GolinHarris, which has been one of the best-performing agencies in its U.S. headquarters market over the past few years, and which has a sizable footprint in the Asia-Pacific region, continues to struggle to establish itself as a major player in Europe, despite the impressive improvement in its flagship U.K. operation since Matt Neale and Jonathan Hughes (both former high-fliers with sister agency Weber Shandwick) took the helm five years ago.
At that time, GolinHarris in the U.K. was best known for its work in the technology sector, and many of their early successes came in the consumer tech arena, but today the largest slice of the firm’s business resides within the consumer practice, thanks in large part to its addition to the Unilever roster. Strength in the consumer tech space remains, while an alliance with London-based boutique Packer Forbes also gives GolinHarris a credible healthcare offer. The firm has also expanded its digital credentials over the past 12 months, so that today the majority of its clients are integrating some digital and social media activity into their campaigns.
In addition to expanding its service offering, the firm has also been growing its regional footprint. Neale and Hughes were promoted to managing directors of Europe in November of last year, a logical move given their success in building the London business and a signal that Golin intended to expand its regional presence. New continental offices—such as Paris, which is part of a deal with Lowe, and Stockholm—have been opened in partnership with Interpublic-owned advertising agencies, while an established German operation led by new managing director Henrik Hannemann (formerly with Bosch) delivers expertise in the corporate and financial arena (MasterCard and Underwriters’ Laboratory are among its largest clients) and a Middle East presence includes offices in Dubai and Jeddah.
Hughes and Neale have continually emphasized that one of their critical objectives is to make GolinHarris one of the “most loved” agencies in the market, and there’s some evidence that they are making solid progress: the firm has ranked among the Sunday Times’ 100 Best Places to Work in the U.K. and among the top 10 U.K. firms in our own Best Consultancies to Work For research.
Significant developments in 2010 included retaining both the EMC and Florida Citrus accounts following competitive pitches, and award-winning work for Ripley’s Believe it or Not (a SABRE for best broadcast coverage) and ice-cream brand Magnum’s (a PRCA Award for best international campaign for the World’s Pleasure Authority programme).
The firm also named its first creative director, promoting Charlie Coney, who joined GolinHarris in 2007 from eBay. He will work alongside planning director Cat Franklin to ensure high levels of strategic thinking and creative execution.