Wardour reimagined

Alan Turing said: “Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of, who do the things no one can imagine.”

Even at a time when AI is turning the world on its head, we think he’s right. It’s still the people – from inspirational leaders to colleagues across the desk – who have the power to come up with previously unimaginable ideas.

Against this backdrop of massive societal change, we decided the time was right to look at the Wardour brand and make sure it was in step with our evolving world.

We’re proud to reveal the outcome with our friends today. Some of it expresses our existing essence in a new way, some sets the course for where we want to be in the months and years to come.

We’ve moved our value proposition on from “your story matters”. Of course, your story matters – it always will and we will always focus on making the complex compelling. But in a world where the attention economy is ever more competitive, our focus now is on fearless creativity for serious brands.

At a time where ideas like AI and programmatic are becoming the background landscape, we know that what will set our clients apart is fearless creativity: from the creation of unforgettable campaign ideas – which go further than any ChatGPT suggestion – to the tech we use to create them, to the processes we deploy to make life smoother.

The journey to a new value proposition, supported by a new brand visualisation, has been a demanding one. We reached out to a cross-section of clients and prospects to get their views. We split the agency into teams to distil what it all meant. We argued and debated. We were fearless in doing things differently, even in restructuring to be braver in our creativity and more immersed in technological innovation.

Beyond fearless creativity for serious brands, what Wardour is now focused on is the delivery of three beliefs to support our clients. These beliefs unite our three practices of content marketing, employer brand and stakeholder comms.

The opposite of complex is interesting not simple

With 27 years under our belt, we’ve learnt that the serious brands we work with don’t need their messages to be dumbed down. They need them turned into something truly memorable. That’s at our core.

The story you tell isn’t always the story they hear

So often we get called in because a client’s messaging isn’t landing. There’s a big difference between a great idea and the story that actually hooks an audience. With a background going all the way back to the Financial Times, we know how to bridge that gap.

You only need to be 10 minutes ahead of the curve

This applies to creative trends as much as to technological ones. Our experience is that clients need a smart agency that keeps them ahead of upcoming change rather than trying to predict where the rocket will eventually land.

Delivering these ideas demands curiosity, a willingness to ‘think unboxed’ and an obsession with impact. After all, creativity in a commercial world is all about delivering tangible results.

Finally, let’s not forget the aesthetics of the new brand and the new Wardour logo in particular. It’s subtly different to the past: the W of Wardour now leans in to symbolise the way our team leans in with ‘ardour’ to the clients we work with. A point that’s always been true but which we wanted to capture at a glance in a marque which is modern and digital.

We’d love to talk to you more, to hear your views. If you want to get a more in-depth feel of where Wardour is going, please browse our website or, if you’d like to chat, please drop us a line at hello@wardour.co.uk.

But, to sum it up, it’s time for serious brands to embrace fearless creativity.

Martin MacConnol

Agency founder and CEO