Twenty one successful years in the marketing industry are being celebrated by seamless communications agency, Ware Anthony Rust (WAR) this month.
[UKPRwire, Fri May 05 2006] Twenty one successful years in the marketing industry are being celebrated by seamless communications agency, Ware Anthony Rust (WAR) this month.
The Cambridge agency, which specialises in the disciplines of advertising, design, public relations, interactive and direct marketing, was established in 1985. It now boasts several business accolades including being ranked as one of the top ten agencies out of London based on income , is the leading advertising agency in the East of England and
is a top 100 UK interactive agency .
WAR, which employs more than 50 talented and creative individuals with specific expertise in their own fields, celebrated its official birthday on 4th May 2006 at a party held at The Trinity Centre, Cambridge. Clients, board members, staff and friends of the agency joined in the celebrations which included live music, a chocolate fountain and a Tight Briefs ‘n’ T Shirts challenge, which tested guest’s creativity skills.
WAR has seen many changes over the past 21 years including, most recently, a management buy-out led by Alison Meadows and Anne Marchini with three other senior members of the management team, in May 2005. This has secured continuity at the helm of the agency and has provided a platform for growth with no less than six big brand clients joining WAR’s business and consumer portfolios over the past year alone.
Alison Meadows, Managing Director at WAR said: "Although the agency has grown tremendously over the years, we have always focused on the needs of each of our clients to ensure that the correct marketing tools are used to fully engage their consumer or businesses audiences. We’ve been inspired by new and faster ways to communicate and have constantly evolved our offering to embrace all new marketing techniques and services – our offering has been extended from a focus on advertising to providing expertise in public relations, interactive marketing services and direct marketing, and we are committed to continuing this growth as we move forward.
“We have fostered a culture of joined up thinking and have separate but seamlessly integrated teams of individuals who have specific skills in each discipline. Our 21 years of success can therefore be attributed to our in-depth understanding of marketing brands and our ability to adapt to an ever-changing world of communications."
Richard Bland, longest serving member of WAR, joined six months after the launch of the agency and remains on the board and in charge of the design department as Design Creative Director. He said: “Although it’s vital to change as industry and technology moves on, it is equally important to hang on to those things that are fundamental to success. Our continuous drive to exceed client expectations with results, to remain passionate and enthusiastic about our work and our clients’ businesses, and to deliver clarity in all of our communications, are all as important to us, and to our success, today as they were in 1985.”
Nicole Rose, Receptionist at WAR, celebrates her coming of age in the same year as WAR. The 21-year-old said: It’s crazy to think that WAR is the same age as me. That’s a long time to be in the business and reinforces that we are really good at what we do - Happy 21st Birthday WAR!”
Ware Anthony Rust (WAR) - The official history:
1980s
The three original partners, Robert Ware, Jim Anthony and Graham Rust, established the agency as a management buy-out from another regional business. The consumer boom was in full swing and Ware Anthony Rust (WAR) was on the crest of a wave delivering high profile advertising for clients like Toblerone, Rank Xerox, Speedo and Araldite.
1990s
As economic conditions cooled going into the 90’s, the agency was smart enough to diversify. Already the best known agency in the Eastern Counties, it added a design capability famously working on packaging for the Boasters along with other premium food brands.
PR was also added as a specialism growing out of contracts with Citroen and ExxonMobil. The agency was quick to embrace the emergence of the web, adding an interactive capability first to service existing client’s need for websites before reaching out to other businesses who wanted a web agency that understood the communications role of the medium.
Always a magnet for talent, new people joined WAR, then still run by its charismatic Chairman Robert Ware. Alison Meadows (now Managing Director) joined the team in 1990, Gareth Brookman joined the client service team from Cogent, Dale Haste was recruited as Advertising Creative Director from McCanns and Anne Marchini came in as Finance Director. With Design Director Richard Bland, these people formed the management nucleus of the agency as it grew through the nineties towards the turn of the century adding landmark accounts like Acushnet’s golf brands, Multiyork Furniture, Plasti-kote spray paint and Van Dal shoes.
The noughties:
WAR continued to flourish with further disciplines being added to the mix including direct marketing, online marketing and a planning function. WAR continued to recruit talented individuals skilled in each discipline. The PR capability was also further galvanised by the acquisition of another local PR business.
In May 2005, Alison Meadows and Anne Marchini led a management buy-out with three other senior members of the management team securing continuity at the helm of the agency and providing the platform for future growth. At the same time Kerris Macauley was promoted to the Management Board as Head of PR, the precursor to a succession of account wins including Corgi, Sekonda and ART VPS.
The agency board has moved quickly to add to the team in new areas, and has recruited Lulu Winter to head up WAR Healthcare – a healthcare arm of the business created in recognition of this growing sector.
The latest generation of WAR talent has now joined an agency with a tremendous client base, four broadly equal specialities in advertising, design, PR and interactive media, along with highly developed skills in associated disciplines, particularly electronic and conventional direct mail.
1985 vs. 2006:
What were you doing in 1985?
What are you doing today?
No.1 in the singles chart - USA for Africa , We Are The World
No.1 in the singles chart, Gnarles Barkley, Crazy
Prime Minister – Margaret Thatcher
Prime Minister - Tony Blair
Box office smash - Back To The Future
Box office smash - Ice Age: The Meltdown
Everyone was wearing - Fingerless gloves
Everyone is wearing - Wedge shoes
Favourite toy - Transformers
Favourite toy - Baby Annabelle
TV - Eastenders went on air for the first time
TV - Big Brother is in its seventh year
Sporting moments - Boris Becker wins Wimbledon at the age of 17
Sporting moments - The World Cup 2006 will be hosted in Germany
Note to newsdesk:
WAR provides a seamless communications service for a host of clients in B2C, B2B and healthcare sectors, bringing together talented and creative individuals with specific expertise in their own fields.
The agency disciplines are blended to give clients holistic, strategic and creative campaigns, or offered independently to suit client needs.
WAR works with international and national companies based across the UK and overseas including: Multiyork, Van Dal, Acushnet (Titleist, FootJoy and Cobra), Huntsman (Araldite), Corgi Toys and Collectables, Corinthian, Sekonda, Plasti-kote, Linx Printing Technologies, Visa Europe, Zapf Creation, Stream Foods, Johnson and Johnson and Cambridgeshire Horizons.
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