Career to date:

Richard Perry:
2012 – Partner, Founded
2005-2012 – Chief Operating Officer, gyro International
2008-2011 – Chief Operating Officer, gyro
1996 – EVP – EMEA, gyro
1994-1996 – Advertising Executive, Haymarket Publishing

Richard Mabbott:
2011 – Partner, Founded
2010 – Senior VP Strategic Planning, gyro
2005 – Group Head of Planning, gyro
2001 – Head of Marketing Planning and Strategy, 3
1999 – Strategic Marketing Manager, Ford Motor Company
1996 – Market Research Manager, Business Research Group

As Founding Partners of Founded what is your primary focus?

RP: It’s making sure that the people here at Founded have the skills, training, capacity, inspiration and vision to fulfil our client demands.

RM: First and foremost, it’s on building a culture and an environment where we’re able to develop and execute brilliant work that moves people, and in doing so delivers on the commercial agendas of our clients.

Please share a paragraph on your career to date – specifically talking us through the high points.

RM: Gamekeeper to poacher! I had client side roles at Ford and Hutchison Whampoa / 3 before moving to the agency side of the fence and then starting Founded.

Highlights include hitting 2 million customers at 3, winning Virgin Atlantic and FedEx pitches at my previous agency and everything we’ve done so far at Founded! I’ve just seen that P&O Cruises are the ‘top buzz improver’ in the YouGov brand index so that’s made me smile.

RP: Opening Founded in 2012 and trying to do something different with the agency is definitely a pivotal career moment for me.

Beyond that, there are three things that stand out. One is writing a book for a client, during the dot com boom. We couldn’t afford to do any above the line, but managed to get a book deal. We generated 3 million dollars worth of coverage from a 100k spend over the course of just one weekend. That was really cool. Another high point is winning the Virgin Atlantic account at a previous agency, and then winning P&O Cruises here at Founded and seeing our ad air for the first time on Christmas Day.

What’s unique about your agency / business? Why did you form Founded?

RM: It’s the people. We’ve put strategy and planning at the heart of the business and developed some great tools to make our work more effective. We’ve got planners, technologists and creatives working together in new ways, plus a whole host of other differentiation points. But at the end of the day, it’s the culture and people who work here that will keep us different.

RP: What makes Founded unique is the culture we’re trying to create – an open, flat and inclusive culture – because if you make a good place to work, then you’ll make good work.

As an agency, we’re unique in the way our planners work, and the value we see in planning. They’re not just for pitches; they’re at the centre of our agency.

Who are the people new to you (either within your business or externally) who have particularly impressed you in the last twelve months?

RP: At the moment, I’m a little obsessed with marketing unicorns – those new creative technologists who take technology, creativity and marketing principles, and blend them into a marketing leadership position. They’re very interesting.

RM: I think there is a new wave of creative technologists emerging. They come at the world with a consumer and business mindset but can code. They’re opening up some exciting opportunities for us as an agency, and for our clients.

What has been your agency’s best work in the last year?

RP: The work I’m particularly proud of this year is our TVC for P&O Cruises, the reactive Djokovic ad we created for Uniqlo, and our Holiday Shop summer campaign for TK Maxx.

RM: It’s been fantastic to see the reaction and record-breaking results of the work we’ve done with the P&O Cruises but there have been lots of other highlights too – from Yazoo to Sony and to the work we have done with Centrepoint and End Youth Homelessness, through the Founded Trust.

Industry wide, what work has excited you most this year?

RP: In terms of a spot, I love the money supermarket work. It just really makes me laugh.

RM: I love seeing the ideas and work of new talent coming into the industry. There is some great thinking coming through in the D&AD New Blood awards for example. 

Who or what inspires you?

RP: The ambition, determination and positive attitude of the people here at Founded inspires me. The belief that ‘we can tackle anything’ is incredibly motivating.

RM: The team at Founded. All of them.

How do you stay in-touch with the industry’s best work and culturally relevant news?

RP: I listen, a lot, and people aren’t afraid to talk.

RM: I’m a listener by nature so I don’t find this a problem. Plus I’ve got the eyes and ears of everyone at Founded to help – and there’s a real hunger in the agency to be at the edge of everything that’s going on.

What work or agency from outside the UK do you think is particularly influential?

RP: Again, the opportunities with the marketing technologists we’re seeing coming out of San Francisco and California. There’s huge potential there, and the ability to change the game.

RM: There are some really cool people in academic fields who are bringing research techniques together with technology to shake things up. We’re hanging on their coat tails to develop new tools and approaches.

What do you think are going to be the main challenges for agencies in the next two years?

RM: Supporting clients to make marketing matter in the boardroom by consistently delivering commercial results and opening up new market opportunities. 

RP: For smaller, independent agencies, it’s about how you grow. Larger network agencies are occupying a greater percentage of client budgets, so if you’re an aspiring independent agency, you need two things: great people, and opportunity. There are 20,000 agencies in the UK alone, so the space where you can play is becoming ever smaller. You have to find a way of positioning yourself and create value that turns this challenge into an opportunity.

How do you see the media landscape unfolding in the next five years?

RP: I see it becoming more fractured, with more choice burgeoning. There will be huge developments within mobile and digital TV, but more generally I think we’ll see the complexity of the media landscape grow exponentially.

RM: It will continue to fragment and become more complex which will drive more agencies and clients to take a journey rather than channel led approach. Mastering data and analytics will be key in defining where on those journeys brands have the greatest role to play. 

What’s your attitude to the ‘traditional’ pitch? Do you think there is a better/more modern way?

RP: I’m a firm believer in a fair fight. So long as it’s a level playing field and the rules of engagement are clearly set, I’m all for them.

RM: I’ve been lucky enough to win a few ‘traditional’ pitches so I’ve definitely enjoyed those. As long as it’s a fair fight and the scope at the end of it is as promised then please invite us!

What’s the best pitch you’ve been involved in?

RP: Winning P&O Cruises here at Founded was a bit of a record setter for me – winning from a 22 minute pitch having never met the clients before.

RM: Every win we’ve had at Founded has been great. Winning FedEx was memorable. It’s an iconic brand, the clients were fantastic and the way we took on the challenge was really smart.

In what ways do you think the industry can change for the better?

RP: Can we please ditch the black turtlenecks and thick-rim glasses?

For smaller independents, put more emphasis on training and development. More generally, I think we need to educate younger generations about the industry and start to make it a destination for talent – lets get advertising up there with arts or sports – that would have massive implications.

RM: I think everyone needs to ensure there is a real focus on nurturing and developing the next generation of talent. We’re in a global market place and it’s going to become tougher for everyone to compete.

What’s the next big thing for Founded?

RM: The next big thing is the next piece of great work for a client.  So we’re focused there.

RP: And we open in San Francisco on Monday. Watch this space!

With so many new products and services giving customers more choice, how do you help the brands you work with encourage loyalty from their customers?

RP: Firstly, it’s fundamental we ensure that what we create for our clients delivers brilliant basics and magic touches for customers. Then, we have our planning approach – ‘moments to move’. Applying data analysis and insight, we identify customers’ key decision-making points – the infection moments. Then, where we can, we affect the decision process. And that’s directly linked to loyalty.

RM: There’s lots we can and are doing in terms of relationship marketing – programmes built on data and insight and executed through direct, digital and social channels. But at the end the day we need to understand what matters to people and celebrate our client’s brands and products in a way that’s relevant. If we get that right, loyalty naturally comes.

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