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About The brand connections agency that always asks 'why?'

Connecting brands to the source of their value

Helping brands connect with their audiences is why we exist. It’s our purpose. It’s what gets us out of bed each day and turns the wheels of our agency. But what does that mean? Well, it’s a philosophy and a way of working. It’s a focus that ensures we create people-oriented connector brands.

The Escape in numbers

  • 23 years young

    It all started with 2 blokes, a little black book, a giant Nokia, an Escape out the back door and a desire to do it better. 23 years later and we’re a grown up agency. Well, almost.

  • 23 specialists

    175 years of combined knowledge and experience under one roof. The perfect combo of smart strategists, brilliant creatives, magnificent managers and technical gurus.

  • 7 dogs

    Massive to miniature, our four legged friends are part of the team. They are the masters of positive distraction… it can’t all be work, work, work.

  • 1 Farmhouse

    Packed full of character and charm, the house we call home is where the magic happens. It’s purely chance that our garden backs onto a pub. Honest.

Man looking at whiteboard

What is a connector brand?

A connector brand seeks to understand how best to form a long-term, meaningful relationship with its users and how to connect with deeper intensity and greater frequency. A connector brand knows its audiences, understands their needs and responds strategically and creatively to engage and convert. It realises the value in existing relationships and how to create new ones.

Brand

Audience

30%

Increase in direct bookings, reducing dependency on OTA's

90%

Occupancy rate across the park

500,000

Baking kits and Baking Club subscription products sold over the past 12 months

17,000

Website users more than doubled from 6,000 to 17,000 in the first 10 months

What we do

Our passion for creating connector brands informs our every action and interaction. We interrogate your challenge making sure the ‘audience’ filter is applied.

We identify your users, understand what makes them tick, where they can be found and how they could best connect with your brand. We step into their shoes, living the brand as they see it. We look ahead and identify opportunity and innovation. For us, the work is never done.

What’s in it for you?

Authentic relationships

A brand that is connected to the source of  its value – its users, influencers, loyal advocates and brand lovers.

Differentiation

A brand that is differentiated visually and verbally based on audience insight.

Engagement

A brand that engages in a unified, consistent, timely and persuasive way across relevant channels. 

Competitive advantage

A brand that maximises competitive advantage based on people over product.

Value

A brand that adds bottom line value based on strategic and operational alignment.

The way we do things

We live and breathe insight, strategy, creativity and technology, but there’s more to us than that. We’re driven, relentlessly compelled to achieve, curious to know more and open-minded about what next and where next. We have the courage to try new things, embrace the unexpected and step out of the comfort zone. We are The Escape and this is how we do things…

  • 1. We ask why

    Why… or purpose, is at the very heart of all our work. We ask why with the end users of our client's brands in mind. We create why so the brands we work with have purpose. We challenge with why to ensure we solve problems and deliver value. We use why to ask each other if we’ve produced our best work.

  • 2. Listen and learn

    We pride ourselves on asking all the right questions, but more importantly, listening to the answers and being open-minded before we make assumptions. We’re inquisitive and love to learn. We know each client, brand and person we partner with is unique, so we treat them as such, taking the time to listen, learn and understand.

  • 3. People partnerships

    Successful outcomes rely on strong relationships, friendships even. Our partnerships with our clients and their customers has been our foundation for success for the last 22 years. We create successful outcomes built on knowledge, mutual respect, trust, honesty and collaboration. If you’re looking for a supplier, you’ve come to the wrong place. If you’re after a brand guardian and committed extension of your team, then let’s get started.

  • 4. Deep thinking

    The first idea is rarely the best idea, so we don’t stop until we’ve thought hard, explored every angle and tested every possibility to ensure we have done our best, for you. From client service to creative concepts, the simple to the sensational, we take on every challenge with a courageous, deep thinking approach.

  • 5. Always aspirational

    Whatever your measurement criteria, expectation or desire, you can rest assured that our own benchmark of success will be higher. We are only as good as the last thing we did, so it needs to be the very best each time. We hold the achievements of our work and our clients success in the highest regard, so you can guarantee we will always be aspiring for greatness, for both of us.

  • 6. Make work fun

    For us, hard work is a hygiene factor. But life gets very dull very quickly if you don’t have fun while you’re doing it. So, forgive us the studio banter, fancy dress moments, BBQ’s under a brolly and the pimping of an Escapee Facebook page every now and then (never leave your laptop unattended!). It’s these things that keep a smile on our faces and the creative courage flowing through our veins.

Employees discussing ideas

Our senior team

150 collective years of expert strategic, creative, technical and client service talent. With experience working on some of the worlds biggest brands across pharma, leisure, retail, hospitality and more, this is us…

  • Adam Frame Senior Developer
    Adam Frame Senior Developer

    Adam Frame

    Senior Developer

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    Andre Wilkinson

    Senior Performance Specialist

  • Charlotte Street Project Manager
    Charlotte Street Project Manager

    Charlotte Street

    Delivery Director

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    Emily Barnett

    Client Partner

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    Emily Stewart-Wooler

    Senior Marketing Executive

  • Guy Nicholson Head of Creative
    Guy Nicholson Head of Creative

    Guy Nicholson

    Head of Brand and Creative

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    Guy Spriggs

    Full Stack Developer

  • Ian Mumford Creative Director
    Ian Mumford Creative Director

    Ian Mumford

    Chief Executive Officer

  • Jacqui Sanwell Head of Finance
    Jacqui Sanwell Head of Finance

    Jacqui Sanwell

    Finance and Operations Director

  • John Pike Head of UX and UI
    John Pike Head of UX and UI

    John Pike

    Strategy Director

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    team member image

    Karina Waller

    Senior Project Partner

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    Katie Van Der Walt

    Senior Paid Media Specialist

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    Leanne Renowden

    Client Partner

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    Lucy Ford

    Project Partner

  • Nicky Chute Head of Marketing
    Nicky Chute Head of Marketing

    Nicky Chute

    Head of Marketing

  • Rob Jones Managing Director
    Rob Jones Managing Director

    Rob Jones

    Founder

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    team member image

    Shannon Webb

    Client Services Coordinator

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    Tara Wilson

    Brand and Digital Creative

  • Tom Hopkins Senior Front-End Developer
    Tom Hopkins Senior Front-End Developer

    Tom Hopkins

    Senior Front-End Developer

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    team member image

    Xan Redelinghuys

    Full Stack Developer

Sitting in director

Careers

We're only as strong as the sum of our parts, and we like to think our Escapees are the very best. If you're blessed with talent, energy and you know you'll thrive in our hard working, fun-fuelled agency, then maybe you could be our next great Escapee. Take a closer look at what makes us, and our team, tick.

Join the team

Clients we call friends

Since our formation in 1998, we have been fortunate to partner with an inspiring array of global enterprises, SMEs and exciting start-ups. The common theme? They’re all brands that share our passion for purposeful connections with people.

  • CLIENT FEEDBACK

    The Escape is a team that we’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with and will be pleased to recommend.

    Mark Vincent
    Director, Amiri
  • CLIENT FEEDBACK

    The Escape, it's in their name. I'm able to Escape in my day to day work and not worry as everything is in hand with the team!

    Veena Mistry
    Community Specialist, ConnectWise
  • CLIENT FEEDBACK

    The Escape is the most professional agency I have ever worked with. The quality of their team, and the quality of the output, was exceptional from start to finish.

    Matthew Roach
    Head of Marketing, Harbour Hotels