Nine years ago today I bought a small advertising agency in Newcastle and renamed it Sticky. In that time a lot has changed at the agency and I think the changes are a clear reflection on the way the advertising and marketing landscape has changed since 2005.
Back in 2005 most (all) of our business was focused on traditional media, especially television and radio. Desperate Housewives and Lost were the water cooler TV shows and Carlton had just released The Big Ad.
TV advertising was cool!
Nine years later the only programs people are talking about on free to air TV are reality cooking, singing or building shows and the last landmark TV ad was…The Big Ad. The viewing numbers are way down across the board. TV advertising is passe.
Look at what happened in those first few years that Sticky was revving up:
- Google really hit its straps
- Facebook arrived Down Under
- Twitter was launched
- YouTube was launched
- The iPhone took the world by storm (followed by other smartphones)
- The iPad became our 3rd screen (followed by other tablets)
- On demand viewing arrived via Apple TV, Fox on Demand and others (including Netflix for some)
- Print media saw revenues plummet and many shut up shop
In other words, we finally all got online and, as consumers, enjoyed all the instant benefits the web and broadband has to offer. We live on multiple screens with endless entertainment on information options. And traditional media suffered.
At Sticky, we saw the writing on the wall and moved early to adapt to what we expected would be a fundamental shift in the way businesses marketed themselves.
We learned about blogging and content friendly web design.
We studied search engine optimisation.
We were early adopters of social networks, trying many which failed and growing with the successful ones.
We learned how to optimise websites for conversion and tested countless analytics programs.
We launched our own online publications and startups so that we could learn more about what works and what doesn’t work with our own skin in the game.
We transitioned from outbound advertising to inbound marketing.
It was a long and steep learning curve but it has been rewarding too.
In 2005 all out clients were based in the Hunter Region doing traditional advertising. Since then we have had the great fortune to work on digital marketing strategies with a growing roster of clients around Australia and internationally, including Colliers International, Australian Cancer Research Foundation, World Society for the Protection of Animals, Wipro / Promax, Pacific Smiles, Bang the Table, Inspired Adventures, Sane Australia, Crown Group and many more. We’ve also been proud to help many smaller companies in the region launch and grow.
We have really enjoyed running the Sticky Intern Program since 2010, giving up and coming marketers and students the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the world of digital marketing. It’s exciting that so many of our ex-interns have gone onto work for excellent organisations, and that a few of them have ended up working here at Sticky.
The team here at Sticky have evolved as well. Where we once had specialists in print design, TV production and media placement, we now have amazing web designers, SEO experts, social media advisors and digital media strategists. It is a great, close-knit team who love achieving sensational results for our clients. And we actually enjoy working together!
The last nine years has been quite a ride and we expect the pace of change to continue, so the learning will never stop.
Thanks to everyone who has supported Sticky since 2005….now it’s time for some cake.
Cheers,
Craig