Revolt: The promise of sustainable impact for brands

Revolt's journey through 2024 is a testament to an agency amplifying its voice in the challenging realm of purposeful creativity. Now operating under the ownership of Anthesis - which acquired the agency in January - co-founders Alex Lewis, Pete Bardell, and UK CEO Richard Arscott and the Revolt team are now not not just on a mission to accelerate business transformation for brands pursuing greater sustainability, but scaling their clients' ambitions to do just that powered by data and a scientific rigour.

The move has allowed it to grow brands, corporate reputations, and guide clients to using sustainability to drive real business performance. It has also strengthened its international offer, bringing in a new chief executive to lead its charge in the US - with the hiring of former BBDO New York chief executive Kirsten Flanik.

Anthesis is a B Corp-certified global sustainability consultancy established in 2013, and has worked with clients including Reckitt, Cisco, Tesco, The North Face and Target. Its acquisition of Revolt marks its first foray into marketing and communications, while giving Revolt's marketing a boost among C-suite decision-makers.

We asked Arscott to chart the agency's success and highlights of the year. 2024 was the purpose-led marketing consultancy's most creatively awarded year to date.

Richard Arscott, UK CEO on the agency's 2024

What have been the major highlights for your business in 2024?

2024 has been an incredibly transformative year for Revolt. We merged with Anthesis, we appointed a new CEO for North America, Kirsten Flanik, and we welcomed new clients such as Colgate, Nike, Honda, and The Earthshot Prize.

2024 was also Revolt's most creatively awarded year to date, with five wins at Creative Circle (one Gold, two Silver, two Bronze), a Bronze Clio, two Golds at Campaign’s Outdoor Media Awards, a Silver at ADC*E, and we were shortlisted at Cannes Lions, Clio Health, The ANDYs, and British Arrows. We also won Gold at Ocean Outdoor's Digital Creative Competition for Frazzled, which is due to be brought to life in the first half of 2025.

We worked with St John Ambulance to produce the CPR Bra, based on the shocking insight that 1-in-3 people are afraid to give women CPR to women due to fear of touching their breasts. The campaign was fronted by Chelsea and Lioness legend Millie Bright, along with broadcaster and DJ, Ashley James, broadcaster, disability activist and content creator, Lucy Edwards and activist, Sharon Gaffker. It went gangbusters, receiving 1.2bn impressions, 150 pieces of coverage across nearly every national media outlet (including BBC Breakfast), and helped to break the touch taboo.

We helped Frazzled, the mental health charity by Ruby Wax, launch its first major ad campaign since its 2017 inception, featuring a new design and comedic tone that aims to deepen audience connections and make discussions about emotions more approachable. The film has been viewed 140,000 times on Instagram, shared by celebrities including Dawn French, Fearne Cotton, Alan Carr, Annie Mac and Paloma Faith, and increased visitors to Frazzled sessions by 61 per cent.

And we were delighted to broaden our scope with existing clients. For PepsiCo, we announced Gatorade’s global moonshot goal, brand film, and impact website and acted as strategic partners for Lays, embedding their sustainable farming efforts into product quality communications across Europe. And for AB InBev, we created a new partnership between Corona and Mission Blue activated through the Olympics to bring hope to ocean conservation, featuring Olympian surfer Tatiana Weston-Webb and kitesurfer Martin Dolenc across two immersive films.

What is your proudest achievement from the last 12 months?

With the pace we move at Revolt it’s hard to pick one single achievement. But by far the biggest and most exciting opportunity we’ve realised is our merger with Anthesis at the start of the year, which along with our new sister agencies at the likes of Given and Charlescannon have bolstered our capabilities tenfold. It’s provided the storydoing to our storytelling, and allows us to grow brands, corporate reputations, and guide clients to using sustainability to drive real business performance.

What are you most looking forward to next year?

We have an incredible canvas of clients across the world, and our partnership with Anthesis has only grown the opportunity to work alongside them to create sustainable impact in the world through their brands and actions.

