5 Minutes with… Adam Clyne
Adam Clyne, founder and CEO of Coolr, the social media and influencer marketing agency that’s on top of everything cool, was once a wide-eyed visitor at BBH in Soho. Growing up in Manchester, Adam admits to have never known his current job could really be a job, so it wasn’t until his older sister got her shiny new role at BBH that he knew what people in advertising did.
“I remember getting off the train in Euston, wandering through to Soho and when I walked into reception, I instantly knew this was the industry for me.” BBH had 16 TVs stacked on top of one another, each pumping MTV as the creatives were walking through reception. This, plus the grime and ambiance of ‘90s Soho, and Adam was hooked. This was the beginning of his path in creativity. His first internship ended up being at BBH, so things came full circle.
Before establishing Coolr, Adam cemented himself as a leader in the digital space harnessing over 20 years of experience. He was head of digital for PR firm Weber Shandwick and soon after became COO at The LADbible Group. In 2017, Adam decided to take the lessons from both of those and establish Coolr - an agency that operates at the speed of culture.
Since its opening, Coolr became one of the official TikTok partners and launched over 50 brands on the platform, while simultaneously pushing to expand in the US.
LBB’s Zoe Antonov spoke to Adam about his humble beginnings, what he makes of the social media landscape today and his secrets to TikTok success.
LBB> What were the first steps you took towards the industry professionally?
Adam> My first internship was at BBH as a runner and I literally ran around the West End copying ads on tapes, doing research and helping the studio with whatever they needed. I loved the creativity in advertising, but I was curious about the other disciplines in marketing and so secured a week-long placement at a PR agency (Lawson Dodd). I liked the generalist approach of thinking and doing versus the specialism between departments in adland where you were either creative or a suit. I saw that PR would offer me the opportunity to be both creative and commercial and I felt this was a better path for me.
I went on to do a degree in public relations (much to the disappointment of my parents who wanted me to be a kosher caterer) before embarking on this path.
LBB> Tell me more about your role at Weber Shandwick and what lessons came with it.
Adam> As the head of digital for EMEA my role at Weber Shandwick was to lead the charge of digital transformation across our 35+ offices in the region.
It was a huge challenge, particularly as change is never easy, and my job was to take Weber in a new direction that was more digitally-first in mindset, more social in approach and one that embraced innovation. It was a daunting task, but I was fortunate to have the backing of the EMEA CEO at the time (Colin Byrne), the global head of digital (Chris Perry) and the senior stakeholders across the business.
My biggest lesson during my time at Weber was to get comfortable making decisions that not everyone would like.
LBB> Tell me about being COO of The LADBible and your experience in that role. What were the biggest challenges and the most fun parts?
Adam> Joining The LADBible as their COO was an incredible experience and a real eye-opener for me. In my previous role at Weber I had been the social and digital expert; flying to all these European cities, meeting our big clients and setting their social media and content strategies.
When I joined LAD I had to humbly relearn everything I thought I knew about the social space. LAD were data driven, community-focused and culture led in equal measure - the scale was unprecedented; everyone wanted a piece of us. At LAD, we had the opportunity to become a voice and platform for the next youth generation – in the way that MTV had done previously or Vice. Probably the biggest challenge during my time there was getting big brands to take a Facebook page seriously as a media partner. The team did an incredible job of redefining what LAD was and proving the publisher as a credible partner to work with.
LBB> Why did you decide to establish Coolr and what gap in the market were you looking to settle into?
Adam> I decided to create Coolr as I felt there was a gap in the market for a social agency that bridged the gap between what I learnt at Weber Shandwick and what I took from the LAD Bible. Brands need a strategic and creative partner – but not many agencies operate at the speed of culture. What if Coolr could take the best of both these worlds and make it a space, so brands could win in social? We call it ‘big agency brains combined with the agility of a social publisher’. It seems to work well.
LBB> How has Coolr changed since 2017 and what kind of impact did the pandemic have on the company?
Adam> Coolr has grown so much in our brief history – we are around 80 people now and growing very quickly; and yet so much feels the same.
We proudly still have our first flagship client, Burger King, and this partnership set the bar high for how we would help brands to win in social.
Covid was obviously a big bump in the road for us (and everyone else). I remember taking calls every day from clients saying they needed to stop or pause work with us and I wasn’t sure if we would make it through it. I literally dreaded the daily messages asking if I was free for a quick chat… It was the most stressful part of our journey so far. But we bounced back and have been sprinting ever since.
Some of the biggest changes over the last five years have included our scaling of Coolr Studios (our social-first content offering of nearly 20 people), our partnership with TikTok that has seen us launch over 50 brands onto the platform and our recent opening into the US.
Platforms change, algorithms change and yet we continue to bring the same approach to social as we always did – and it still works.
