Jago Events: an interview with Ryan
Published by Vicky
With our first event just around the corner, we grabbed our Business Leader Ryan for a quick chat about all things Jago…
Why are you keen to put on Jago events?
Ryan: there are a few different reasons. We want people to have an opportunity to engage with us and to hear what we’re up to in terms of our mission and some of the exciting things we’ve been doing recently in terms of B Corp certification and what our offering is. We want to connect with people who align with these thoughts and values, and we want to add value by telling stories and showing examples of our work.
As a macro approach, this is what it’s about.
Adding value
Drilling down a little, we want to add value for the people who attend. We believe we can do this by sharing stories of some of the customer journeys we’ve been on recently, and some of the transformation stories in terms of developing these businesses to be the best they can be.
Personal development
There’s also a secondary opportunity here for people within the Jago team to be challenged out of their comfort zone, and to begin building their own personal brands – to be known for a story or subject matter they’re passionate about. It’s a chance for our team members to create pivotal moments and transformation for themselves by giving them a platform to embrace that challenge. This aligns to our first value, People First. We want to develop our team members by providing these opportunities to build new skill sets.
Building the Jago brand
The spin-off from this manifests in many different ways, such as building our Jago brand and brand awareness for the agency we are today and the agency we want to be tomorrow – and building personal brand awareness for the great people we have working for us, showcasing the people behind the business.
I see this as an opportunity to build partnerships and to network with some incredible people we might not otherwise get the chance to meet.
Will all Jago events be held in Brighton?
Ryan: No! I don’t envision these events as exclusive to Brighton at all – but I do feel that Brighton make s a good hub for future events; it’s a great location. Future events will be based on what’s important to us as people; Brighton just happens to be where many of our existing clients are based, so it makes sense for our first event. It’s a buzzing place, and our Senior Designer Charlotte is based there; she’s leading this event for her own professional and personal development. It also allows us to have some team time together during and after the event in a fun location.
A vision for future events
As a remote organisation we would love to take these events to the locations that matter to us, where we’re having a social impact, where we think we’ll enjoy putting on events. This definitely won’t be limited to Brighton; we’re open to all opportunities. This is the beauty of being a remote organisation; we’re not tied to one location. In the future I think we’ll probably work in the areas where we have people and feel we can make the biggest impact.
What other topics will be covered at Jago events?
That’s a big question! Right now we’re focussing on why it’s important to invest in design, but we’re keen to offer events on a wide range of topics, wherever we feel we can help others. This will include things like digital marketing, social media and branding trends. There are numerous basic education pieces where we can add value for people and we’re keen to do that.
Then there are the more personal stories and self-development; we want to spread the word about the positives of how we run our business.
There’s also the angle of how we manage our business and leadership and culture – how we look after each other as team members and as human beings.
Who are Jago events for?
Ryan: I think these events will appeal to a mixture of people. They’re for business owners; those who serve a purpose, are motivated and hungry to grow; they are brave and daring; they want to learn more.
This event, in particular, could be useful for people who are within the marketing/design sector and want to listen to us and collaborate.
Transformation; education; growth
Essentially, our events will be for anyone, individuals or business owners, who are looking for transformation. People looking for education and growth.
Of course, the old-fashioned marketing side of me defaults to “potential prospects” but this is about so much more than prospecting for business. It’s about reaching a wider audience and providing value and insight. This can be a tough industry and a lot of it is problem-solving for people. There can be a lot of pressure to deliver and solve problems in a timely fashion and I really believe we can help with this.
Tell us a little about the background of Jago.
Jago was born out of an idea for a person – ie me – working for a big corporate company that offered lots of different marketing services but didn’t really execute them particularly well and didn’t offer a personalised, collaborative approach. The idea was to offer this because I believe business owners want more; they don’t want to just buy off-the-shelf marketing products. In my experience, the best results came when I went with a “people first” approach.
Building a more tailored approach for our clients
When you no longer believe in a product you can’t keep going back to clients and asking them to buy it. But I still wanted to offer business owners solutions to their problems – just with a much more tailored approach.
Jago was born out of the belief we could build quality, long-lasting relationships and offer a personal approach to each individual client.
Having that control over what to offer, and managing clients in the way I wanted to gave me that opportunity to live out my idea of building something to be proud of and working with people in a professional capacity for the long term.
More than a traditional marketing agency
This has evolved as time has gone on and we’ve gone from being a traditional digital marketing company to a creative and digital marketing agency. Now we’re building brands, telling their stories rather than just marketing them online. We’re going through the process of building brands, of consulting on each business and their mission, creating the design work that goes with that and making sure we tell their brand story so that they get the business they want.
Reassuringly disruptive
The most recent part of this evolution is adding that transformation element; being intentional about helping to transform businesses in line with where they want to be. Being reassuringly disruptive with that; putting it all on the line for the long game and not just a quick win.
It’s easy to take easy business, to crack out an off-the-shelf website with a cookie-cutter approach, but that approach doesn’t last long. We’re playing the long game now, and we’re enjoying it.
Building a team where we all play a part
For me, the best part of this is building a company that people feel part of, where my team feels that they have the opportunity to do the best work of their lives. I want Jago to provide our team members with the opportunity to have as many new experiences as possible while they work for the business. I would love for people to say that Jago was a place that really set them up; even if they don’t stay with us forever, I want them to look back and think: Yes, Jago had a huge impact on my career and personal development.
