by Herman Manson (@marklives) Area 213 has fulfilled the promise of founder Ben Wren to invest in an ecommerce business through its acquisition — with Howard Moodycliffe, the former head of marketing and international at wiGroup as a partner investor — of Springleap’s Fox & Dash T-shirt business.
Fox & Dash is being repositioned as a premium, online t-shirt brand doing limited prints (200 per design) on high-quality material at a high-price point (around R500). Its former bulk B2B t-shirt business will be housed separately under a new brand. The new positioning will see it aim at the top 1% of the t-shirt market using top local and international designers.
Two surprise learnings
Area 213 launched in April 2015. At the time, Wren said that the agency will actively invest in ecommerce businesses through a cash-and-communications expertise offering. Wren had previously co-founded 60 Layers of Cake (since merged with The Jupiter Drawing Room) and served as group managing director at Trigger/Isobar for several years. Having started several agencies, he says he had two really surprising learnings with his latest venture.
“The rise [in] the freelance industry has surprised me. So many talented people have left agencies for a better quality of life and a better pay structure,” he observes. “Clients have become more fickle towards agencies. I’ve noticed more decisions being based on price than talent; and agencies have become more negative and lack risk-taking.”
Winning international business
According to Wren, the agency is winning international business and, apart from its ecommerce play, is being repositioned to grow its UK and Australian client base. The agency currently works with Belgian company, Betafence, a world market leader in fencing solutions (the relationship started through work done for a satellite office in Paarl, and now extends to numerous country markets where Area 213 works with local partner agencies).
The growth in the number of freelancers in the market means smaller businesses no longer require agencies, and startups aren’t geared towards competing in pitches against large agencies for bigger brands. The business from mid-sized brands is fought over fiercely in a very-competitive market. Still, the freelance market also has its benefits for agencies such as Area 213, which don’t need to employ any designers but work with those it considers the best in their field. All creative work is outsourced while the agency retains and manages the client relationships.
Wren says the agency doesn’t believe in the pitch process: pitch fees are small; usually the incumbent didn’t deserve being forced into a pitch in the first place; and, if there are 10 agencies on a long list, the maths doesn’t work in your favour. It was one of the reasons he wanted to build something that is more than an ad agency and that spreads the risk in the business more evenly.
Niche and nimble
Eventually, Wren says Area 213 will work on client and owned brands. It intends to remain a niche, nimble player, showcasing South African talent to its global clients.
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com. He was the inaugural Vodacom Social Media Journalist of the Year in 2011 and has, over his 20-year-plus career, contributed to numerous journals and websites in South Africa and abroad, including AdVantage magazine, Men’s Health, Computer World and African Communications.
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