Boutique agency with plans to create its own Northern Powerhouse

“THE Northern Powerhouse can be an even stronger brand than Yorkshire – that is powerful,” said DS.Emotion director Matt Button.

It is a big claim, but having spent two decades in place marketing – “without bigging ourselves up too much, we came up with the idea of place marketing,” said founder Angus Armitage – the cousins running DS.Emotion are well-placed to make it.

The agency started life in London in the early 1990s before heading north, first to Leeds and then, two years ago, also opening a studio in Manchester.

Mr Button said: “We work nationally. As a business that has operated in and out of London, we really, really see the value of having a head office in the north.

“I think the north has that openness. They have all got people who are prepared to talk to you.

“The cities need to work together and take everyone along with them.

“The problem is that certain cities are going to more more quickly than others, but no-one can be left behind.”

DS.Emotion’s work has included Trinity Leeds, Carnaby Street and Stoke-on-Trent, creating or repositioning identities for places including large-scale developments and areas that have “lost their way”.

“There aren’t many people who do place marketing,” said Mr Armitage, “and very few that do it well.”

He added: “You don’t want something artificial or manufactured. It has to be justifiable.”

DS.Emotion, which employs 30 people, with the majority based in Leeds, is happy to describe itself as a boutique agency but has aspirations to be a big, or at least bigger, boutique agency.

“We use the word ’boutique’ a lot,” said Mr Button. “It makes you think of a smaller agency, but it is one that is close to its clients.

“When you say boutique and growth in the same sentence, it can sound odd to people.

“We are exploring how we can grow without changing our relationship with our clients. We don’t want to be a factory.”

The agency grew by 27% in its last financial year and expects to achieve similar growth this year, boosted by work in the medical, healthcare and technology sectors.

“Through that specialism in those sectors, it helps us deliver things that are right for our clients,” said Mr Armitage.

It also puts its growth down to a handful of other key aspects – location, and getting face-to-face with clients; retaining clients through building long-term relationships; and developing alliances and partnerships to broaden its ability to deliver.

The future may bring another acquisition, which is how it added a Manchester base in 2013, with the ability to find the right people the driver on choosing its next city to expand into.

Mr Button said: “Our growth could well be accelerated through more offices in the north. Being in different locations and different cities is the route to our growth.”