Jen Hallam - MD, Gardiner Richardson
Jen Hallam is the Managing Director and co-owner of strategic brand communications agency Gardiner Richardson.
What are the key challenges that clients are facing?
On the face of it, our initial conversations with clients are diverse: they’re looking for support with a product launch, they want to change behaviours with a target audience, or they need to drive more revenue into their business. When we drill down into it, there’s generally a common theme: the search for clarity.
We live in a world of constant change, and organisations are juggling. They are working hard to stay relevant, stay effective and stay ahead. Inhouse brand and marketing teams are pushed to do more with less. On top of that, whether it’s showing up consistently in AI summaries or repeatedly nudging decision-makers across channels, brand communications are more complex than ever.
Clarity on what an organisation stands for and how to present it adds real value, as well as making brand management much more straightforward for stretched teams. With a clear strategy, it’s much easier to keep a tight focus on the marketing activity which will make a difference.
How do you work with organisations to provide that clarity?
It comes down to taking time to really understand our client’s organisations and the people within them. Developing a new brand positioning or approach to brand management is a big deal – we do everything we can to make sure our clients are well informed, involved and aligned with every step of the process. This is key to ensuring the work resonates with the organisation’s team, as well as external audiences.
As well as creating and developing brand positioning, we help build long-term consistency across brand management. We work to make sure everyone’s on the same page – from in-house teams to partner agencies.
What makes for a successful partnership with a client?
Holding onto what is right for an organisation, rather than what’s easiest. Sometimes we ask the difficult questions, but ultimately our motivation is to help our clients get to where they need to be. Sure, it’s not without its slightly awkward moments, but the success it brings builds the long-term trust that great partnerships feed on.
How do the values of Gardiner Richardson impact your work?
We only partner with clients who share our values. We value mutual respect and a focus on strategic work, as well as being part of industries and organisations that do good. We never work with clients in the tobacco, alcohol or gambling industries.
We’re very proud of our work across behaviour change in public health. We’re a long-term communications partner of Fresh and Balance, a regional programme dedicated to reducing the harm from tobacco and alcohol in the North East. Our communications work plays a small part in helping people to lead healthier lives and keeps pushing for change.
How do your values shape the way you run the business?
I feel very lucky to work with a talented and lovely group of people. We know we all do our best work when we’re feeling good. We try to support this through flexible office hours and hybrid working, as well as time for and access to exercise and social activities at Generator Studios. We have also recently committed to becoming a Real Living Wage employer to support our team, as well as our suppliers.
We also give time to invest in our work for good causes, as well as for volunteering and trustee roles to support our local community. One example of this is our work with the Percy Hedley Foundation. We have supported young people from the foundation through work experience placements and real-life project briefs, as well as receiving training on disability awareness. We have also worked collaboratively to create a guide to accessible communications which can be downloaded for free from the Percy Hedley website.
What is your motivation for the future of Gardiner Richardson?
We always want to push the standard of what we can do for clients, as well as for our team and community. Part of this is having our eyes open to what’s going on around us in our industry and being relentlessly interested in what’s next.
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