LBB> Tell me more about the indispensable parts of Coolr's DNA and what are some pillars that will always be part of the company?
Adam> We care about our people, their wellbeing, and their progression. We are proudly a safe space for everyone regardless of race, religion, gender or sexuality and this is a core part of our DNA - and a non-negotiable for me.
Our agency is all about continual improvement and we live by the value that we call ‘pick it up’. Regardless of your level – if you see a piece of rubbish on the floor, you pick it up. We apply this metaphor to everything we do and everyone who chooses to join the agency. A process isn’t working? Pick it up – find the solution or a better way! A light bulb is out – pick it up and change it. A client doesn’t love the biscuit options… etc.
My personal goal for the business is that people look back at their time at Coolr and proudly say that they achieved some of the best work of their career during their time with us – that is when I know I have done my job.
LBB> What is your relationship with new tech - do you embrace it or are you wary of it?
Adam> I’m happy to embrace new tech but never for the sake of it. I believe in experimenting, but the results are what counts and I don’t believe in doing things just because of the hype around it or because others do. We are unique as a business, and I want us to stay that way – I don’t want Coolr to be like everyone else.
LBB> How do you think the emergence of AR and VR will affect social media spaces? How do you see those spaces changing in coming years?
Adam> It’s hard to know how AR and VR will affect social spaces. There are a lot of people who obsess about the next big thing but I always believe they take longer to happen than people expect.
It’s fine to experiment with emerging platforms and tech but a good marketer's job is to be where their audience is. Ironically, the least loved social platform still has the bigger eyeballs… Facebook!
LBB> With the steady fall of Twitter and emergence of Threads, what are your prognosis about how those two platforms will butt heads? Do you see gen z using Threads or do you think it will attract a different demographic?
Adam> It’s much too early to predict who will win the fight between Twitter and Threads… but it’s going to be fun to see how it all plays out.
Brands must take Threads seriously because of the instant scale it has achieved (100M+ and counting) and the fact that Zuckerberg and Meta know how to scale social platforms better than anyone else on the planet. But you also can’t write off Twitter and Elon Musk yet as they will quickly adapt and evolve in an agile manner. Twitter users are super-engaged and habits die hard if you are used to checking a platform numerous times each day.
Competition is a good thing for the end users and we are recommending our clients experiment with Threads AND keep on Twitter for now. Play both sides with a ‘test and learn’ approach and watch things very closely.
LBB> What is the best thing a brand can do on TikTok today and do you think brands absolutely have to be on TikTok - or is it a space that should be kept for those that fit in it?
Adam> Brands can’t hide from TikTok anymore. They may not have an official page or content running on their own channels but you can be sure their consumers are talking about them on this platform – they just may not be part of the conversation or know what people are saying… And I think it’s a mistake!
TikTok has evolved massively over the last two years – it is no longer teenagers dancing in their bedrooms to the latest trend – but a sophisticated content engine that serves its audience what they want to consume across the spectrum of interests and passion points. So - I don’t think there is a specific type of brand that should or shouldn’t be on the platform.
LBB> Tell me more about your collaboration with the platform.
Adam> Coolr became official creative partners of TikTok two years ago and have helped launch over 50 brands onto the platform so we have a strong expertise of what will and won’t work.
The simple ingredient is that the content must be made in a manner that feels native to the TikTok experience. It shouldn’t be about adapting an ATL campaign and forcing the creative into TikTok but making it feel natural with the user in mind. We often favour a blended content approach for brands on TikTok that covers paid assets, creator and influencer content and then pure organic work layered on top that is either format driven or reactive to what is happening on the platform.
Working with TikTok-first creators often helps brands to fast-track their approach on this platform but you need to do your homework on who to work with and how to best collaborate or it just won’t work. Coolr are alo TikTok partners on their creator programme so we have experienced first-hand the transformative power this can have for a brand.
LBB> What is the next biggest thing Coolr is doing that you would like to talk about?
Adam> The work that really excites me at Coolr right now is when we take the AOR position for a brand and handle every aspect of their social media programme.
We provide a genuinely blended approach to this space that covers social, content and creators and by taking a lead position across everything we have the data points to know what is working and adapt the strategy and creative accordingly. As a business we are fast paced and agile and we love to take our clients on a journey with us for the long term.
We’re also excited about our US expansion!
LBB> What are your hobbies and passions outside of work?
Adam> I’m happily married with three kids and two dogs (a one-eyed pug and a frenchie) so life is pretty full - and I love it this way.
To relax I attend boxing classes two to three times a week, and have been learning the electric guitar since covid… And did I mention that I cold water swim (the first rule of cold-water swimming club is to mention it as often as possible)?
And I spend too much time on social media obviously.
