The Future of Love What You Do: As told by Jon Pike

Approaching this evening’s Communique Awards, Mearns & Pike co-founder Jon Pike reflects on our story so far ahead of turning the page to a new chapter tonight.

“We established Mearns & Pike to do things differently, and that is what we plan to do in the next chapter of our journey.”

Thursday marks ten years since Kirsty Mearns and I first met and started our journey in life together that has given us many wonderful experiences, memories to cherish, an amazing family, a gorgeous little boy and a business – Mearns & Pike – that we are both very proud of.

Mearns & Pike Ltd, the company, has existed for seven years and over that time we have achieved so much. Seven industry awards, countless short-listed projects, growing our company to eleven people, a client list that includes some major healthcare companies with a mixture of passionate patient advocacy groups and nimble start-ups are on the list of our achievements. Perhaps the biggest achievement has been staying true to the purpose we came up with all those years ago, to Love What You Do.

This has been a guiding light for us which has helped us to identify which projects and campaigns we have chosen to work on, to create a working environment that helps others to love what they do and to make sure that our time is spent doing the things that matter.

Often at this stage of their journey agencies like ours start to think about what next – what does the next chapter for our business look like? For many it is about profitability and sustaining growth with a view to seeking or attracting someone who might purchase the agency and take it to new places. For many agency owners that is absolutely the right thing to do.

What is clear to us, seven years into our journey, is that it is not the right thing for us. We established Mearns & Pike to do things differently and that is what we plan to do for the next chapter of our journey.

On Thursday we will be sharing what’s next for us. On paper it is a subtle change in words but in reality it will be a significant and deliberate shift in our outlook and focus. The ‘What’ we do will not change: we will continue to deliver high quality, impactful programmes that really matter, with clients and partners that share our values. We’ll still focus on finding the sweet spot between healthcare clients and their audiences with campaigns that appeal to the heart, not just the head. However, 'How' we do it is where the difference will be.

To be honest, we’ve probably been working in this way for a while now. Which is what makes it feel so right for us and for the people we work with. We have followed our hearts to this point and we will continue to do so.