Interview: Nicola Adams – ‘Legacy is really important to me’

Nicola Adams has been at the head of Leicester marketing agency for over a decade – and at the company for nearly 20 years.

With a roster of international clients, Nicola is refocusing the company’s client development strategy to “business-to-many” (B2M).

We sat down with with one of the East Midlands’ most dynamic bosses and asked what this means for the her business – and her plans to expand CWA over the coming months and years.

Can you give me an overview of your career so far, and your journey to managing director at CWA?

I’ve been at CWA for almost 18 years, 13 as MD, so it’s already been a long time… I did have another life before working in America, but when I arrived back in the UK, I worked for a database management and fulfilment agency, that’s how I was introduced to CWA, they became a client.

The managing director of CWA at the time met me and offered me a job, CWA were in a completely different discipline to my existing sector, but he clearly saw something offered me a job as an account director. I’m forever grateful to the MD at the time because through CWA, I have been able to build my career here and realise my personal and professional dreams. The job I took on at the time was to manage UK clients, offering full service marketing and communications, but I was fiercely ambitious and quickly set my sights on the top job.

In December 2013, I finally became managing director and one of three shareholders, I haven’t looked back since. I was very proud to take the reins of a company that at that time was almost 50 years old, but also because CWA as a privately owned company had always sold to the internal team. I very much believe that the people who lead the agency are just custodians of the institution, and that’s how I run the business today, bringing up the next generation of owners.

I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved in the time I’ve been managing director. We’ve had to navigate a lot including steering the business successfully through a difficult COVID period and constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of clients. Everything we’ve done has led us to the place we are now – a well-respected international agency operating out of Glenfield.

How are you finding business at the moment; has the uncertainty around the economy for most of this year affected client spend?

Some of the key industry sector which have traditionally made up a significant proportion of our revenue over the last decade have faced challenges more recently, which in turn has meant some of the businesses we operate with have reduced budget but also choose to spend the budgets they do have differently. It’s not that they’ve stopped activity, more that they’ve got bigger challenges in making smaller budgets go further. We have seen this the most in the heavy vehicle and logistics sectors.

However, we’ve seen increased opportunities, revenue and conversion in other sectors such as rail, health & hygiene and future technology. It’s about being agile enough to adapt the agency offering, while maintaining our core values of client-first, creative with substance and collaboration not ego. As a result, the agency is in a healthy position with a strong headcount as we reach the end of 2024.

Next year we will have to continue to adapt to win new business and maintain the same high standards we’ve set for current retained clients. I love that challenge though… it’s what keeps me excited and driven!

Why the shift to B2M? What brought this about?

As part of the landscape shift we’ve seen over the last 18 months with some of our traditional B2B clients, we were already considering adapting our approach. We’ve also been fortunate to bring in some really talented people to join the agency during this last year, who bring with them B2C experience, but more so, that B2M knowledge.

Therefore we are pivoting our proposition, our client offering, our services and overall approach. We realised that there are a lot of competitors with specialisms in either B2B or B2C, but very few that could honestly provide a complete full-service B2M offering in the same way CWA could. We have the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver these services in-house and have already got a proven track record of results with existing clients.

What’s the next big thing in marketing? What should business owners know about?
Well everyone, us included, has been beating the drum about generative AI. So that’s well documented and not necessarily new news. But it’s fascinating none the less.

I think the big thing that owners need to be thinking about is hyper-personalisation. Marketers are using data to deliver content, offers and experiences uniquely tailored to individuals. This is also tied closely to privacy-centric marketing. Marketers are having to think of more transparent, consent-driven strategies.

At CWA we have, I think, possibly the most robust ISMS and data management procedures of any agency. Thanks to our client portfolio we’ve had to ensure that every single member of our team has a strong level of knowledge in the area and we even have agency champions in the field.

And what ‘s next for CWA? How do you intend to grow the business?

We’ve been around for a long time and my job is to drive the agency so we continue to service clients around the world, to build on a future for CWA that the local East Midlands community can be proud of and that people in the marketing communications industry instantly recognise.

Next year we’ve got some exciting plans that’ll really showcase our longevity and experience. We’re also looking at developing some new strategic partnerships and obviously we’ll look to continue to add to the talented team we have with some more new faces.

I’m really proud of the team I have here and I think our proposition is now as strong as it has ever been… I want to continue to ensure that the agency thrives and competes on a national and international level, but I’m also keen to build some more local and strategic partnerships. Legacy is really important to me and I’d like to reflect one day.