How Bamboo Nine Does Things Their Own Way

The Bamboo Nine Difference

People are often intrigued by Bamboo Nine, what we offer, how we work and what makes us different. So, I sat down with Chris, one of our founders and a specialist in PPC and SEO, to ask him a couple of questions.

Q. What inspired you to launch Bamboo Nine?

Chris: “Ian and I started the agency because we felt there was a niche in the industry to offer 100% complete transparency in the digital marketing sector. I don’t mean necessarily other agencies don’t offer full transparency, but a lot of them we feel don’t take the time to explain what they do on daily basis, to justify management fees. People are more aware of search engines nowadays, and we feel it’s our job to improve their knowledge and, therefore, build trust.

To achieve this, we wanted to move away from the common practice of how agencies made their money, which is via ‘margins’. Your AdWords spend, in our eyes, should mean just that… AdWords spend. Therefore, all our clients pay Google direct, we are not a ‘middle man/woman’. By doing this, it means that our clients know what we are spending on their behalf, and they have access to their own AdWords account. By being transparent from the off, both us and the client start on an even level, and they start to believe us when we say our success relies on theirs.

A ‘no contract’ policy is also in play here, because we’ve seen so many clients unhappy with their results, service and ROI with other agencies, but they became ‘stuck’ and tied down to long contracts with their agency. We want you to stay with Bamboo Nine because you want too, because the results and service leave no doubt towards our capabilities and passion.”

Q. What’s the thought behind the name?

Chris: “We wanted an ambiguous name, as we felt when we built a brand people would easily remember the name and logo. We liked the idea of ‘bamboo’ because it has been a stable and trusted material for centuries. It isn’t flash, garish or ‘new age’ – it’s still used today because it performs. We liked that idea as that is what we wanted to do in the industry, not necessarily change the face of digital marketing, but strip it back to its rawest form. We go back to basics instead of blinding people with acronyms.

Saying this, we do make use of technological advancements in our sector. We use sophisticated bid management software, the same technology that the likes of Adidas, Compare The Market and Asda all use… but again we explain why we utilise this (where applicable) and that the cost of this is part of our management fee – not your media spend.
The ‘nine’ part was simple… we offer nine services!”

Paid Search (PPC)
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Remarketing & Display campaigns
Web Design & Development
Video Content
Email Marketing
Online Reputation Management (ORM)
Google Shopping (PLA)
Social Media campaigns

Q. Do you have any recent success stories you would like to share?

Chris: “We have loyal, long term customers and that is success in itself. What I have been most proud of, is how we’ve taken the same ethical processes from paid search (PPC) and applied that to our SEO offering.
This isn’t easy to do, as many businesses undertaking an SEO strategy will tell you, they don’t really know what their agency is doing to improve trust flow and rankings. At Bamboo Nine, we offer a full SEO service where we justify every hour of work we do for a client, so they are left in no doubt that their investment is being spent on improving their organic listings.
This way of working is, again, slightly different because we can’t and won’t promise instant results. But we can promise an ethical approach and we have proven that by doing things properly, we can improve rankings.”

Q. What has been one of your biggest challenges as a business owner and how are you overcoming it?

Chris: “Managing my business partner, I’ll let you know when I’ve overcome that one!”

Q. What’s the most exciting thing on the horizon for Bamboo Nine?

Chris: “More of the same I hope. We have been trading for nearly 4 years now and the reason for our success is based on hard work internally as a team. By working hard on behalf of our clients, we help make them money, and therefore they are happy to invest back into Bamboo Nine. If that continues, I see a bright, stable future for us as an agency.”

Q. Where do you envision Bamboo Nine in 5 years’ time?

Chris: “We are lucky enough to own our own office in the heart of Brighton, but I’d like to think that in 5 years’ time we will have moved to a larger office, where we don’t have to form an orderly queue to use the kitchen coffee machine! Apart from us nearly out growing our current office, the next 5 years’ aim is to consolidate and make sure we have the same passion and energy to take us to the next level. That for, me, is a waiting list of clients wanting to work with us.”

Q. Do you have any role models or mentors who have influenced and inspired you?

Chris: “Without sounding cheesy, I have seen my parents work hard every day to grow their business and provide for their family. If I can do the same, I’ll be a happy man.”

Q. What advice do you have for those wanting to start their own business?

Chris: “Do it! Don’t think about things too much, passion and hard work can get you anywhere. Ian and I were renting small room 3 years ago and sharing a desk. We didn’t have a clue about ‘business’ or even much of a plan to grow an agency. But we’ve been focused and committed, and these traits are vital with starting your own company.”

Q. What do you look for in potential employees?

Chris: “Passion, Drive, Hunger and a ‘Why’ – what is their motivation and ‘why’ do they do what they do.”

Q. What do you enjoy most about your office environment?

Chris: “I love our office! I think/hope everyone wants to be here, and I believe that by doing so, it brings the best out of them. Autonomy and trust is important, no one is micro-managed, and everyone feels they contribute to the success of the agency. I hope everyone feels as valued as Ian I value them.”

Q. What makes you get up in the morning?

Chris: “My kids normally! But I get up every day happy to come the office. It’s never dull and no two days are the same. We are driven to do things properly and improve ourselves and that is a nice ethos to wake up too.”

Pop in for a Chat!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my interview with Chris and that it has given you an insight into the values of our company. If you would like to get to know us more, you are always welcome to pop in for a coffee and a chat. Alternatively, give us a call or send us an email. Our team are always available to talk and would love to share more about what we do. If you want to have a pint with us, why not check out my article on The Pubs We Love in Brighton to discover our popular hangouts. Who knows, we might bump into you one of these days!