by MarkLives (@MarkLives) Cape Town-based youth engagement specialist agency, Andpeople — which was founded in 2012 by Michael Leslie — will close its doors from 30 June 2020. The move will affect 23 staff members.
Over the past eight years, the agency worked on Adidas, Levi’s, Red Bull Mobile, Spotify, Ray-Ban, Oakley, Vogue, Netflix, Jose Cuervo, Glenfiddich, Sunglass Hut, and Bacardi, among others. Andpeople Australia will continue to operate and service the needs of its client base in the APAC region.
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Comments Leslie, “Just two months ago, Andpeople closed our best financial year in history. With eight, strong years of growth under our belt, we felt confident and poised for the next chapter of our story. Unfortunately, however, the impacts of covid-19 have been as unexpected as they have been severe. From initial project pauses and budget reductions to full-blown budget and relationship terminations, our clients’ businesses without exception have been exposed to extreme pressure, and this pressure has subsequently, without exception, been transferred to us.
“With great uncertainty and volatility expected for the short-medium term future, we’ve been challenged to make a tough decision — scale down significantly and ‘survive’ the next 18-24 months, or close Andpeople in the way we’ve always prided ourselves on operating as a business, with compassion, honesty, accountability and integrity.”
“This is not a failure”
Adds Duncan MacLennan, Andpeople MD and partner, “We have chosen the latter as a proactive response to an unprecedented crisis, and recognition that the business that existed eight weeks ago is no longer a viable one today. For us at Andpeople, survival would require a complete restructuring of the business, drastic reduction in headcount, significant changes in the ways of working and, undoubtedly, other changes that this stage would be impossible to anticipate.
“What we do know, though, is that the Andpeople that we all know and love would not be the same. In many ways, it would be unrecognisable. Critically, this is not a failure. This is an acknowledgement that, when the world changes, we need to change with it, and an opportunity to re-imagine what brands and businesses will need to thrive in a post-covid era.”
Note to companies hiring: MacLennan may be contacted via LinkedIn to connect you with Andpeople staff members looking for new placements.
See also
- #AgencyFocus: andPeople wants you to get the youth market
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