There’s a new agency in town, Boys and Girls.  They are fun, we like them.  Here is a wee interview to get to know them better.

So what’s the deal with Boys & Girls?
To put it simply, 4 boys and 2 girls got together. One thing lead to another and next thing we knew we were the proud parents of an agency. A very talented, creative agency at that. We’re so proud.

When did you start and how’s it going for you?
We opened our doors last November and we’ve been delighted with the response so far. We’ve won a number of great accounts and were pitching almost every week.

What’s your background/history?
We’ve each been in advertising for a fair chunk of time (over 85 years when added collectively) and have worked in most of the big agencies in town. Which in turn means we’ve worked on most of the leading brands in the country. That’s a lot of experience concentrated into our new agency.

Starting a new agency in a recession?! Are you a masochist or something?
Yes… I mean no… I mean yes. Apple Strudel!! (What’s the “or something”?)
A lot of people have asked us that question (the ‘setting up’ one, not whether we’re masochists). We think recessions are a good time to set up. For one thing, clients are actively looking for effective and efficient solutions and are willing to listen. For another, you can really keep your operation costs in check. If you can create an efficient business model that succeeds during a recession…well that’s a sure sign of a damn fine model.

If you had to choose - would you rather buy products that were made by child slave labour, or products that are made from illegal ivory poaching?
Hmmm, I know this is going to sound boringly PC, but I worked on a “Stop Child Labour” campaign for Concern a couple of years ago. And elephant’s are my favourite animal. So I’ll go for ‘C’ because an ad told me there is always a ‘C’ option. And ads don’t lie.

Radio advertising is like marmite. You love it or hate it, and normally it’s hate.  What’s your view?

I love radio advertising (I hate marmite). I think radio is a very creative and impactful medium…when it’s used properly…which if we’re honest is seldom. You’ve heard the expression “Radio is the theatre of the mind”. Well most peoples minds’ don’t feature two people repeating a phone number back and forth, and I’m pretty sure glorified infomercials aren’t considered theatre. Advertising works best when you have a simple, singular idea. It has impact if that idea is executed with creativity and daring. It is not a competition to see how many words you can fit in 30seconds. This is as true for radio as it is for any other media.  As a medium, radio is facing a huge number of challenges, from DAB to iTunes. There’s a constant battle to hold on to listeners, so increasing the creative quality of both the programming and the advertising is absolutely essential.

To check out their website, go here.  To see their boardroom table built out of Lego, click below: