In 2015 I founded, Action Productions, a creative agency that specialised in social strategy and content. People were throwing the term “viral” around a lot at the time, but we were a rare breed of agency folk that could actually walk the walk, averaging over 17 million organic views on each of our campaigns in year one.
In late 2016 we merged with the hugely successful publisher, Jungle Creations, and together we quickly established ourselves the second most viewed social media company in the world. My team became the in-house creative agency and I took on the role of Managing Partner & Chief Creative Officer.
Over the next couple of years, we grew the agency from 55 to 150 staff, expanding from our London office into Toronto, New York, and LA. We produced work for incredible brands, surpassing a billion video views on our campaigns, and picking up multiple awards along the way, including at Cannes upon the first time of entry.
After five years of amazing but intense work, I stepped back from Jungle in 2019, and in 2021 we sold 51% of the business to the renowned private equity firm, Livingbridge.
Post Jungle, I’ve been working as a creative director & consultant, helping larger agencies improve their social offering (inc Ogilvy, VCCP, & TBWA). However, I’m now setting up my second business in the mental health and wellness space.
Social ad spend is growing 20% YoY and is predicted to overtake TV this year. Yet many agencies still don’t get it, so their clients end up going to social specialist. I help these agencies use strategy, insight, and best practice to improve their social offering. This varies from cracking the formula for viral ads (thoughts in Campaign here), through to A/B testing performance ads to maximise sales.
I pride myself in being able to develop ideas that not only meet client objectives, but ideas that people actually stop scrolling for. My campaigns have been shared on social by over 16 million people, which is crazy because they’re ads, but exciting because viewers are statistically far more likely to engage and act upon content their friends share.
I produced my first idea on a shoestring budget, and it went on to achieve 64 million views in a week. From here, I built and managed the production team within the agency, with our full portfolio being produced in-house. I have vast knowledge and contacts within this world, and enjoy assembling production teams from scratch or working closely with production houses to execute the vision.
© Henry Hitchcox 2022