1989

I was selling advertising space in the Odeon Moviegoer magazine. Convincing local businesses to run ads. The back cover was always a car dealership. I worked on them nation-wide.

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I thought: "What if I could get one advertiser to book ALL 260 back covers?" I put this idea to my boss and was permitted an hour a day to work on it. I landed a meeting at a Glasgow ad agency called Coltas who looked after Kwik-Fit.

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The Account Director gave me a guided tour and I was hooked. For the first time I saw something I wanted to do with my life. I was going to be an ad man. 

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The next 2 days were spent 'off sick' calling every agency within 50 miles. By the time I got to M of marketing consultants, I got a result and in December 1989 I began a new role as Account Co-ordinator for MDA.

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MDA was a very entrepreneurial agency indeed. Their basic strategy was to agree to do things and then work out how to do them afterwards. Proper seat-of-your-pants lunacy - especially as most clients were booze trade.

 

I shadowed the two directors at meetings. I turned their crazy ideas into reality. Brown trousers were standard issue. I learnt a lot very quickly. Over 10 years I rose to the rank of Creative Director. Then I decided to start my own agency.

 

1999

I decided it wise to see how 'proper' agencies did things. I worked at The Marketing Store in Leeds on ASDA and then Dialogue in London on Coca-Cola. I learnt a lot, but I also realised that everyone was winging it. 

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2000

Zest was born. I took some MDA clients with me. I also had fun proving that you can apply lessons learned to any product or service. I worked from home and that honed my self discipline. It's easy to sit watching Judge Judy in your underwear. 

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2003

I rented an office and we changed the business name to Zestisbest. By this point there were over 30 creative firms using the word Zest in their names. Can't sue them all. 

 

I made people drink more, then stopped them from drinking too much. I launched huge cruise ships, debated fracking, led the way in discount retail. I protected the elderly from bogus callers, refreshed lager advertising and loved it.

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2025

By this point we are not only ridiculously good, we're also ridiculously fast - so your budget does more.  If you're looking for a marketing agency with 35 years experience and unparalleled agility that saves you money then you've come to the right site. All that really matters are results and  we get results. 

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Let's talk about you. Call Steve on 07974 179899

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