What do you feel have been the greatest industry challenges for agencies this year and why?

For purpose specialists, it continues to be the turbulent and partisan political climate globally, and the continued spread of misinformation. It takes foresight and clarity of mind to operate in this environment but this is exactly where we operate at our best - guiding clients towards sustainable performance.

Has the addition of any AI solution made the profound impact on your business that was expected?

It continues to at pace, from research to design, storyboarding, and production, within which there’s always opportunity. Recently we’ve used it to validate ESG data, leading to more opportunities to tell transparent and credible stories. In our new Cost of Silence report, AI has been a key tool to help companies understand their corporate reputation more fully.

Creative Salon on Revolt's 2024

This year is proving to be a game changer for Revolt - It began its eighth year by merging with Anthesis, the largest global network of sustainability experts. Revolt is now doubling down on its mission to drive meaningful change, blending deep expertise with strategic vision to boost both brand performance and societal impact.

Subsequently for co-founders Pete Bardell and Alex Lewis, this year marks a transition. From Revolt’s first managing director coming on board in 2023 and the agency preparing to open its first office in the US, they've found themselves in their next chapter of growth.

This year also saw the arrival of Kirsten Flanik as CEO of North America, after a successful run at BBDO New York. Alongside her, Richard Arscott stepped into the role of UK CEO, showing that Revolt values homegrown talent and internal growth.

In line with its purpose-driven ethos, Revolt unveiled the “Poking the Bear” report, shedding light on how political perspectives shape views on key issues like climate change and LGBTQ+ rights. More importantly, it highlighted how even small tweaks in marketing language can help bridge divides and foster understanding.

In the healthcare arena, Revolt released a report advocating for a more people-centric approach to marketing. The findings emphasized the need for transparency and empathy, urging marketers to connect with consumers on a deeper level—something that resonates in today's landscape.

The agency also snagged the title of Top Creative Company 2024 from If You Could. This honour celebrates organisations that shine in areas like culture, craft, and leadership—an acknowledgement that feels especially rewarding for a team committed to creating a supportive and inspiring workplace.

The accolades continued to roll in too, with Revolt claiming five Creative Circle Awards for its impactful “Back To Bullying” campaign, including a Gold for PR Events & Stunts. The agency also took home Gold at the Brandon Hall Awards for its collaboration with L’Oreal USA in the Learning and Development category.

On the campaign front, Revolt teamed up with Budweiser to celebrate the legacy of England’s 1966 World Cup win. With new packaging featuring the phrase “Let’s Bring It Home” and a blessing from Sir Geoff Hurst, it was a heartfelt nod to the past. The follow-up campaign saw Hurst writing to His Majesty, asking for an extra day of celebration, showcasing Revolt's knack for blending nostalgia with modern messaging.

In a bid to raise awareness for ovarian cancer, Revolt rebranded Ovarian Cancer Action, crafting a vibrant new visual identity designed to reach and inspire more people in the fight against the disease.

Meanwhile, the agency joined forces with Ruby Wax’s Frazzled charity, re-launching with a campaign aimed at making conversations about mental health more accessible and relatable. The work also landed Revolt with a top prize in Ocean Outdoor’s annual Digital Creative Competition. New this year was a third category for Manchester’s Printworks SkyLights. The agency won two weeks of space on the 900 m2 full-motion LED ceiling for Frazzled and The Feeling Ceiling.

Adding to its creative feats, Revolt introduced the world’s first CPR Bra, tackling the hesitance around performing life-saving techniques on women with an inventive twist.

Creative Salon says.... As 2024 comes to a close, Revolt continues to carve out its niche as a leader in purpose-driven marketing, blending creativity with a commitment to social impact.

As businesses come find themselves under greater scrutiny to define a purpose-driven strategic position that drives corporate and brand strategy, Anthesis-owned Revolt continued grow is a testament to why it's more important than ever for brands to be clear about their values.

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 quite on the cards yet, but it will definitely not come as a surprise.