December 3 2020 was a momentous day for us.

We said our goodbyes to BirdBrain and Luminosity and officially launched Distl.

Now more than 6 months on, we thought we’d take the opportunity to reflect on our experiences so far and celebrate the milestones we’ve achieved.

Becoming Distl

You may already know the story of how we became Distl, but to catch you up to speed, our rebrand was all about consolidating our two brands into one, seamlessly integrated agency.

Along the way, we also learned how to better communicate who we are and why we exist.

Since refining our brand purpose, every part of our business is now strategically aligned to our mission for building Australia’s most unstoppable brands.

“While the rebrand has been one of the most fulfilling stages of our business journey, it’s also had a positive impact on virtually every aspect of the business,” said our Director David Metcalf.

“Holding internal and public launch events to present the brand and then rolling out a communications plan across social media, blogs and video content has more clearly aligned our purpose, values, service offering and culture”.

Bringing our vision to life was a huge undertaking for our team, but as Digital Marketing Specialist and Culture Lead Jess Bacon explains, we’ve come through it stronger and more united.

“After a rebrand, you may expect everyone to be exhausted from the process. I think our team have experienced the opposite,” Jess said.

“We’re motivated and invigorated from the rebrand and everyone has a real fire burning under them. We’re now driven to push harder, to do better work and really get our name out there”.

Projects we’ve launched

Fuelled by our rebrand, we’ve tackled 2021 head on and launched a range of new brand and web projects for our clients.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the work we’ve done this year, from rebranding Sydney based design, fit out and construction business Cyclo, to launching a new website for Pilbara Solar, a young renewable energy development company.

Cyclo Group rebrand, bespoke website design and development

Momentum Engineering rebrand and website

Pilbara Solar bespoke website design and development

Ayres Composite Panels bespoke website design and development

DiskBank bespoke website design and development

Scope Advisory bespoke website design and development

Celebrating our clients

Our clients are the lifeblood of our business. We love working with businesses of all shapes and sizes, helping them to achieve their biggest, hairiest, most audacious goals.

Since rebranding, our relationships with our clients have only flourished.

“There was definitely a sense of excitement and intrigue from clients when they heard we were rebranding,” said Ryan Wilson, Digital Marketing Specialist and Client Service Lead.

“The big difference I’m noticing in our client base since the rebrand is having the knowledge of everything we have to offer. Marketing clients are being exposed to our branding services and branding clients are going through the entire journey, staying on for ongoing marketing”.

From new brands we’re working with to long term clients who are exploring new opportunities, here’s a few client highlights from 2021 so far.

New relationships

Our digital marketing team has taken on a wide range of new clients this year.

In February we began working with BGC Housing Group and already we’ve launched a new website for them in collaboration with Creative.adm.

We’ve been managing their SEO, PPC and paid social, and we’re due to start activities with their real estate brand Now Living Realty.

Executive recruitment firm Scotford Fennessy are another new client we’ve welcomed into the fold.

After engaging us for SEO and paid social, we’re now starting a new website project with them.

Long term partnerships

Owned by the Ecseri family, Tecsec Security Solutions and 21^st Century Business Equipment have been with us for many years as SEO clients.

This year 21^st Century Business Equipment introduced a new product called NXT21. More than a point of sale system, NTXT21 is a complete business solution for Perth’s hospitality industry.

To help their team launch NXT21, we produced a promotional brochure and a new landing page, using a PPC campaign and an eDM to help increase awareness and drive enquiries.

Another long-term client of ours is Remastone, a WA supplier of limestone blocks, cladding and paving products.

Over the course of several years, we’ve worked on a range of digital marketing activities including SEO, PPC, paid social, eDMs and Spotify advertising, and now we’re designing and developing a new website for them.

We’ve also begun to branch into new areas with our client R&R Fencing, Perth’s leading manufacturer and supplier for fencing and gate supplies.

On top of our usual SEO and PPC efforts, we’ve now run a promotional radio campaign and produced a range of branded collateral for them.

New faces in our team

Our clients may be the reason why we exist, but we wouldn’t be able to produce our quality of work without the right people in our team.

At every stage of our business journey, we’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring we have the perfect mix of in-house specialists, selecting skilled individuals who fit our culture and align with our values.

We’d like to officially welcome our newcomers for 2021 and take a moment to acknowledge each of them.

Pictured left to right, we have Alice Hampshire, Ekin Bukulmez, Anthony Curnow, Andy Sexton, Shayan Azad, Joel Cook and Jan de Waal.

As reported in Campaign Brief a few months ago, Anthony joined our team as our Brand and Communications Director to help shape the next phase in our evolution.

We’ve also brought on Alice as a Senior Account/Project Manager and Ekin as a new addition to our web development team.

Our digital marketing team has also expanded to cater to our growing client base, with Andy, Jan and Shayan joining our ranks.

After completing his internship with us at the beginning of the year, Joel has also come on board with us full time as Account Support to continue his learning and development.

Nurturing our culture

While it was exciting to unveil Distl to the world and start a new chapter, we knew it was important to nurture our team throughout the change.

Our Digital Marketing Specialist Emily Newman became part of our team at the pivotal moment when we launched the Distl brand.

“When I joined Distl, the team culture was like nothing I had seen before. There was such a sense of pride within the entire team. It was evident that years of hard work had led to this milestone, and everyone was making the most of celebrating together,” Emily said.

“Distl is a forward-thinking, welcoming, and empowering workplace. There’s never a dull moment. Whether you’re learning about a new digital trend, getting to know a new client, or collaborating with a teammate – it’s full of joy”.

Following the rebrand, we’ve focused on strengthening our culture by creating opportunities for social bonding and providing access to activities that support physical and mental health.

Throughout 2021 this has included team lunches, social drinks on Friday afternoons, in office massages, recreational events and access to a Class Pass company membership.

Last week we also held an internal development workshop with our long-term client People Solutions.

Under the guidance of their organisational development experts, we used the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator methodology to gain greater insight into each of our team members.

Learning and development

As our culture is built on collaboration and shared learning, we’re always seeking ways to increase our knowledge and further develop our skills, both individually and as a team.

Each team member is allotted time each week for self-development, and everyone is encouraged to complete training courses to help grow their skillset.

Most recently, Jess and Ryan (pictured below with one of our many office dogs Harper) took the Advanced Account Management course by the Advertising Council of Australia.

The future

Everyone at Distl is committed to our vision and sustaining the momentum we’ve built so far. We know who we are as an agency and what we can achieve when we come together as a team.

“The rebrand was long overdue and it’s important that we don’t lose the value of what we’ve worked so hard to build,” said David Metcalf.

“The backend of 2021 will be about delivering on our purpose – building unstoppable brands for our clients”.