Halo
We recently had the opportunity to visit Halo’s beautiful new studio in Southbourne, where we sat down with founders Jess and Nick to find out exactly what makes this marketing agency tick.
Hi Jess and Nick! Can you give us an introduction to Halo?
We're an independent, full-service marketing agency with a fab team of industry experts and a refreshingly down-to-earth approach. Our aim is to create long-lasting partnerships that make a tangible impact on a business’ success, which can only be achieved through mutual trust, respect and collaboration. This is what sets us apart and is why we get such impressive results.
Why did you choose Southbourne as the home of your business?
Our decision to set up home in Southbourne was driven by our love for the area and its vibrant, independent ethos. Also, more than half of our team live here, so we jumped at the chance to relocate from our previous home in Ringwood.
What makes Halo different?
You won’t find any smoke and mirrors at Halo. We’re experienced in the industry, so we know first hand how much jargon there is and how important it is to be transparent if we feel a particular strategy or route isn’t right for our partners. We feel integrity is one of the most important values an agency can have, and not just through words, but through actions, too.
We’ve recently spent a lot of time strengthening our company culture from the inside, empowering the team and making our studio into a hub where everyone actually wants to come and work. We believe that by allowing our team the space and support to develop their skills and follow their passions, we can provide better support to our clients. This people-led approach truly underpins Halo: we are friendly and approachable, and this attracts like-minded businesses who value authenticity and expertise in equal measure.
We were very proud to receive the Best Place to Work Award at the Ringwood Business Awards in 2023. We aim to only continue this trajectory now we’re based in Southbourne!
What can you do for local businesses?
When we first connect with a new partner, we spend a lot of time fully immersing ourselves in who they are, what they do, and perhaps most importantly: why they do it. This allows us to understand what it is our clients need, and what success would look like to them. Armed with this information, we can create a totally unique marketing strategy which provides guidance throughout the next stage, where we get creative!
We are an integrated agency with a huge amount of talent in-house, which means you don’t have to worry about liaising with several separate companies, which can get overwhelming. Our team is made up of multi-skilled designers, writers and digital experts who collaborate on imaginative concepts and bring them to life with beautiful designs.
Can you share a success story?
We’re particularly proud of our recent work with Wayfind Escapes as this project has given us the chance to work with a new brand from the outset. We’ve been involved in Wayfind’s entire journey, supporting them with strategy, branding, signage, digital marketing, SEO, PPC, web development, and email marketing. Our approach has been characterised by our genuine partnership: we took a lot of time to make sure we fully understood their business model, their values, and their target audience.
Another project we’re really proud of is our work with Flavours, who are a small, community cookery school focusing on providing cookery classes and courses for school children. We’ve supported Flavours in creating a sustainable strategy which works for them long-term, providing advice and the tools to create things like flyers themselves. We feel this sort of approach can really help set up small, local businesses for success, and having a positive impact on the community is very important to us.
Website → haloassociates.co.uk
Instagram → @haloassociates
