Beastie Boys, lemons and wonderful things

For the latest MediaCat Magazine podcast our editor, Mike Piggott, spoke to Grace Francis, Jamie Mancini and Katy Collins — co-founders of new independent creative studio, Wonderful Things. The theme of this pod mirrored the magazine's August theme of 'Doing Things Differently', where Grace, Jamie and Katie discussed why they started the agency in the first place, looking to be more nimble, and how clients are increasingly more open to working with smaller businesses these days, not just traditional agencies. They discussed creating meaningful work, with Grace saying they want to 'say yes to work that can exist and lasts longer than a heartbeat'. And that it's about 'choosing consciously to put things into the world that have value'. Jamie talked about what he defines as meaningful work, creating things that potentially resonate with a small group of people you are trying to speak to. And Katie added that meaning can also mean work (and clients) that mean something to her personally. The conversation then moved on to longevity, and the challenge of creating work that lasts. Grace told a story of their 17-year-old self remembering a campaign from water brand Evian, that really stuck with them. 'I want to make stuff that makes the 17-year-old say, I can do that too', Grace said. They discussed which brands and groups they'd love to work with (including Grace and Jamie trying to pitch an idea that would have had them meet hip-hop group, the Beastie Boys), Jamie's lemon spritz brand and his desire to make a short film, and Katie's love of sports and wanting to work with any dog brand possible. The conversation then turned to the current state of the marketing industry, with Grace saying the industry is going through seismic change, but 'it's essential that commercial creativity gets to exist'. This podcast is around thirty minutes long, and packed full of wisdom. We hope you enjoy.