Meet Conductor: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Orchestra which Channels Effectiveness into Brand Building

“Coming up with ideas for commercials and content, and then going through the process of producing and editing them, is fun for us. We all really like what we do - that’s a huge motivating factor to keep pushing ourselves.”

Noah Lydiard, co-founder, CEO and creative director at Conductor, isn’t one to lose sight of the big picture. After all, that’s how the unique creative production agency has spent the past few years growing from a boutique production, VFX, post-production shop into a full-scale communications partner which is crafting transformative work for its brand clients. 

“We started out making low-budget direct response commercials, but they worked really well - and the success of that work led to broader assignments and opportunities ”, he continues. “We’ve grown because of passion, hard work and a dedication to service. We want our clients to succeed and grow. When they do that, they come back. And when they come back, we get to do more of what we love. They grow, we grow; It’s a wonderful cycle.” 

But it’s precisely that focus on the bigger picture that gives Noah and the Conductor team an ability which truly makes them stand out: A dedication to enjoyment. For themselves, for their clients, and for the audiences their work is geared towards. “Sometimes you need to be intentional about appreciating it, but the truth is that we’re lucky to be working in an artistic field – not everybody gets to have a job that they love”.

There’s another characteristic which has seeped into every aspect of Conductor’s business. It’s defined the agency’s story, and the way they’ve been able to produce such effective work which has launched startup brands into the stratosphere and further grown already-established names. It’s a fundamental, and natural, authenticity - one that comes from simply knowing this industry, their work, and themselves. And it’s that pure authenticity which has the Conductor team feeling so positive about the future.

No Corners Cut

A great example of the effect Conductor can have on a brand is Fanatics, the worldwide sports apparel and merchandise store. Since they started collaborating with Conductor in 2017, the brand has soared from being a $2bn company to a $31bn one. Much of that success coincides with the growth sparked by Conductor’s work - which managed to tie those phenomenal results together with creative that helped build Fanatics’ brand. 

“The Fanatics team is incredible. We were thrilled to win their business back in 2017, up against some major agencies.” recalls Noah. “Ultimately, they trusted us with a big opportunity, and we knew it. So we stepped up. It’s been fantastic to see the impact our work has had on their business. For the first three and a half years, the initial performance campaign helped fuel an astonishing amount of growth for them. That success has led to a brand-positioning assignment, brand retail spots, and a host of other work”. 

In a sense, however, Noah is being modest about Conductor’s work. In the first year alone, the creative production agency put out over 300 deliverables (175 TV spots, 120 social assets, and a further 7 radio ads) for Fanatics, on top of workloads for roughly a dozen other clients. Facilitating that astonishing scale of content delivery was another of Conductor’s secret weapons - its post production capabilities. 

“[Conductor’s co-founder and head of post production] Scott Knowlton has been in post production for thirty years, and I started out as an editor myself”, explains Noah. “We’ve got a massive level of expertise in post, which means we can do that work ourselves rather than relying on an outside vendor”. 

Again, there’s a thread here which traces back to Conductor’s central authenticity. The reason the company has such a grasp of its own creative is because they know every part of that content pipeline themselves. And, equally, the way they’re able to so reliably stick to delivery schedules is because they don’t rely on external partners with the increased communication pressures that can often bring. Their knowledge of the work and the industry is so strong because it’s so authentic. It’s a quality which is perhaps best exemplified by senior people across Conductor’s team. 

“It’s that authenticity which, in a way, has led me to be here” notes Mike Wilmot, Conductor’s head of growth and relationships who joined up with the team earlier this year bringing decades of experience from the agency-side. “Any successful company with the longevity of Conductor needs authenticity at its core - faking it just isn’t an option”. 

Having that ability to leverage experience from different corners of the industry is key to what makes Conductor such a good, well, conductor for creative success. Margie Sullivan, the studio’s EP, is able to draw upon experience from both vendor and agency roles. “Margie has creative agency - and production company - experience”, says Noah. “She gets the dual perspective that we’re talking about. She understands what our clients need, and what it takes to get projects through creative, production and post efficiently” 

The advantages to the creative production agency’s authentic approach can be seen in their work with L.L. Bean - a client who Conductor had long held in their sights before starting work together. “We really wanted to work with L.L. Bean, and had been working for a long time for a chance to get in front of them”, says Noah. “When that opportunity came, we wanted it to be special”. 

And so it proved. On one particular commercial, the team knew that they’d acquired a nearly-perfect nugget of authentic creative material. “The basic premise of a little girl writing a letter to L.L. Bean is something that really happened - it’s the kind of thing that probably wouldn’t have been as awesome if it wasn’t real.”, says Noah. “So when the team at L.L. Bean’s internal creative department presented the idea, we felt its potential right away. We’re so proud of the finished spot, and the results we saw following its release have been amazing for us to see”.

“Something I’ve learned from many years in the business is that results matter”, says Mike. “The best work is the most effective work. What’s so great about the team here at Conductor is how deeply they understand that - there’s a quality of creativity that bleeds into the quality of the results our work generates”. 

Long-Term Creativity

It’s those kinds of results - combined with a fundamental understanding of the brand they’re working with - that help explain how Conductor has developed such a knack of maintaining long-term relationships with clients. 

“We keep reminding ourselves that we’re operating in a service industry”, says Noah when asked about the secret to maintaining a client relationship over such a stretch of time. “We want to be the easiest, and most enjoyable part of our client’s day. Like I mentioned earlier, ensuring that we do what we say we will do and more, lets our clients know we care about they’re success”. 

That level of honesty, once again, plays into the uniting theme of authenticity which defines Conductor. “We’ve never been ones to spin a line or exaggerate”, says Noah. “There are some fundamental parts of this business that never change, but at the same time there are increasingly rapid shifts in trends and technology that require us to stay in a constant state of awareness and improvement. So it can be stressful, and it is work - but creating effective content for great clients is still a fun way to make a living”. 

And, already, there’s a new generation of creative talent which is learning and growing within the creative production agency. “When I look around the office, I see people who started out here as interns but have gone on to become hugely important parts of our business”, says Noah. “It’s exciting for the future because it shows how our people are earning their own experience with us, and within our culture”. 

Combined with the team’s passion, that authenticity serves to explain how Conductor has come so far. But what’s most exciting for the agency isn’t the distance they’ve travelled so far - it’s where their unique and proven creative formula might take them next.