Connected, a member of the IMAA, is celebrating its tenth birthday, and its co-founder and CEO, Laura Hamod Barnes, is proud of the agency’s development and growth.
Barnes spoke to Mediaweek about the agency’s early years and how it has flourished through the Pandemic to make 2021 one of their best performing years.
Barnes recalled how she and her husband, Connected’s co-founder and managing director Joshua Barnes, met at Southern Cross Austereo. They later moved to Yahoo7, where they ran their own teams – Joshua led search and performance, as Laura was head of direct sales and commercial partnerships.
In 2012, they established their independent digital agency in Sydney and the following year welcomed their first child.
The couple later made the strategic decision to move down the coast to the seaside suburb of Thirroul for their growing family, a better lifestyle and for more flexibility.
The move closer to the sea proved to be positive for the company as it attracted like-minded professionals seeking a change of scenery, away from the hustle of big agencies.
“We generally find that being down by the beach has helped us with morale, with less time spent commuting and a healthier work-life balance. Plus people still have the option to work from home or the office,” Barnes added.
In the early days, the company was just a small team. Barnes revealed their team has grown to 20 people over the past five years, including seven new hires in the last six months.
The digital agency prides itself on partnering with clients to unlock performance and drive business growth.
She explained: “Being an independent agency, clients have access to Josh and I as well as our senior leadership team. This wealth of experience gives clients specialist access to bolster their teams and elevate their marketing efforts. It’s not just about running the media and being a booking service for them; we look at all aspects of their business to unlock growth and get the most out of their marketing spend.
“I’d say we generally operate as a true extension of our client’s business, involved in every part of it. That’s probably the key to why we have retained long-term clients as well.”
Some of Connected’s first clients – who are still with them today – are events promoter Success Resources, Scentia Group and Trend Micro.
“The agency has really transformed through Covid, and we’ve had enormous growth over the last two years off a refreshed go to market strategy,” Barnes shared.
During the pandemic, the company signed on 16 new clients, including IMB Bank, My Plan Manager, Dr Roebucks, Teachers Union Health, Il Tutto & Soft Mats baby products and Octet.
“Overall, I’d say revenue is up by over 30% year-on-year. It’s been a very big 18 months to two years of onboarding.
“Our team has done an incredible job to onboard as many clients as we have and maintain our existing client base. It’s been very transformative. We’ve been able to push into new areas.
“It’s not all because of the Pandemic. Our business was eight years old when the Pandemic hit, so we’ve just gone into that maturity phase,” Barnes added.
Looking to the milestone year ahead, Barnes said they hope to develop their newly launched office in Queensland that services their Brisbane-based clients.
On the IMAA
Connected joined IMAA last year, which Barnes has said helps them feel represented and provides access to leading industry updates.
“It’s refreshing to be part of a network that fosters collaboration between independent agencies across Australia,” she added.
Barnes also said that the IMAA has been doing great things for many agencies, particularly the credit insurance deal, which she said has been amazing for Connected.
