RT Media celebrates ten years of growth
June 24th, 2010 by corli
Company founder and Creative Director, Ross Thornley talks about building a successful – and balanced – creative business, and his predictions for the future.
This month, RT Media celebrates a decade of creative campaigns, branding and web marketing for a client base spanning international, national and regional clients of all shapes and sizes.
Company founder and Creative Director, Ross Thornley, attributes the company’s success to a clear vision, a clear definition of success, a focussed drive to achieve it, and good timing – launching a creative agency at the start of the new media revolution.
Ross explains: “When I started the company I was 21, I worked from a bedroom armed with an Apple Mac, support from my family and a desire to prove myself. Ten years on, RT Media has grown organically to a 10 strong team with all the skills required to fully service 21st century campaigns. All this has happened against perhaps the biggest ever change for marketeers; the advent of broadband into our homes.”
Ross continues: “As a result we have grown up with the Internet, which has given us a very holistic approach to our clients’ work. To facilitate the increasing demands from clients for digital and social media campaigns, we recently launched GetShaking to maximise how social media can be monetised, and a return on investment can be tracked. But while we know that the web can never be underestimated or ignored, we still believe every business plan and set of objectives requires a mix of communication channels.”
Today, RT Media can be aptly described as a ‘small, but well-heeled creative agency’, due to its deliberately contained growth, which centres on seeking the ‘right fit’ within the team, as well as its clients. It also takes its impact as a business very seriously, applying for, and achieving Energy Efficiency in Business (EEIB) 2020 accreditation earlier this year.
Ross explains: “It may sound like we are aiming to achieve some kind of Nirvana, but for me, creating the right balance between what our team needs in order to provide the highest level of service, is what business in the 21st century is all about. Every member of staff has input into the type of company we are on the inside, which means that we perform better for our clients on the outside.”
Ross adds: “I have worked very hard to reach a point where my vision of how a business can be balanced for the good of the whole, can be realised. By working smartly, and with those people we actually enjoy working with, we can, and do, achieve so much more. Over 40% of our current client base has been with us for over 5 years.”
Client retention is certainly a priority at RT Media and its high rate can be attributed to the company’s ‘client filter’, which gives the team clear criteria for doing business, and ensures that while they actively seek clients who fit, they also decline those who don’t.
So, what’s next in marketing? Looking to the future, Ross predicts: “Video and YouTube are effective and exciting communication channels, but their application for businesses is really very new, and will reach impact we have not seen to date. I can also see that community delivery, through managed crowd sourcing, will also change marketing boundaries of scope and timescales.”
And the future for RT Media? Ross adds: “We have now reached a point where we have the firm foundation, staff and resource to continue to build a strong and progressive business. Meanwhile, I plan to construct and build our own office environment, which will be ethically and ecologically sound. It will give the business a breath-taking environment to cultivate creativity and become the hub of innovation I envisage.”
Tags: brand, brand communications, Communication, customer focus, News, relationships, social media
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