Collectivist network Coffee with: Stella and Miek from Progress Communications
The Collectivist network was joined by the Progress Communications team from the Benelux region during April. In business for more than 20-years supporting B2B and consumer tech companies entering and growing out of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, the Progress team blends excellent marketing and communications expertise, deep tech credentials and a healthy dose of fun to their services. Here we have Coffee with agency leaders, Stella and Miek.
Collectivist network Q: What would your elevator pitch be if I were a new client? What would you tell me about this business?
Stella: We are a leading marketing, digital marketing, and PR agency that works with technology-driven companies. I often say that if there’s a ‘chip or a plug’ involved, we’re interested and we can help. If not, it’s probably a ‘no’ from us.
Miek: I would say we’re a marketing communications agency. I don’t make the distinction between a digital marketing agency and a PR agency—I simply call it marketing communications.
Q: How did you come to be managing Progress?
Stella: I started as a junior at an agency (the owner ran two agencies at the time). After five years, I moved from one agency to the other agency as a senior. After one year as a senior, I told the owner it would be better for me to become the managing director and run the business! And that’s exactly what happened!
Miek: I started as an account manager at an independent agency. I grew into the executive team, but after we were acquired, I wasn’t fond of the big agency processes, reporting, and structure (and those Excel sheets). That’s why I chose to join a smaller, more exciting, independent agency again—Progress. I’ve been with Progress for seven years this month.
Q: How do you divide your roles?
Stella: We work in split offices—I’m in the Netherlands, and Miek is in Belgium, which is an obvious difference. Miek has a great eye for all our tools and processes.
Miek: It’s strange but true — I do have more involvement with processes despite not believing they are not my natural strength! Stella is really good at keeping our focus on the horizon, getting the teams to understand where we are going and how we should get there.
Q: Is your team set up in service-siloes or are they multi-skilled?
Stella: Our team reflects our clients’ needs well so we have pure PR people, hybrids, and some that focus mostly on marketing. The marketing experts in the team are highly technical too and bring skills for distributing campaigns through channels like LinkedIn, SEO, etc. We like to call ourselves “a sheep with five legs,” which is our way of saying the team is extraordinary and unique.
Q: Tell me about the culture in the two offices. I read a fascinating piece of research that categorised company cultures into four types: innovative and entrepreneurial, numbers and sales-driven, process-driven and organised, or family-friendly. Where do you fit?
Stella: It’s hard to choose just one for us, but I’d say we’re entrepreneurial with a strong eye for processes. As a smaller agency, we were more innovative and entrepreneurial. But as we’ve grown, we’ve had to implement processes to maintain quality. We force ourselves to pay attention to processes and constantly reinforce how we want things done.
What services do you offer to tech companies?
Q: Stella: We have clients who are purely PR-driven, and others who focus solely on using our digital marketing services. And then we have clients for whom we do everything. That’s what the team enjoys most—bridging silos and working closely together to make everything click. It makes the work more interesting and fulfilling for the team
The Collectivist network agencies love tech, what is a typical client for you?
Q: Stella: When I say, “plugs and chips,” it’s because these are essential elements in technology, and they can apply to so many things. Since everything is becoming technology-driven, our potential client base keeps expanding, which makes the work more interesting for our team.
We tend to focus more on scale-ups rather than startups, but our team also has great experience working with those much larger, established businesses.
Q: What’s the split between B2B and consumer clients?
Miek: I find that question difficult to answer because it’s often influenced by the economy. Right now, we’re seeing more B2B clients. I’d say it’s about 60% B2B and 40% B2C. But, there are times when B2C is more prominent.
On the B2B side, we work with clients targeting industries like healthcare, finance, and education. On the B2C side, robotics is booming — things like robotic vacuums and lawnmowers. We’re currently working with a client in the “smart home cleaning” industry, which is exciting because it could cover a lot of areas—robotic pool cleaners, window cleaners, gutter cleaners, etc.
Q: And, finally, any highlights from the past 20-years?
There have been many, but this month Progress was recognised by PRovokeMedia as one of the 50 best agencies in continental Europe. It’s a real honour for the team and highlights our rapid growth, diversification into integrated digital marketing services, and our vibrant culture!
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If you need help with international technology PR, marketing or communications, especially in the Benelux region, please do get in touch with the Collectivist network and signup to our newsletter.
