Revolt : The Opportunity for Brand Purpose

This year is proving to be a game changer for Revolt, the creative consultancy that focuses on supporting brands in activating their purpose, operating at the intersection of creativity and sustainability.

It began its eighth year by merging with another business focused on sustainability communications, Anthesis Group. Revolt has since begun to evolve its US presence with the hiring of former BBDO New York chief executive Kirsten Flanik.

Flanik, who led the Omnicom-owned agency for seven years and spent over 18 years holding executive posts within it joined Revolt in June, reuniting her with some former BBDO colleagues in the process. One of those is Richard Arscott, the former AMV BBDO MD and the CEO of Revolt since March. He previously led the US expansion as president from when he joined Revolt in 2020 from his then-home in Seattle, having moved to California the year before. Another is the agency’s co-founder Alex Lewis, the former strategy director for BBDO EMEA.

“We didn’t just work together, we created together,” says Flanik of the trio’s time at BBDO. “I was very fortunate during my 18 years at BBDO to work with the best talent that has probably ever existed in the industry, but what we did when we worked together was just one of those moments in time where you knew that when I was partnering with these people, that it was on another level.”

Flanik adds that the rapport means they can speak plainly to one another having built trust and respect over the years that allows them to get on with the task in hand – growing the agency across the US. And with a client base that already includes ABInBev, Diageo, Kraft Heinz, Mars and PepsiCo after four years since its launch in America, demonstrates the potential for further growth.

 The agency also has a small team already in place in the US, supported by the UK operation.

Arscott, who has now returned to the UK having laid the foundations for the US, says that he and Lewis began to discuss the possibility of one day bringing in Flanik "early on" after he joined in 2020 and what it would take. She left BBDO at the end of 2023, making the prospect more of a reality with conversations beginning not long afterwards, adds Arscott.

He believes that it is no surprise that he and Flanik ended up taking a "slightly entrepreneurial" route with both hoping to create a positive impact with the businesses they work with.

“What became apparent quite quickly is that there is an appetite for this kind of work in the US, and there's lots of opportunity,” he explains of his early work at the agency in scoping out its potential for expansion. “You only have to work in the US for a short time to realise the scale, the appetite and the ambition at all levels.”

Describing Revolt as “a future-facing business,” Flanik believes that the industry is becoming increasingly segmented with agencies offering specialisms required by different clients. Revolt’s specialism of helping brands to do good and communicate their sustainable performance alongside social and environmental impact is something she sees as increasingly in demand from the biggest corporates to start-up brands.

“When you think about what the best brands out there have done to succeed… more often than not, purpose-led companies enroll customers and engage their employees and they engage communities, and that's what I believe we have the opportunity to do,” she says. Revolt has built its successful business in the knowledge that increasingly polarised society poses complex challenges for brands seeking to grow market share without contributing to further fragmentation, and that marketers need to act responsibly while achieving commercial success.

The business is now building out its North American capabilities and teams and working with the Revolt’s existing clients which have a foothold within the US, while a new business drive has also begun with an aim of building on the momentum created by the hire of its new CEO.

A time for brands to be thoughtful

The proposition for Revolt is timely with society witnessing deep polarisation on both sides of the Atlantic over the last decade, meaning that marketers must be more thoughtful than ever about the marketing communications they produce. And when it comes to talking about brand purpose and making promises – they are also under more scrutiny that ever before from both the public and from regulators too.

In recognition of that, last year the agency released a report named ‘Poking the Bear’ which states that “purpose is at a crossroads” for marketers. One insight from 1,000 US consumers was that 42 per cent of respondents preferred it when brands ‘stick to their knitting’ with the majority preferring them to ‘advocate for issues’ which could place them in difficult conversations.

“There is no business as usual," Arscott explains when it comes to the constant shifts that take place within America’s news cycle. “There is no calm period followed by a period of upheaval,” he continues.

“You have to be out there taking a stance on an issue, or indeed not taking a stance on an issue, but by not taking a stance you’re as much as taking one, so how are you going to navigate that?” he explains around how marketers must view the current climate of polarisation.

And with the US now taking strides, and owner Anthesis being an international business, it seems only a matter of time before Revolt begins to look even further afield to APAC where the role of purpose is just as prevalent. It’s not yet underway, the pair caveat, however.

Talking about her ambition for the business over the next 12 months, Flanik unsurprisingly wants to bring in new clients and is also keen that this becomes an agency with great talent and one that becomes the first stop of marketers when they are looking for purpose-led ideas.

“My opportunity is to help clients become more aware and better understand how Revolt meets the growing needs and the pressure that C-suites and brands are facing and so many are looking to define a purpose-driven strategic position that drives corporate and brand strategy. We have a great story to tell - my job is to tell it,” she concludes.