DUBLIN-BASED social media agency Simply Zesty has won four new international clients and employment at the firm has increased to 25.
The new clients are pan-European online travel agency Ebookers; data analytics firm Teradata, Russian anti-virus software specialist Kaspersky Lab; and Eurofound, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
Simply Zesty co-founder Niall Harbison said growth at the firm, which was founded in 2009, was being driven by a “combination of factors”, including changing media spending habits.
“Budgets for media spend are shrinking and clients are looking for a better return on their investment so they are turning to social media,” said Mr Harbison. “It’s also more measurable than other media.”
The agency, which will soon outgrow its third office in less than two years, provides a range of services to clients including creating Facebook apps, producing and promoting viral videos and monitoring what is being said about organisations online.
Simply Zesty has worked with brand names such as Sony, Universal Music, Vodafone, ESPN and News International. However, Mr Harbison said not all of the agency’s work was with big names as it also provided training for smaller firms on how to handle their own social media presence.
Jaded by attending technology conferences and meeting the same lawyers, accountants and advisers seeking to drum up business, Mr Harbison decided to invest time in Simply Zesty’s corporate blog, which comments on social media issues. It now has more than one million visitors a month and has attracted business inquiries from Germany, Sweden and Russia.
Last year, Simply Zesty hired Ken Fitzpatrick, a former chief executive of Denis O’Brien-backed recruitment firm Saongroup, to take over the day-to-day running of the agency from Mr Harbison and his co-founder, Lauren Fisher.
“From his experience with Saongroup he’s been a great help in scaling the firm,” said Mr Harbison.
Mr Harbison, a former chef who came to prominence when he pitched his idea for an online recipe site on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, now spends more of his time engaging with social media, writing the company blog and expanding the agency’s range of products and services.
Simply Zesty took a €500,000 investment from market-research firm the Oxford Research Agency last year but Mr Harbison said the company was profitable.
