On the 13th October 2003, three guys embarked on an adventure. Richard Elwell, Steve Price and myself left Palmer Hargreaves and launched an agency out of a spare bedroom that measured 2x2.7m. Known then as Unsuitable, we quickly established ourselves thanks to clients such as Touchwood, Sandwell Council and Dodd Homes.
That first day, although a decade ago is still very clear in the memory. The main reason being the sudden feeling of sheer dread when waking up and realising we had nothing to work on. It all soon subsided though as a meeting with West Bromwich Albion materialised and we were on our way.
We soon outgrew the box room and I'm sure Steve's wife was glad to see the back of us and the world's noisiest printer, which we regularly fired up at 3am. 117 The Custard Factory became our new home and we were soon recruiting our first employee. Step in the skateboarding legend that is Rich 'Benny' Hughes. A guy that when he came in to see us, was so disillusioned, he was ready to leave the business. We soon changed that and must now apologise for putting him through the most rigorous interview process we've ever performed. Benny stayed with us for over five years and is now a top creative guy over at Life. We couldn't have wished for a better first addition to the team and doubt we'd have grown the way we did without him.
117 was a good small studio in which to learn and ply our trade. It had its fair share of quirks and funny moments. There was the guard dog prowling the corridors after midnight, so if you weren't out by then, you were sleeping on one of the leather chairs a client had donated to us (although when we went to pick them up, we had to pay a big gypsy fella £200 for the pleasure).
We had the day we were shot at by a sniper from the railway bridge and the three hour wait for a response from the police.
And one of the funniest quotes ever muttered in the place, with our first ever visit from the Subaru clients. As Steve went to meet them in reception, I suddenly realised we had a vase of dead flowers on the table. And by dead I mean decomposed. I quickly grabbed them to throw them away, thereby disturbing the stagnant water. In walk the clients to which one of them states at volume: "This office smells of dead badgers!" We certainly knew how to make a great first impression.
With the addition of the amazingly talented Natalie Jones and Andy Reeve to the line up, and even though we'd got rid of the table football to make more space, we needed to move up in the world. Cue the Custard Factory penthouse, number 405 beckoned. Our new office had (bizarrely) a stage but we never did get round to installing that glitter ball. This move also facilitated the much awarded 'Update your records' mailer which involved hours of scouring through old vinyl stores - whatever happened to those?
The new office also opened up a new chapter in our story. After working with our old neighbours Neil and Dom from Tak! on a couple of digital projects, we looked to bring the world of the web in-house. Nat mentioned to us that her best friend was engaged to a bloke at WAA and that he and his mate were looking to do something new. A meeting was set up. Gareth Brown and Ross Riley came in and soon we'd agreed to launch a new digital agency. After a night at Penny Blacks in The Mailbox, One Black Bear was born (although it was almost called 'Red Napkin').
A couple of weeks later, we received a call from 'dead badger' who asked us if the rumours were true that we'd started a digitally focussed offering. We were suddenly on the Subaru pitch. Having spent nights and weekends toiling over what to this day, is still the most labour intense pitch we've ever done, we presented to a team that included the client, the media guys and the above the line agency. The call came in later that day to be told we'd been successful and as regular readers of this column will know, over five years on, they're still keeping us busy.
This win, saw OBB in sudden need of a new team of digital experts, with the jobs being offered at our celebration party (where I nearly lost us the account by drunkenly ripping the clients new leather jacket).
405 was bursting at the seams and its fate was unfortunately sealed when a prospective furniture retailer came in for us to pitch to him and said 'I really like you guys but if you think I'm leaving my Bentley in a car park round here every time I come to see you, you can forget it.' That's one pitch that obviously got away but convinced us that we had finally outgrown the Custard Factory both physically and mentally. Plus it was getting a little tiresome getting stuck in the lift and the toilets were infamous across Birmingham.
The search for a new home took in many locations across the city but we eventually found ourselves falling in love with a place just round the corner. The Old School House in Fazeley Studios (with it's own locked up private car park). Having been here for almost five years now, we have welcomed some great talent through the doors.
We now head into the future with a new Social Media and PR offering from Shadow Giants, headed up by Amy Kiernan. How things come full circle though, with the West Brom football club's charity foundation appointing us and one of our founding clients from Sandwell getting in touch in his new role in the NHS.
So, it leaves me with a sentimental tear in the eye to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far, particularly those who made it one hell of a journey, with more ups than downs - you're all amazing. In no particular order, Benny, Parminder, Emma, Nat, Andy, Ade, Gareth, Ross, Charles, Sheldon, Michal, Helen, Charlotte, Andy, Paul, Bobby, Adam, Amy, Kelly, Charlotte, Jack, Amy, Paddy and Charlie. A special big, big thanks though must go to the unsung fourth member of the band, our FD, Steve Smith who's stuck by us since day one and ensured we're still here today. And of course we'd be nowhere without the support of all our clients over the years, a massive thank you to all of you but in particular, Carol who offered us that first bit of business and the encouragement to give it a go.
Instead of finishing off with a list of entertaining links, the team have this week supplied me with some of their fondest memories of the last ten years:
Lunch in The Dog with the first supplier to give us credit. We will always love Dave Fortune of Central Colour.
Having to Google 'KPI' to find out what it meant.
First christmas and a client eating sugar cubes after a particularly boozy lunch.
The 1st OBB birthday, camping at Shell Island.
Our former agency MD knocking the door - we answered to reveal a wall full of creative work from nicked clients.
Steve appearing all over the news after Gareth bought him factor 50 sun cream at the cricket, which he couldn't rub into his head.
The ski trip that almost killed Jon. Both on the slopes and in the bars.
Photographing dead bees from a beekeeper in Moseley - the smell!
The train derailment outside the office window.
Jon and Rich's often brutal honesty when critiquing work.
Ade as Father Christmas.
