PROGRESSIVE marketing communications agency Oi has acquired award-winning agency Arcade Creative in Jersey. As part of the deal Ben Clarke, owner of Arcade Creative, is now the Creative Director of Oi responsible for managing and growing its creative and digital teams across Jersey, Guernsey and London.
“It’s great to be joining Oi and working with some good friends and very talented people,” said Mr Clarke. “I admire what Oi have achieved, the work they do, clients they work for, and their progressive attitude. It’s exciting times ahead with expansion plans across both the islands, then London next year. So I am looking forward to getting stuck in.”
As part of the deal Mr Clarke will lead the creative and digital teams of the full-service agency that employs 24 staff including strategic planners, creatives, designers and developers across offices in Jersey, Guernsey and London.
“This deal has been almost two-years in the making, so this is a great day for Oi and Ben, ”
Peter Grange, Oi Managing Director.
Having won numerous Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and industry awards in recent years for campaigns for Jersey Heritage and Longueville Manor, Mr Clarke is widely considered to be the most talented Creative Director in the Channel Islands with vast creative and digital expertise.
“Ben is unique in the Channel Islands when it comes to his position, expertise and experience. His career has seen him working at a leading London branding agency, across some of the Channel Islands’ leading creative agencies, to most recently developing advanced website, app and digital marketing campaigns,” said Mr Grange. In fact Oi believes he is the only Creative Director in the Channel Islands who can develop an integrated advertising campaign and build an advanced web application fromstart to finish!
Mr Grange said Mr Clarke’s traditional advertising knowledge and in-depth digital expertise is exactly what he was looking for in finding the suitable person to drive Oi’s creative and digital output forward.
“Lots of agencies talk about integration and digital, but they don’t really get it or have the experience from the top down. We’re about getting on with it – and have a proven track-record of developing, implementing, evaluating and evolving integrated marketing campaigns locally, nationally and internationally,” added Mr Grange.
After graduating from The Arts Institute in Bournemouth with a degree in Graphic Design and Typography, Mr Clarke moved to London where he worked on projects for Film4 and The British Library before returning to his homeland Jersey. There he spent six years working for leading Channel Island agencies before setting up Arcade Creative in 2010. Arcade won an impressive eight awards at the Jersey CIM Awards between 2010 and 2013, as well as being internationally recognised by ‘The Web Designer’s Idea Book’ for clean, functional web design. The deal coincided with Oi celebrating its 10th anniversary and unveiling a new brand identity.
