Arctic Circle, the maverick Cape Town agency run by Reghard Goussard, positions itself as a navigator in the changing economic and social contract brands are facing, promising to find a path out of the communication morass many brands and their agencies face today.
This under the radar agency famously lost 19 of its 20 retainers several years ago, only to rise again and reinvent itself, transforming from a design to an advertising and then a brand agency. Today it’s a business solution focussed agency with creative and production as value adds, says Goussard.
Goussard says even within the industry he is positioned as a business man rather than an ad guy, focussing on the business procedures of building a brand, and employing multi-skilled individuals with backgrounds in business rather than traditional agency people. Goussard says the role of his agency has evolved to a point where it is getting paid to source and translate market intelligence rather than just create ads.