When we met Peter Grange last month he was excited. Not only because his agency, Oi, has just undertaken its biggest expansion yet but also because there are new small car acquisitions in the pipeline. Whilst the agency is now the biggest in the Channel Islands, it’s Peter and his team’s love of big ideas and effective marketing campaigns that rings through.
When the agency set up in a show of ambient media as ‘Offshore’ in 2004 it was the ambient media crop circle and subsequent press coverage that won awards. However, it was the inclusion of a real Mini car in the office that caught clients’ eyes and was the shape of things to come. We’ve enjoyed watching Oi as they’ve developed. The daily changing quirky email footers amuse us and their weekly email about marketing is one of the few that’s not been marked as trash.
As we visited their Guernsey office earlier this month (they have one in each fabulous Channel Island these days, and are planning one in London soon) we were drawn to the combination of classic and modern that make up the unique profile of the agency. This month’s recruitment news follows that theme, bolstering the Oi head count to 20 with both old masters and fresh new talent. The decades of experience come in the form of Chartered Director Paul Luxon, who has been appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of Oi and John Merrien, who has taken up the position of Strategic Consultant.
“Throughout my professional business career across the Channel Islands I have worked with some global iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Champagne Bollinger, Carlsberg, and many more, so marketing, advertising, profiling and promotion have been at the heart of my work,’ Paul told us. “I love brands and the creativity around them. Joining Oi as Non-Exec Chairman allows me to work with a progressive company that is focused on developing big, commercially effective ideas for its clients…and that’s very exciting.”
Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary, John Merrien will be working alongside Paul and Peter Grange, Oi’s Managing Director, on strategy, structure, change and business planning for the agency as it focuses on its next stage of growth in the Channel Islands (particularly Jersey) and London.
“The opportunities for growth at Oi are tremendously exciting as the company grows both internally and geographically into new markets” said Mr Merrien. “My core mandate is to work with the board to preserve the personal touches clients expect and the freedom of thought displayed by staff at ‘small Oi’ while scaling the business into tomorrow’s larger pan-jurisdiction agency.”
In addition, Oi has recently made other significant new hires across its marketing, creative and digital teams following major account wins. Caity Hutchison has joined as an Account Manager in Oi’s Jersey office from global advertising agency network BBDO where she managed the Johnson & Johnson account in South Africa. With a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Law and Media, Caity also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing and Advertising Communications. She has an excellent understanding of consumer insights, brand strategy, and strong campaign management skills. Experienced graphic designer Stuart Noel has also joined the Oi Jersey creative team having worked in the industry for over a decade. Oi will be moving to larger Jersey offices in the next month to allow for its next stage of growth in the island. Sean Davidson has joined as a Senior Developer in Oi’s Guernsey office from Sure Mobile. With over 10 years development expertise including advanced web systems programming, application and e-commerce development, Sean will be working on large e-commerce projects for the agency’s clients. Ania Karwowska has also joined the Guernsey team as a Digital Project Manager having gained significant digital marketing expertise in the financial and leisure sectors. She will be working closely with Oi’s development team managing website, e-commerce, application development projects, email and social media campaigns. Julia Webber has been promoted within Oi to Operations Manager coordinating the smooth running of the agency’s offices, HR, systems and processes.
The appointments follow Oi’s continued success locally and in the UK, including being the retained agency for Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, Mourant Ozannes, Moore Stephens, The Royal Yacht Hotel, Airtel-Vodafone, THAI Airways UK, and Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London, to name a few. As an Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) accredited agency, adopting the latest techniques, adhering to the highest industry standards, training, and development are very important at Oi. Now employing 20 staff across Guernsey, Jersey and London, Oi is optimistic about the future and believes having a good marketing agency is as essential as having a good accountant, lawyer or IT service provider for any business to be successful. With expansion into the UK, it’s great to see a Channel Island agency competing on a national scale.
