Former Citizen managing director Misha Dhanak and creative director Joe Sinclair announced the launch of The Romans in January 2015, and, with the backing of ad agency Mother, it opened for business in April.
Its first client win was Spotify, which Sinclair memorably described in an interview with PRWeek as being a "pretty fucking amazing" result for an embryonic business.
The Romans grew through the year to a team of 14, attracting other high-profile clients including BrewDog – for which it created the world’s first ‘transgender beer’ – and Samsung Europe, garnering big coverage for the company by scientifically proving that UHD TV was more physiologically engaging than standard HD.
Other brands the agency has worked with include Innocent Drinks and Itsu.
The Romans is committed to doing things differently and prides itself on offering a fun environment in which to work – it spent its recruitment budget on chartering a private plane and taking its team to France for lunch. Dhanak and Sinclair claim that by the time the coffee was served, they had received 125 CVs from potential candidates off the back of publicising the trip on social media.
The founders are known for their strong views on the direction of the industry. "PR agencies – PR itself – needs to grow a pair," Dhanak told PRWeek earlier this year. "Stop feeling worried about what other agencies, what other industries are doing, and focus on what you yourself can be doing."
Judges’ comment
By far the most innovative, disruptive agency doing real business
Highly Commended
One Green Bean
Finalists
Antidote Communications
Missive
Story Comms
