The New Wave ~ The Royals
The New Wave is Campaign Brief’s Q&A series spotlighting the next generation of independent creative companies and exploring how the indie model is evolving. From structure and speed to culture and capability, we unpack where these businesses are finding their edge and what’s driving client decisions today. Next up is Andrew Siwka, Founder and Managing Partner, The Royals.
1. Give us the elevator pitch – who are you and what do you do?
The Royals are the most interested agency in the world.
Being most interested is about noticing, cultivating, collecting, and devouring. It fuels the commercial creativity we use to reinvent businesses and brands.
Most interested gets us to most interesting.
2. Are indies still challengers, or have they become the norm?
Indies are still challengers in terms of mindset, but they have proven themselves more recently to be much more than simply the ‘wild card’ thrown into the pitch mix.
They now represent a significant proportion of the biggest and best Agencies in the country as a result of that inbuilt challenger ethos. As long as disruption remains a mindset to think, live and create with, Indies will never become the norm.
3. What’s your unfair advantage over the networks today?
It’s simple: culture. Agency IP resides in its ability to attract, retain, and get the best from creative talent. Independents are in a better position to create, and most importantly maintain, the strong cultural foundations in which great creativity thrives.
4. How are you using AI to compete above your weight?
It is an extraordinary creative tool being leveraged in every part of our business, every day.
But it’s the investment in experimentation that is driving advantage. We are very fortunate to have Dave King, a Royals’ co-founder and one of the leading voices in the Australian AI landscape, championing this here.
5. What kind of clients are choosing indies right now – and why?
All kinds of clients and you see it across all the independents’ client rosters.
Just look at the range of clients we work with: Dairy (Yoplait, Dairy Farmers), Small goods (DON Smallgoods), Home health and care (Australian Unity), Sport (AFL), and Education (University of Melbourne).
Independents are uniquely hardwired to adjust quickly to changing market demands and, as a result, are adapting fastest during this period of unprecedented tumult.
6. What’s next – growth, staying lean, or something else?
More experimentation.
Since our inception over a decade ago, we have thought of The Royals as an operating system, constantly experimenting and updating, and that DNA is serving us well right now.
Check out the other New Wave Q&As below:
Read Tightknit Studio’s Q&A here
Read Bastion Australia’s Q&A here
Read We Are Different’s Q&A here
Read SICKDOGWOLFMAN’s Q&A here
Read Kill Boring Dead’s Q&A here
Read Oblong Creative’s Q&A here
Read The Many Australia’s Q&A here
Read Bureau of Everything’s Q&A here
Read Art of the Possible ANZ’s Q&A here
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