Niall Harbison

Simply Zesty

NIALL HARBISON is the co-founder of Simply Zesty, a social media and online marketing agency with offices in Dublin, London and Belfast.

The entrepreneurial team at this young and dynamic business employs the ever-growing power of social media to design, create and manage advertising and marketing campaigns for corporate clients. In addition, the company also provides strategic marketing advice to large multinational companies in Ireland and around the globe.

Despite being established in 2009, just as the global recession became entrenched, Simply Zesty has bucked the trend by achieving year-on-year growth and now has more than 100 clients in 10 markets internationally.

Through its focus on innovation and a strategic use of web-based technologies, this pioneering business plans to extend its worldwide footprint over the next 12 months and aims to become one of the global leaders in social media marketing.

As consumers embrace social networks, mobile technology, and the user-friendly attributes of tablets and other social media platforms, Simply Zesty is well positioned to capitalise on such advances and build upon its reputation as a “new” type of marketing agency.

The firm is already achieving annual turnover of €2 million and employs 33 people in three offices. Plans for further expansion are underway and Harbison anticipates the companys workforce will double over the next two years, both in Ireland and by opening new offices in line with the expansion of its overseas network.

Products:

Through its use of social media as the marketing tool of choice for businesses and individuals who want to achieve tangible results, Simply Zesty designs, creates and manages a myriad of advertising and marketing solutions for its corporate clients.

Amongst the products and services it offers are:

Viral video production; strategic advice and consulting; Facebook application builds; mobile marketing; technical solutions; ad management; crisis management; and training.

Customers:

Clients include big names such as Vodafone, Sony and Betfair, as well as an array of large international clients including Russian internet security firm, Kaspersky, and American data warehousing company, Teradata.

What vision prompted you to start up in business?

“I could see that social media, as a marketing tool, was really beginning to take hold in Ireland and, luckily, had the foresight to realise its potential as a hugely disruptive media force before the more traditional agencies seemed to. Once I had identified this as a unique commercial opportunity, I simply decided to grab the market before anybody else did.”

Describe your progression from start-up to current status?

“We started in my spare bedroom working 18 hour days and bootstrapping everything we did. We lived week to week for the first year as we tried to balance our explosive growth with simply paying the bills. The company is now built on solid foundations with a wonderful team and getting to this stage has been the best three years of my life.”

What motivates you to succeed?

“Creating a brand that will be around for the next 100 years and creating plenty of jobs here for Irish graduates.”