School Reports 2024: Amplify

Type of agency and ownership Independent creative agency
Nielsen billings 2023 n/a
Declared income n/s
Total accounts at year end 65
Accounts won 27 (biggest: Chanel Beauty)
Accounts lost 1 (Chivas Regal)

Number of staff 207 (+1%)
Key personnel Jonathan Emmins, founder and global chief executive; Jeavon Smith, chief creative officer; Sophy Vanner Critoph, head of strategy, UK management team; Hannah Partridge, head of client services; Anton Mercier, chair
Females in senior management 49%
BAME in senior management 21%
Females in permanent staff 63%
Other/non-binary in permanent staff 1%
BAME in permanent staff 27%
BAME in entry-level recruits 68%
Churn rate among permanent staff in 2023 33%
Gender pay gap 17%
BAME pay gap 45%
Living Wage Foundation accredited Yes
Star player Rachel Matovu, strategy director. “Rachel's culturally intuitive perspective on comms transforms our work, inspiring our clients globally.”

Amplify can look back on its 2023 with pride. It won Campaign’s Brand Experience Agency of the Year at the Campaign Agency of the Year Awards, and also took three out of 10 spots in Campaign’s Top 10 Live Experiences in 2023’s Lists.

Standout work included an experience for Lego, "The superpower academy", which invited families to test their problem-solving skills, learn about the power of play and flex their creativity in London’s Shoreditch. Campaign named it the fourth best live experience of the year.

Its Playstation 5 "Live from PS5" experience (pictured) and "Possibility place" with Pinterest also turned heads and made Campaign's Top 10. For the former, a giant Leviathan Axe smashed into the pavement at London's Southbank, while a pop-up experience aimed to bring the social media platform into the real world for the latter.

Amplify nabbed 27 new accounts in 2023, with Abercrombie & Fitch, eBay, Just Eat Takeaway, Hasbro and Red Bull joining its books. It had one loss – Chivas Regal – bringing an almost decade-long relationship to an end.

Internally, the shop exceeded its target of 20% of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds,
hitting 27%. It has now pushed the target to 30% by the end of 2024. The agency also has 21% of its senior leaders from BAME backgrounds, up from 16% last year.

However, this comes as its BAME pay gap widened from 16% (2021) to 28% (2022) to 45% in 2023—which it said has been negatively distorted by shifting its focus to creating opportunities for junior talent.

Amplify’s ability to win and retain business while creating exciting work sets the agency up for another strong year.

MARK	AGENCY'S OWN MARK	MARK LAST YEAR
8	8	8

From the headmistress: "A great year doesn't need amplification."

2023 in the agency's words
Amplify is a creative agency specialising in experience and culture, solving problems, breaking formats and worldbuilding for some of the most innovative brands globally. In 2023, we've expanded our capabilities to activate our platform ideas across multiple channels, media touchpoints and geographies. Amplify's marketing narratives and campaigns are co-authored and crafted to connect with audiences in innovative and imaginative ways, all so that we can help our clients contribute to culture in a meaningful way. With the blurring marketing landscape, our worldbuilding approach and continued commitment to breaking formats, we believe the most exciting creative work is still to come.