"Do a good job, have a good time..."
MD, Lynn Chambers, coined this phrase as the unofficial slogan for Toucan, The Storytelling Agency. It’s not written down anywhere, but says everything about the approach of my Co-Founder Lynn and myself, Sally Nettleton. Friends for over 30 years, previously known as comedy double act, Chambers and Nettleton, and if you really do your research, the singing/dancing duo ‘The Shrinking Violets’, which we most certainly are not, having braved the working mens’ clubs of the North East of England.
We have always been at ease in front of an audience.
Lynn also found time to travel the world as a singer on a cruise ship (don’t mention the sparkly frock) and I trained and worked as an actress, but these are just some of the ‘lives’ we have lived before creating Toucan.
Our friendship and the way we treat each other and those around us is the foundation on which the agency was built. We aren’t just best friends, we’re family and if you join Toucan or work with the agency, you’re going to become part of the family. You’ll find warmth, loyalty, trust and kindness along with some straight talking and a heavy dose of irreverent humour.
I always say, “Behaving like a decent human being is the starting point for everything.”
Back to ‘Do a good job, have a good time’.
At Toucan, we do a very ‘good job’ in developing strategy and creative for a range of needs that deliver across campaigns, films and events. We approach each project with enthusiasm, great communication and our hugely talented team regularly give their all, because job satisfaction comes from working with great people and creating work of high calibre. There’s a lot of laughter, a lot of care and consideration and when we celebrate, which is often, we do have a very ‘good time’.
So, how did a comedy double act wind up running a creative agency?
Firstly, long before Lynn was a comedian and a singer on a cruise ship (seriously - don’t mention the sparkly frock) she was the PR manager for Flymo. Working alongside the marketing director, for years she was ‘client side’ and during that time developed clear opinions around how agencies work with brands. She fought in the ‘lawnmower wars’ - worth a Google if you’ve not familiar with this piece of advertising history* and saw how the knocking campaign waged by Qualcast rallied the troops at Flymo, pulled the company together against a common foe and made it a thrilling place to work. Remember former British Prime Minister, John Major? Lynn deftly managed to hand him Flymo’s new Garden Vac while he was being filmed for the evening news - quite the PR coup. She’s always had a nose for a big splash and has an instinct for what will catch the imagination.
Fast forward to the beginning of Toucan.
The first big contract was with GSK for the GSK IMPACT Awards in partnership with The King’s Fund. The challenge was to produce an awards event with films from ten winning charities who worked with some of the most marginalised people in UK society. The brief had parameters that included the protection of vulnerable people. The charities were nervous, many had been burned by insensitive filmmakers before, but the team knew these stories were powerful and if handled correctly could shape opinion and be game changers for the charities.
I have NLP coaching expertise and ensured all the participants were treated with understanding, authenticity and a commitment to leave everyone feeling the experience had been positive. Our comedy background came in useful and proved a benefit when dealing with quite often difficult circumstances. Having an ease and understanding of people from all walks of life with a knack for storytelling in terms of timing and word choice, comes from performing in front of a crowd and is a hard won skill. Equally, we both knew how to help clients present, perform to camera and be authentic to bring out the best of themselves.
We’re delighted that The GSK IMPACT Awards is now GSK’s flagship UK charitable programme.
How did we grow?
Word of mouth. Toucan delivers excellent work and clients enjoy working with us. Lynn says “They have fun in the meetings and on the calls and we did our best to anticipate their needs and ask the tricky questions because we’re always strategic thinkers first.” Lynn also knew clients wanted a more consultative and collaborative approach because she’d had previous experience when working client side, of being on the receiving end of agencies with an inflexible attitude who neglected to consider that clients have industry insight too.
Where did the team come from?
Word of mouth again. Toucan collected talented people from recommendations. Freelancers who began with a ‘one off’ project, are now, years later full time employees. Comedy connections aren’t far away either. Barry Castagnola, our Head of Film, is a BAFTA nominated director, comedian, writer and feature film producer. We met back in 1999 when we were all doing the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His partner, Helen Kimmerling came on board for a project during the pandemic, bringing with her over 20 years of running live projects from the UK to overseas locations and is now our Client Services Director. Helen had worked previously with Rachel Hepburn, once an agency owner herself with 360 degree experience of the corporate, media and agency worlds, returning to her marketing roots to be our Marketing Director. And so the core of our leadership team came together.
Why the rebrand?
In 2022 Toucan produced their biggest project to date, a global satellite broadcast reaching 70,000 employees across four time zones from five sites around the world, including a live event for 1,000 people at London’s Battersea Evolution. The Toucan team produced it all, the TV style broadcast, each of the satellite watch parties, the comms campaign and the film content. It was a watershed moment for the agency and proof they had the skills and talent to handle incredibly complex productions with flair, attention to detail and powerful storytelling.
In 2023 the agency undertook a brand refresh and reposition the new value proposition. It was an inevitable step. Lynn says “Our success has always been grounded not only in our creativity, but in our strategic thinking. In welcoming Creative Partner Rob Steeles and Creative Strategy Director Nuria McGlinchey to the team we’ve amplified and reinforced Toucan’s position as a creative force in the industry.”
What does the future hold?
Is it a paradox to form a culture that is both genuinely caring and continually striving for excellence? It shouldn’t be. People are at their most productive when they’re happy. Some businesses have their mission rooted in helping millions of people around the world, ours looks closer to home first. Do a good job, have a good time. If every business operated from this simple attitude, people would feel safe to be themselves at work and know it’s ok to be vulnerable. Working life would be more satisfying, individuals would risk more and be increasingly original in their problem solving. A healthy work/life balance would actually exist and the people at the heart of it would know they always had a family to fall back on.
The Toucan story continues on…
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