From the modest beginnings in a kitchen to an international client base - this is the astonishing success of social media agency, Curtis Gabriel.
On the wall of his home lockdown office, Simon Curtis has created a montage with an international flavour. There’s posters from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Sydney and Dubai to name a few, along with closer to home cities such as Birmingham and of course, Newcastle. But they’re not just there as a reminder for someone who is missing international travel – it’s a showcase of the client base that Simon and his business partners have built. Simon cut his entrepreneurial teeth working in marketing for hospitality, sports and motor organisations across the North East before deciding to go it alone. Or not quite alone, because after a meeting with an old friend, Roger Gabriel, in 2014 the pair decided to set up together. Initially they were planning to use their skills to run a one-stop-shop agency but fast realised that the growth of social media was definitely going to be huge and they made the decision to concentrate on that – a move which has paid off massively. The pair decided to set up shop and were able to rent some space using the kitchen of a local gym which seemed to be prophetic as their first ever contract was with Start Fitness. “The following year we got a call from LA Taxis, who asked us to explain to them what Facebook and Twitter was,” recalls Simon.
“It was all very new to them and they asked us to run their accounts for them, which of course we were delighted to do.” Word of their ability got out and the company got out, cornering the market at a time when social media marketing companies were in their infancy. With Simon’s previous contacts with hospitality it seemed an obvious area of growth and following on from working with Hotel Indigo in Newcastle, the company caught the eye of the hotel management company which gave the contract to look after a large portfolio of Interstate hotels. And that was just the first step. Curtis Gabriel’s obvious skills and ability to deliver led to rapid growth, particularly in the transportation sector where they attracted companies from across the UK. And not just the UK – by 2018 CG had its first international client, Opoli, based in LA. Since then the company has taken on more than 50 staff, has offices in both LA and Sydney and won contracts in Europe, USA, Australia and the Middle East. Even Covid-19 hasn’t kept good men (and women) down, and Curtis Gabriel has powered on, simply boosting its creativity with the result that most clients have stayed with them throughout.
“We have also worked very hard to give back during the pandemic,” said Simon. “Recently we ran a webinar for the hospitality industry which was supported by a whole host of experts, just to give advice and support on how to adapt and thrive post covid. “We wanted to help any business that was struggling and we have done that throughout.” And what about the future?
“As the world opens up and hospitality and transport clients start to return, we really believe we’re set for a period of continued growth,” said Simon. “We took a gamble right at the start in our belief that social media would become a huge thing, but thankfully that has paid off and we have really become one of the largest global agencies in the sector. “But that doesn’t mean our values have changed – we still have that passion to make a difference for every one of our clients.”
