Knowing you have a system that can handle it all and pull it all together and grow with you is a good feeling.
How Dinosaur creative agency took a strategic leap using Synergist
Dinosaur are a progressive, award-winning creative agency, delivering data-led and emotionally driven thinking.
Deciding a strategic direction for their agency gave Dinosaur food for thought. They decided that if they wanted to grow, they needed a system which would grow with them.
Agency type: Brand and creative comms
Services: Brand strategy, brand identity, advertising, social and content, employer branding
Size: 50+
Location: Manchester
Mark Beaumont
Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Dinosaur
The problem
Taking the next step
Dinosaur had proven their creative skills, developed a strong team, built up an excellent client list and even had a great location. But one question remained... what direction should they now steer the agency in?
“There comes a time in every agency’s life when you stand back and have to decide where you want to take it. Do you want to just carry on being a neat SME, trying to navigate the ups and downs? Or do you want more than that from it?”
“We decided to get serious. Preparing the agency for growth, getting the basics right, making sure you’ve got the right people with the bigger picture mindset, having them run proper little cost centres and so on..."
The solution
Bringing everything together
“Getting a serious system to drive through the efficiencies, give you what you need and be able to grow with you is a long-term decision. Getting Synergist was a key part of it, and I’m glad we did it.”
“We used to have another system, but we outgrew it. Now we’ve grown up to be an integrated communications agency, the old system simply didn’t give us what we need.”
“So we switched to Synergist. A good move.”
We’re sorted now and for the future, and I can see that I could run a 200-person agency with Synergist. That’s very reassuring.
Mark Beaumont
Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Dinosaur
The return
Essential reporting made easy
Mark is very happy to trust his team with the day-to-day operating of Synergist.
"As long as I keep on top of work in progress and forecasting I feel I can run it with only a sideways glance at the other key reports because I can see from those two essentials that the team are on top of them all and it’s humming along.”
"But the moment it turns stormy, just watch me switch. I’m closely tracking every single one of those reports. You have to, because in stormy times you need to make informed decisions fast."
Mark says there are five reports that are considered essential in running an agency.
• Profitability report
• Staff utilisation report
• Job health report
• Work in progress report
• Forecasting report
"Do a hands-on analysis of all five essential reports every week. You can see pretty much everything from those.”
"You can steer an agency with little or no personal button-pressing even in tough times, but you do need a good team who appreciate the bigger picture you’re after and a comprehensive system to pull everything together into one.”