Writing our next brave chapter

I'll be honest. Seven and a half years ago, I sat opposite Narelle for my first interview and thought “who is the whirlwind of energy, and do I really want to take a leadership role in a telco heavy agency?” At the time my seven month old second son was being walked around the block by a friend with no childcare experience (thanks Aunty Lucy and Elle!) …so I'm not going to lie, I was also thinking “is he napping and are you mad to take on a new challenge with 2 kids under 3?!”. 

I'll cut to the chase. It was absolutely the case of being in the right place, at the right time - even if my sleep deprived brain couldn't see it. Plus it was the start of a brave journey - not just for me personally (welcoming baby number 3 in the pandemic!), but for the whole agency.

As we celebrate Babel’s 20th anniversary this month, I couldn't be prouder of how far the agency has come and what we have achieved.  

When I took the helm at Babel, I was acutely aware of its people-centric legacy and felt the enormity of stepping into some big boots. It was never going to be about seat warming, or repeating tried and tested formulas. Narelle, Ian, and the founding team built something truly special - an agency that didn’t just ride the waves of the tech revolution, but actively shaped many of the headline narratives that defined it.

To honour what had come before and take an active lead in determining Babel’s future, meant fiercely protecting the core DNA of what made (makes) Babel great, and carve out a new, braver path forward.

The tech comms and marketing landscape today is overwhelmingly loud. In this environment, our instinct is often to shout louder than the rest, just to be heard above the hubbub of ‘sea of same’ industry noise. But we mustn’t confuse volume with value. Likewise, contributing to this noise is not the same as driving influence. In fact, it can quite often have the opposite effect to the one we intend.

For this reason, our brave path at Babel (and the strategy we employ with our tech comms & marketing clients) involves steering a very deliberate course away from the noise. We choose to remove ourselves from the crowd, instead focusing on finding the ‘white space’ - defining our own distinctive narrative, where we prioritise substance over superficiality. By extension, we also deliver the same for the clients who trust us to tell their stories. 

In practice, what does this look like?

• It means giving our teams the grace and space to think deeply before reacting quickly
• In means deep sector intel, used to define and recognise unique ideas - as well as predict what may be coming around the corner
• It means empowering our teams and clients with the courage to say “no” when something won’t work
• Yet, also giving them the courage to jump into that exceptional idea, feet first
• It’s about nailing the human-centric narrative that makes audiences stop, think, and engage

As Narelle put it, “great tech comms is fundamentally about people”, and it always will be for us. But as we step into Babel’s next chapter, I’m very clear that we do so on our own terms - protecting the independent heritage we’re so proud of. We’ll continue to navigate away from the noise, confidently charting a brave, and distinctly ‘Babel’ course into the decades ahead.

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