A Fond Farewell: Ian Millner Looks Back Over 26 Years at Iris

"My experience could have been very different." Earlier this year, Ian Millner announced his intention to step away from agency Iris Worldwide that he co-founded and has overseen for 26 years.

Speaking with Rob Mayhew, a former staffer at Iris who was guest hosting the podcast Entrepreneurs in the Wild (Millner’s podcast), Millner remembers the beginning of the agency and relays some of his memories and insights from those experiences.

In the beginning

In his 20s and in a highly competitive market of creative agencies in the bustling London ad scene, Milner admits “absolutely nothing at all” made him think it was a good idea, but then he also wondered “How hard can it be?”. He admits the concept for Iris (and the name) came from a few conversations in a pub near Victoria with co-founder Stewart ‘Stewie’ Shanley in 1999.

This was spurred on by a "corporate shift" within his then employer IMP and the opportunity of bringing a group of people together to form a brilliant agency.

“IMP was going through a period where there was corporate changes going on - they were in the middle of an acquisition, and as a result, everybody was preoccupied with that and we were left unsupervised for too long. And one thing leads to another, as happens quite a lot in this industry, doesn't it? And before you know it, you've got a startup idea,” Millner explains.

He also reveals that the first phase of the agency’s journey was giving everyone a nickname. His was 'Ooh Ahh' after someone said he resembled Eric Cantona — for who Manchester United fans used to sing “Oooh aaah Cantona”. From there it evolved and was shortened to become 'Uzi'.

A flying start

The agency launched with client Sony Ericsson, which he describes as “an amazing stroke of luck” in the period before the advent of iPhone. At this time the brand had a quarter market share in the mobile phone space up against Blackberry and Nokia.

“It really was about trying to innovate and be exciting, and do things for customers and consumers that no one else was doing, and do things that were valuable,” he continues.

Almost immediately the agency grew to 40 people based in an office in Southwark, which would end up home to around 100 staff over time. This followed more clients buying into the Iris ethos and momentum behind it.

Millner remembers the culture at that point as being one that prized freedom, opportunism, and risk-taking but admits that it lacked an outside perspective at the time. That meant they embraced both financial and reputational risks while feeling unconcerned when experiments failed because they were free to try anything at that stage. That freedom attracted clients such as the Discovery Channel and led to sustained growth over the years.

Mayhew remembers his time at the agency as “exciting” with the advent of digital and the evolution of below-the-line advertising that allowed Iris to adapt to new technologies and evolve, drawing parallels with the current emergence of AI.

“We were brilliant at innovation and ideas and breakthrough moments, but not very good at commercializing them or operationalising them,” admits Millner. “It meant that we would win really big, exciting clients for a while, and then we would lose them and have to go and find another one because of the execution.”

The agency thrived on great ideas with a culture that encouraged a freedom to take those further, such as hosting a gig on a plane for Jamiroquai or introducing a nightclub queue jump for people with a condom, produced for The Department of Health, and the design of London 2012 Olympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville. There was also sponsorship work with Barclays, which saw the agency influence the board decision to invest in women’s football, activating that through ads, content, and events.

Selling to Cheil and stepping back

While there were tricky times for the business where it was overstretched when navigating the financial crisis of 2008, it remained in robust health. He shares various memories and anecdotes from over the years – unique stories that could only come from the world of advertising over the last two decades.

After 15 years, the agency was approached by Cheil while working with Samsung (which owns the network) leading to its acquisition.

“We had a fantastic relationship with them. A really successful earn out - they did everything that they said they would - they helped us in certain markets and they also helped us with our Samsung relationship as well,” Millner explains.

Ten years on from that deal, Millner has now chosen to step away from his agency and admits that his feelings are “a mixed bag”, as he feels that Iris is who he is through the relationships built and the habits developed from being around the business for a quarter of a century.

Despite some misgivings, he is excited for the next chapter which will continue to allow him to be entrepreneurial while working with businesses (most likely agencies) to overcome their challenges and help steer their direction as they aim to scale.

“I have seen in some of the holding companies where you get a lot of clients coming into the board setting; clients generally are very good at being professional, and strategic, and ordered. But being in an agency is different to that, you've got to be much more of an animal. There are more layers to it - there's just something else about it. If you can find a way of bringing those sides together, I think you've got something that can be really successful,” he believes.

Despite stepping away, he remains positive about the ad industry and the future of Iris too, stating that he will continue to work with it on a non exec basis too, although he promises not to be heavily involved.

He describes it as being “more backing other people and enabling them to achieve their ideas… so more of a shadowy, off the grid character who's there to facilitate and excite other people on their on their journeys.”

The full interview can be viewed and heard via the Entrepreneurs in the Wild YouTube and Spotify channels.