Fishtales
2020: The Year of Reflection
Posted: 17/12/2020
Author: Fishtank
Fishtales
Posted: 17/12/2020
Author: Fishtank
2020 has been a year of making the most out of the unexpected. We have learned to adapt to ever changing situations and rules. From keeping connected virtually to working remotely, we have all experienced the digital world from a new perspective. Thankfully, as a digital agency we have been fortunate enough to be able to continue delivering the highest standards of work and care to our clients. So rather than focus on the challenges of 2020 we wanted to embrace the positivity this year brought us.
You may or may not have noticed our social media channels become a little quieter than normal this year – that’s not because we haven’t been making waves behind the scenes. In a way it felt inappropriate to keep up a vibrant, cheerful social media facade when so many have been affected by the pandemic in one way or another. But, like most businesses we have taken this year to make some significant changes in the way we do things in the tank. In order to become a better agency, we tried to challenge ourselves more and get out of our pandemic-induced comfort zones to deliver innovative solutions that benefit our customers new and old!
As a business we have grown exponentially, welcoming four new members to our tank, one in each department to support new and existing clients and campaigns. Jacy joined Ola in our Digital Marketing Team to assist with digital strategies and online presence for our clients. Georgina brought a fresh perspective to our Accounts Team where she works alongside Gemma, looking after our clients and ensuring smooth project flow throughout the business. Max joined us for his third year placement, assisting our Web Development team and learning the tools and applications used here at Fishtank. Last but not least, we also welcomed Liam who recently started working alongside the Design team, putting his creativity to work on a range of brand and creative projects for our clients.
Strengthening our ranks has allowed us to diversify our services and provide more support to our clients on a whole new level, adding to the creative capital at Fishtank. This gave us the opportunity to expand our service capacity, adding successful digital marketing campaigns to the scope of work usually provided to clients such as Berry, Terram, Tubex, BHP, Peru Consulting and PBSC.
Number 1 highlight of the year for us was definitely winning ‘B2C Marketing Campaign of the Year – under 50k’ in the Prolific North Awards 2020. We were thrilled with the recognition and the amazing feedback received during the award ceremony for our ‘Going places with City Taxis’ marketing campaign. You can read more about it here.
We also really enjoyed talking to Jill Theobald from unLTD magazine. She invited Ola and Gemma to dive deeper into the award winning City campaign, the process behind it and why they believe now is the right time for companies to consider a re-brand. You can find the article here.
It was also great to assist new clients in this peculiar time, launching their exciting new re-brands, platforms and digital marketing campaigns – welcome onboard, Paragon Oak, ASD, Rebound, MMU, Staffology and other new friends of the Tank! Working together to create meaningful work with businesses and people we admire, meeting new clients and growing real relationships in the virtual world motivated us to exceed expectations by becoming a support network during unprecedented times.
Finally, we are all especially proud of the recognition from Communication Arts for our work on Orange Design Studio’s brand and website development. Their insightful questions and unique look at our Orange 2019 brand and website creation gave us a new appreciation for coming back to older projects, revisiting their bespoke solutions and seeing how we’ve learned and grown since then. It was certainly inspiring to see our local ‘Mirfield business to Mirfield business’ project featured on this leading US media platform. Fantastic recognition for both us and our client.
In the digital world, we learn everyday – whether it is researching upcoming trends or new software developments, even from home we work together as a team to stay connected to the outside world and make sure we are at the forefront of change. During this time we didn’t turn off to our industry – quite contrary. Getting to know the new Google Analytics 4, attending virtual networking events and training, learning from the great minds that presented at Journey Further’s Clarity at Speed event. We kept our creative brains buzzing to avoid WFH stagnation.
It is impossible to predict what 2021 will bring but we have learned to make the most out of the unknown. Allowing Fishtank to thrive on uncertainty rather than waiting for the ‘new normal’, taking full advantage of it and discovering new ways of doing things. Building flexibility into our strategy, we decided to organise around adaptable rather than predictable. Bring it on, 2021!