1. Please tell us a bit more about you: What’s the story behind Clearbox?
Clearbox was launched almost 10 years ago by my business partner and I. We wanted to create a consumer PR agency in Northern Ireland that had what we called a ‘London’ vibe. Progressive, forward-thinking, and inclusive, while working with great clients and having a laugh along the way.
If I could sum up our agency, I’d say that we take our work extremely seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously. Spend a day in our office and listen to the (in my opinion) awful songs that our team plays or hear about the (also in my opinion) terrible TV shows they love, and you’ll see what I mean. They think Harry Styles is bigger than Elvis and they’d never heard of Johnny Rotten!
2. Why did you decide to partner with the Laika Space Dogs?
Laika has great people, a strong culture and the same approach to life and work that we have at Clearbox. The first time I met Ela and Zelda, chief and deputy Space Dogs, I thought we had a lot of similarities, and everything just took off from there. No pun intended.
Snapshot from our last visit to Belfast
Partnering with Laika has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to our agency and I’m truly grateful for everything they’ve helped us achieve. From shared clients to new ideas, we love working with the Laika team and I hope for more of the same for many years to come.
Also, our partnership gives me another reason to visit Berlin – my favourite city in the world. If I’m not in a bar in Kreuzberg, you’ll find me sitting on the step outside the apartment where Bowie used to live, wishing he was still with us. Or trying to get on a tour of Hansa Studios.
3. What drives you personally and what drives Clearbox?
At Clearbox, we simply want to do a good job. We want to make the lives of our clients easier, and we want to do good work. If you achieve both of those things, everything else follows.
Personally, I’m driven by the need to fund an expensive record habit. The prices are shocking these days, honestly!
4. What does your typical client look like?
Our typical client is one that embraces us as an extension of their team.
We’ve never had a ‘them and us’ approach to our work. We work together with our clients to help them achieve their business goals and we don’t stop until the job is done. I don’t think many, if any, of our clients would see us as ‘the agency’ – we’re more ingrained into their team than that.
With regards to an industry, we don’t have a type. We work across lots of different sectors. However, the vast majority of our work is consumer focused.
5. What makes Clearbox Clearbox? What are your values?
The team makes Clearbox. They are energetic, full of ideas and determined to deliver. I can’t ask for any more than that. They teach me new things all the time and I couldn’t be happier with the group of people we’ve assembled. They all have bright futures in the PR industry and, most importantly, they’re all brilliant people.
Clearbox has seven company values, and my personal favourite is the first one – ‘don’t be a dick.’ Words to work and live by.
6. What do you like about Belfast? What about Berlin?
Belfast? The gallows humour. We experienced some well documented difficult times in Northern Ireland, but one good thing to come out of that period was our sense of humour. People will have a laugh about anything here, and it’s often a great way to lighten the mood, even if it’s during a negative situation. I also really love vegetable roll, which you can’t get anywhere else. Google it!
