A well-respected Yorkshire-based innovation marketing agency has been presented with an award for international trade on behalf of the Queen.
ThinkOTB was chosen to receive the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade for its outstanding sales growth in overseas markets.
The Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire Ed Anderson, the Queen’s representative in the county, presented the award to ThinkOTB at the agency’s offices in Headingley, Leeds, today (December 10).
The Queen’s Awards are now in their 54th year and the agency’s success means it will be able to display the coveted Queen’s Awards emblem for the next five years.
The agency, renowned for innovation and creative and marketing excellence, is growing quickly. It saw export sales rise by a staggering 560%, taking export sales from 22% to 52% of its overall business in just three years.
It is a rare achievement for a marketing agency to win such an award and chairman Mark Davies said: “We are proud and honoured that our hard work has been recognised in such a way.
“Most agencies just enter creative awards. ThinkOTB thinks differently and gets results. We entered – and won – an award for international trade.
“Not only is it the most prestigious of business awards, but we were also the only marketing agency to win it.
That’s the beauty of seeing things from a different perspective – it makes you stand out for the right reasons.”
Mark says that since the award was announced in April it has created new opportunities for the agency and will help enhance the reputation of Leeds as a centre of excellence in marketing and communications.
He added: “Winning the award has given us more opportunities and opened more doors. Although a UK honour for international trade, the impact is a local one too.
“The profile of the agency, its aims and ethos, have been lifted and our voluntary activities and our work with local communities have benefited as a result.”
Established in 1988, ThinkOTB was one of the first marketing agencies in Leeds to offer innovation marketing to clients.
A team of creatives, they focus on innovation and support blue chip clients and SMEs across the globe. The agency’s main overseas markets are in Ireland, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA), the Asian Pacific and the USA.
Managing partner Jo Waddington said: “Export has grown to be the biggest part of our business. We export our services into the financial services sector overseas in regions such as CEMEA, Asia Pacific and the US.
“We deliver strategies and communications tools that help our clients engage confidently with their customers and increase the take up of their new products. We have become experts in successfully managing overseas work.”
There will be a Royal Reception at Buckingham Palace in 2021 but no date has yet been confirmed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
