Emotive day for founder Simon Joyce as ARN exits the business

When Simon Joyce began his creative agency ten years ago it was a leap of faith.

The agency, Emotive, is now successful with a swag of over 20 blue chip clients and a staff of 70 people.

This week, with the beginning of the new financial year, Simon and his agency have bought out the company’s other investor, ARN.

When the company started, ARN took a 51% share in the agency, backing Simon Joyce and his idea.

Simon had a strong radio background and a successful marketing, sales and management track record, and had left syndication company MCM a couple of years previously to build his own company. Here’s how radioinfo reported it at the time:

In a post on Linkedin yesterday, Joyce said:

Just over ten years ago, I pitched Ciaran Davis and ARN Media to take a stake in a creative agency, Emotive, which at the time was nothing more than a business plan wrapped in big belief. 

It was non-synergistic, high-risk, and almost unheard of…a media company investing in a creative agency.

But they backed me and our vision to operate independently from day one. Starting a business is always nerve-racking, especially with three young kids and no Plan B. But Ciaran and the Emotive board gave us the runway to build something special. They never tried to shape us into something we weren’t.

It’s been an incredible success. Emotive now partners with over 20 blue-chip brands across a wide range of categories, and we’ve built a big reputation for creating ideas that change how people feel. It’s also been the most enjoyable period of my working life.

Today, we announced that Emotive is now fully independent. In a world of media fragmentation, AI and brand apathy, full autonomy gives us the freedom to move faster, think longer term, and back what matters most, our people, our ideas, and the ambitions we share with our clients.

Coming off our 10 year milestone, the timing feels right. It’s a decision that we made together and with total mutual respect. Partnerships like this are rare, Ciaran Davis thank you…. I’ll always be grateful.

Audio is still very much a part of Emotive’s creative strategies.

Simon Joyce says radio and audio “are massively underrated for brand building especially beyond the traditional 30. The flex of radio isn’t taken advantage of enough by big brands.”

Previous coverage:

MCM restructures and reshuffles senior staffing

Nova Entertainment appoints Group Sales Manager