP visits over the years but showcasing a Teesside car parts plant with big green plans was a highlight – then Prince Charles not only met workers on the shop floor, but his eco passion showed in his keen interest in Elring Klinger’s plans to install a wind turbine at the Redcar plant.
2017 – BRITISH MASTERS – world’s media descends on NE turf
Bringing the international media, visitors and celebrity sporting talent to the region makes us proud to show off what the North East has to offer, so working with the European Tour on the British Masters at Close House was a great opportunity. Our social media crew broadcast live from the Masters, whilst we managed the press room for the visiting media.
The event achieved over 22m social media impressions – the highest ever for the British Masters – with almost 70,000 spectators attending the tournament.
2019 – NORTHERN GOLDSMITHS – 100 years of Rolex
Being from Newcastle, lighting up the Millennium bridge is just one of those moments you dream of. We helped Goldsmiths celebrate 100 years of Rolex by doing just that, what a night to remember!
2021 – IAMPROPERTY HELPS US BUILD GROWTH
Not many companies can say they won their biggest clients whilst in lockdown, but thanks to the true grit and ambition of the team we did just that. In late 2020 we began working with a burgeoning property technology business set up in Newcastle by two ambitious entrepreneurs, and iamproperty is now the fastest growing company in this sector in the UK – we are enjoying being part of their very exciting journey.
2022 – FIRST IRISH CLIENT – MURPHY GEOSPATIAL
Although we have worked with clients from Scotland to Cornwall, winning our first Irish client was a big moment for us. Giving us a new foothold into Europe, we have built a specialism in the construction sector and have enjoyed travelling the Dublin-Newcastle trade route in recent years as we grow our business in Eire.
2022 – CHUF – the day Ryan Reynolds entered all our lives…
CHUF is a charity client very close to our hearts, having worked together for several years to raise vital funds for the Children’s Heart Unit at the Freeman hospital.
Ivan Hollingsworth, chair of the board of CHUF and dad to Seb, aged 13, was sitting by his son’s bedside just four days after Seb had undergone open heart surgery at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. At a loss for a way to help while Seb recovered, Ivan typed out a tweet to get a Marvel Studios Superhero to send a message to Heart Hero Seb.
The next day he received a reply. Ryan Reynolds, star of Deadpool, sent a heartfelt personal video to Seb and the message “That scar is street cred for life!” then even more well wishes flooded in from Marvel superstars Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo.
O’s social media and press team sprung into action when Seb became a worldwide sensation overnight, and the story appeared in over 260 media outlets across the world.
2024 – NE1 NEW CAMPAIGN HITS THE CITY STREETS
By now you’ll have gathered we are very proud to be from Newcastle, so winning the NE1 creative agency account was a big moment. Our creative work is now all over the city for its big events like Restaurant Week and Newcastle’s Christmas, which alongside our annual Fenwick Christmas window reveal project makes us true Geordies!
CULTURE ‘oomph’ moments
OWAY DAYS
A few years into business we decided we would take one day out every year to thank the team and plan the business strategy together. The first one took everyone back to the founder’s home patch of Belfast, and since then our eponymous “Oway” Day has seen us climb mountains, mosh at festivals, visit distilleries, climb trees and inhabit castles.
2016 – PR WEEK TAKE NOTICE
Being an agency in Newcastle, you don’t often get noticed by the London set – but this era saw us nominated not just as one of the ‘Best Agencies outside London’, but also as one of their ‘Best Places to Work’ in the UK.
2019 – OHQ
After a decade in Ouseburn, we finally put down roots in Sandyford by purchasing an old brewery warehouse building Richmond House, which we renovated to become our new home. We opened the doors just before something big, meaning we had to close them for a while… as we all headed home for the pandemic. Thanks to Zoom and garden virtual festivals, we kept the team together in spirit until we could open our doors again.
2022 – NORTH EAST AGENCY OF THE YEAR
By 2022 we had won over 50 awards but the North East Marketing ‘Agency of the Year’ award was a big deal, as for the first time we were up against big advertising agencies many times our size, not just PR and comms agencies. It was a great moment for the team, especially our growing creative design team.
2023 – GROW PROGRAMME
Having been passionate about giving young people a start in the industry for almost 20 years, in 2023 we launched our GrOw programme to help even more see a future in the creative industries. From our ‘On the Road’ school and college talks, to our ‘Open House’ for local people to drop into the agency, we have a range of new initiatives on the go – that’s the wider impact we would like to be known for in decades to come.
WOMEN SUPPORTING WOMEN
During Covid, O worked pro bono with The Prince’s Trust to tackle an issue very close to its heart. As a female-led business, we were startled to hear that year on year The Prince’s Trust sees less women coming through their programmes than men, but they were 72% more likely to be adversely affected by the economic and social impact of the pandemic.
We became the first ambassador in the North for ‘Women Supporting Women’, a campaign to raise more than £10 million to get more young women the support they so desperately need.
