Creativebrief Founder & Chairman Tom Holmes talks to Paul Hoskins, Founder and Chairman of Precedent.
Paul Hoskins, Precedent
As the Founder and Chairman of Precedent, Paul has been involved in a huge number of major branding and digital communications projects during the last 25 years.
He has used his depth of experience to grow Precedent’s services across a range of sectors, including membership, finance, education, charity and most recently destinations. Paul has also grown the agency geographically, with bases in Edinburgh (of course!), Cardiff and London in the UK, and more recently in Perth and Melbourne Australia. This has enabled Precedent to practise what we preach, by delivering a local service, but with the benefit of national and international perspectives.
Paul has worked with inspiring Scottish clients ranging from St Andrews University and The Royal Yacht Britannia and through to Dana Petroleum. Elsewhere he has particularly enjoyed the international challenges presented by working with Monash University, and the diversity of working with Charities such as Anthony Nolan. Paul is looking forward to continuing to push the boundaries of what agencies are expected to deliver to clients in the coming years.
TH: Paul, what does the Edinburgh brand stand for?
PH: Quality and Confidence. To me the brand associated with Edinburgh brings a level of trustworthiness to it, which comes from the city’s rich and proud heritage.
TH: How do you think Edinburgh should position itself?
PH: Edinburgh currently draws on its heritage and historical status presenting itself as a must visit tourist destination. Although deserving in its status the needs to develop its modern image embracing and promoting its culture and progressive nature.
TH: Are the city’s brand values reflected in your own agency culture?
PH: Yes and no – we reflect the aspects of quality, trust and confidence, but we also strive to be a leading agency, at the forefront of digital design and technology, and engaging in global initiatives.
TH: Does being based in Edinburgh influence your creative output? If so, how?
PH: It certainly helps support the creativity of the output. Our Edinburgh central location with the backdrop of the castle and the firth of forth to either side helps to make our office a great creative environment. That said, most clients are working to attract custom from around the UK, if not internationally, so we always have to draw on influences outside Edinburgh as well.
TH: What makes your agency offer different?
PH: We believe in meaningful ideas, intelligently delivered.
We put a lot of emphasis on early strategic thinking, drawing on the creative vibes from all our office across the UK and Australia.
Paul Hoskins, Precedent
Ultimately it’s all about having a great team of people and giving them an environment they enjoy working in, to develop and grow their quality of work and creativity of output.
TH: Why should clients consider sourcing work from Edinburgh agencies?
PH: Edinburgh provides an image we want to portray in Scotland – high quality and confident. Clients from around the UK enjoy coming to Edinburgh to discuss work, it’s easy to get to and a destination of interest. However, the most important aspect of working with a Scotland based agency is that local knowledge – understanding what it is to be a Scottish business operating today in the face of national and international competition, and how to succeed as such.
TH: What sort of clients do you want to attract?
PH: We think it’s important to bring a wealth of sector knowledge to the every project we do, as well as our core digital skills, so we focus on working with leading clients from a select number of core sectors where we have this knowledge. These include membership, finance, education, charity and most recently destinations.
TH: What work have you done recently makes you really proud?
PH: Royal Yacht Britannia website, which presents the yacht as an exceptional visitor destination and event location. www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk
Choices for Life, a Scottish initiative supporting the campaign to increase awareness of drugs, alcohol and tobacco amongst Scotland’s youth.
TescoBank travel insurance on the smartphone enabling you to purchase travel insurance on the go – an industry first. https://travel.tescobank.com
TH: What Scottish brands do you most admire and why?
PH: There are some great brands in Scotland. Some of the Whisky brands are interesting and represent the best of Scotland, I’m a big fan of both Bowmore and Glenfiddich (as drinks as well as brands!). The Home of Golf brand from St Andrews Links is one we are working closely with, and to me the ability for a destination brand to gain and grow global recognition is very impressive.
TH: Are there any local marketers who have inspired you?
PH: The Drum is an organisation which does a lot to support the digital landscape in Scotland, and to take the influence of those producing digital work beyond Scotland. I have a lot of respect for that.
TH: What business would you most like to win?
PH: Our aim is to grow business across all our core sectors. We have a focus for 2013 to increase our work with the leading Scottish destinations and membership organisations in particular.
TH: Thanks Paul.
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