The Leith Agency is a creative agency that predominantly focuses on

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

based in the

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

area of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland. The Agency was founded in St Mary's School House, Leith in 1984, starting life as a traditional advertising agency. It was bought by marketing services group Cello in 2004.

History

In 2001, it was an investor in online business-to-business

off-licence A liquor store is a retail shop that predominantly sells prepackaged liquors – typically in bottles – usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence (i ...

Mustang Interactive. In 2006, The Leith Agency went through a restructuring of its senior management, appointing Richard Marsham as managing partner responsible for running the organisation's Edinburgh office. As part of its community initiatives, it is actively involved in The Leith Festival, runs free clinics for small local businesses and has developed a programme to identify creative excellence in the community - Talentspotting. During The Leith Festival in 2007, the agency unofficially twinned Leith with

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

by placing a sign on

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to the ...

. More recently, the Leith Agency has started Leith Records, a place to showcase new local and Scottish music, and Leith Dock, a blog for interesting and inspirational happenings in Edinburgh, Scotland and beyond. In 2010, it staged a production of Shakespeare's '' The Tempest'' on a barge in Leith. In 2012, it launched a

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

awareness campaign for the Scottish government featuring

Elaine C Smith Elaine Constance Smith (born 2 August 1958) is a Scottish actress, comedian, and political activist. She has starred in the BBC Scotland sitcoms '' City Lights'' (1984–91), ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' (1988–2014) and '' Two Doors Down'' (2016–), ...

. It was claimed to be the first UK television ad to feature full-frontal bare breasts. It has also produced campaigns for Health Promotion Agency Northern Ireland. In 2013, it purchased Newhaven Communications, another advertising agency which had worked for brewer

Tennent's Tennent Caledonian is a brewery based in Glasgow, Scotland. The Wellpark Brewery is situated in the city's East End, between the Townhead and Dennistoun districts along Duke Street. It was founded in 1740 on the bank of the Molendinar Burn ...

and on government campaigns, and which had been formed 11 years previously by former Leith Agency employees. In 2017, The Leith Agency went through another restructuring that saw several roles in the company being made redundant, to be replaced with other positions which the agency perceived as having "bigger potential for growth".

Recognition

The Leith Agency was voted Scotland's top advertising agency in 1993 in a poll for Scotmedia magazine and in 2001, it won the Scottish Institute of Practitioners in Advertising award for most effective campaign for promoting now-defunct radio station

Beat 106 Capital Scotland (formerly known as Beat 106, XFM Scotland, and later Galaxy Scotland) is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global. It broadcasts to Scotland's Central Belt, an area surrounding the two cities o ...

. The Agency has created campaigns for global brands such as

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

Grolsch Grolsch Brewery (Koninklijke Grolsch N.V. - "Royal Grolsch"), known simply as Grolsch (), is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. In 1895 the de Groen family bought the brewery. They had started their own brewery in E ...

and

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

from its offices in the docks of

. It promoted

Coors Light Coors Light is a 4.2% (US) ABV light beer brewed in Golden, Colorado; Albany, Georgia; Elkton, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was first produced in 1978 by the Coors Brewing Company. The Canadia ...

from 2003 to 2010. Its work includes notable television adverts such as The Snowman for

Irn-Bru Irn-Bru ( "iron brew", ) is a Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink" (after whisky). Introduced in 1901, the drink is produced in Westfield, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, by A.G. Barr of Glasgow ...

and campaigns for legislation including the Scottish smoking ban in public places. The agency has won many effectiveness and creative awards, such as the Grand Prix at the Roses Advertising Awards 2009.

Acquisition

In August 2020, The Leith Agency as part of its holding company
Cello Health plc
(formerly Cello Group) was sold to Pharma Value Demonstration Bidco Limited, a newly incorporated company wholly owned by Value Demonstration UK Holdings Limited, a company backed by Arsenal Capital Partners V LP and Arsenal Capital Partners V-B LP, following acceptance of a recommended cash offer by the company shareholders. The share offer of £1.61 per share was accepted at a Shareholders' General Meeting held on the 3rd August.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leith Agency Companies based in Edinburgh 1984 establishments in Scotland Marketing companies established in 1984 Marketing companies of the United Kingdom Advertising agencies of the United Kingdom