Jim Hawker | The Innovator 25 Asia Pacific 2018
Innovator 25 EMEA Jim Hawker

Jim Hawker  

Co-founder

Threepipe 
London

“What advice would I give to the PR industry around embracing innovation? Be open minded. Find clients willing to take a risk. Test some new ways of working”

Jim Hawker is the co-founder of Threepipe, an independent agency of 90 experts across PR, social, content, media, analytics and search. Hawker took the innovative approach of merging his PR agency with a performance marketing agency, before adding SEO and creative agencies to build out a full-service one-stop digital offering. It was the first – and so far, only – time that a PR agency has acquired an SEO agency. Threepipe now has three full time developers creating bespoke software to improve campaign and client management, working with the likes of Oracle, Nike, The NFL and Soho Home without the need to partner with other agencies. 

How do you define innovation?
Testing new channels and technologies.

What is the most innovative comms/marketing initiative you've seen in the last 12 months?
Is anyone not going to say Nike and Kaepernick?

Which brands and/or agencies are most innovative around PR and marketing?
Ikea has been doing some wonderfully innovative work.

Describe a moment in your career that you would consider 'innovative.'
Merging Threepipe with a performance marketing agency to access wider talent/ways of working and continuing to invest in digital skills acquisition and development.

Who do you admire for his/her approach to innovation? 
I would have said Elon Musk, before his ego took over. But perhaps that was what drove him in the first place.

How do you get out of a creativity rut?
Do something different/meet new people/take a risk.

What advice would you give to the PR industry around embracing innovation?
Be open minded. Find clients willing to take a risk. Test some new ways of working.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your current job?
South polar explorer.

Favorite book/movie/podcast/article that's not related to PR/marketing/business?
Most biographies of Shackleton and Amundsen.