Sookio reboot: From agency to consultancy

From 1 July, Sookio is moving from being a digital marketing agency to a communications consultancy.

Founder Sue Keogh explains the thinking behind the big change and the benefits it brings for senior leadership teams looking for someone to bring fresh energy and an external perspective to their comms.

15 years and 51 weeks to the day I stepped into our accountants and registered Sookio Limited as a company, it’s time for a change.

We’re pivoting away from the agency model to become a one-woman communications consultancy, and simplifying…everything.

This means we’re stripping it all back to offer just two core services.

Consultancy: Three options for audits, strategy, and ongoing consultancy.

Training: Offering our two most popular courses, plus bitesize lunchtime learning.

Plus I’ll be available for speaking: Conference talks, chairing panels, hosting webinars, insights on radio and podcasts.

So why am I doing this, considering the success of Sookio the agency?

I just know it's time. 

Firstly, for the business, as the industry matures and big shifts in the economy and technology keep happening.

I was feeling that we were too diluted across services. Things have moved on.

Take social media for example. When we started, it was in its infancy. On Twitter you couldn’t even add images, let alone run ads! And now you have whole agencies that specialise in paid campaigns, influencer marketing, individual platforms, video for social, AI…

I knew I had to reshape the business completely, not tinker round edges.

And it’s time for me personally too. 

I have such a huge wealth of experience that I’m just not using because I’m so busy running the business - if it’s not a pandemic it’s a recession or the building nearly burning down! Oh, the joy of being able to focus my attention on just one thing at a time.

I can’t wait to work more closely with clients and use my expertise and new-found deep-thinking time to sharpen their communications and give them a competitive edge.

My immediate priority is of course looking after our current clients and projects, so I'm not looking to take on more consulting work until the autumn. So get on my waiting list!

Further down the line I have my eye on a part-time Masters and my dream of going to South America should finally become real next year (fingers tightly crossed).

I'm very proud of what we achieved with Sookio in the years we operated as an agency. We've done brilliant work for brilliant people, and it's not just the household names like the University of Cambridge, NHS and the BBC, it’s the host of SMEs and startups too. Thank you to everyone who has trusted us with your projects and plans.

Our remote work experience programme Sookio Bootcamp will run as planned in August; its 5th and final year, please apply now!

I hope to be back at Long Road Sixth Form for the marketing challenge in the autumn too. I’m so pleased to have helped so many young people get a leg up into the industry and will forever try to find opportunities to do this.  

A big thank you to everyone who has worked at Sookio over the years - that’s a lot of talented people! We’ve done some great work (and had some pretty fine parties) and I love watching your careers progress from afar. Thanks so much to all the freelancers too.

I’ve had so much support over the years from family and our friends in the business community, and every word of encouragement has been appreciated more than you know.

I can hear the Oscars ‘get off the stage’ music playing now so I’ll just say: Onwards.