Meet the Sponsors of the LBB & Friends Beach 2023: Blutui

For our company snapshot piece, we want to create a profile that pinpoints exactly what makes your company unique right now in 2023. We want to know about the culture and the competitive edge that you bring as well as finding out how the company has evolved over the past couple of years as new tech and changes in the market have disrupted the industry.

Q> When and why was your company founded?

Blutui® was established in 2017 as a specialist Martech software development business. Blutui evolved from a digital agency in New Zealand to address the issues plaguing Adland around poor digital productivity, technology fragmentation, scarcity of developer talent and the general lack of competitiveness as an industry when it comes to delivering digital projects.

Q> Give us an elevator pitch for your company!

Blutui is an agency-built software that empowers agencies worldwide to take control of their digital development. With a 244% productivity advantage, Blutui optimizes digital development and delivery, offering creative freedom to tackle projects of any scale, from micro sites to web app ventures. It caters to challenging UX/UI initiatives and delivers pixel-perfect prototyping. By utilizing Blutui, your agency gains the ability to deliver high-value projects within your own agency-branded enterprise ecosystem, giving you control over your studio, talent, code, and commercial value. Loved by front-end developers, ECDs, CEOs, CTOs, and CFOs alike.

Q> What sets your company apart from others in the industry?

Blutui is deeply committed to the advertising industry. As digital agency owners and , operators we have firsthand experience of the challenges faced by studios each day. Blutui aims to provide a sector-wide solution by helping agencies to create better workflows, projects, generate more revenue, and improve profit margins. Our goal is to enable agencies to compete with external vendors, retain digital projects in-studio, and attract more clients by offering enhanced value and efficiency through Blutui.

Q> How big is your team, and where are your key locations?

Blutui is headquartered in New Zealand, with dedicated sales support and development teams in New Zealand, Vietnam, and Singapore. We take pride in our team, which includes shareholders, partners, and even our beloved furry friends.

Q> How would you describe your company culture?

Blutui's culture is a unique blend of creative agency dynamics and enterprise development discipline. As a team, we approach every aspect of our platform from an agency-first perspective, with an innate understanding of studio deadlines, resource management, and client expectations.

Q> Who are some of the key members of your team that our readers should know?

Graeme Blake, founder and CEO, will be attending LBB&Friends beach throughout Cannes Lions. Graeme, an ECD turned indie agency owner, brings valuable insights and experience.

Christy Fung, our remarkable chief commercial officer, is a crucial figure when discussing the commercial details surrounding Blutui. She is a friend worth knowing.

Carl Witton, another key team member, will be in his villa in Vietnam during Cannes. Many of Carl's agency friends will be on the beach throughout the week. If you know Carl, make sure to introduce yourself to Christy or Graeme and feel free to share any stories.

Q> How do you foster creativity within your team?

We foster creativity by promoting transparency, trust, and individual autonomy. Our small team of developers, engineers, and marketers shares a history and studio space with a working agency. The creative flow benefits from a relaxed environment where downtime is spent playing semi-competitive pool, ping-pong, Xbox, or sharing VR experiences.

Each team member has "skin in the game," as all are invested in the success of Blutui. This tangible commitment to the business significantly influences our culture, work ethic, and the high-quality outputs we deliver to our agency clients.

Q> How does your company address sustainability and diversity and inclusion internally?

As a completely digital business, Blutui has a light eco-footprint. We also strive to improve the immediate environment through native tree planting initiatives and our support for Bird Aotearoa, the national bird hospital based in Auckland, which rescues and nurtures distressed and injured native birds.

Blutui has a culture of open-mindedness and acceptance. We are an equal opportunity employer and take pride in our diverse workgroup, which comprises individuals with various backgrounds and lifestyles.

Q> What are some of the most interesting projects that your company has worked on in the past year?

Blutui maintains a policy of discretion and non-disclosure, akin to the "Fight Club" concept. Just as in the movie, "The first rule of Fight Club is... Don't talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is... Don't talk about Fight Club."

We implement this policy to ensure our agency clients can maintain control over their commercial conversations with their own clients. Blutui offers a completely white-label agency experience, without disclosing our enterprise subscription rates or showcasing agency projects. This counterintuitive approach ultimately empowers agencies and gives Adland a tactical advantage in digital development.

Q> What are some of the biggest challenges that your company has faced?

While being headquartered in paradise has its perks, it can be challenging to operate from New Zealand when it comes to visiting agency friends worldwide. However, events like Cannes Lions offer a great opportunity for our team to meet current and future friends with minimal impact on the environment.

The most significant challenge we face is the fear of change and the effort required to promote Blutui within agencies. Despite the benefits and needs agencies recognize, entrenched practices and processes can be difficult to overcome. The more progressive and agile agencies quickly become friends of Blutui and reap the benefits sooner.

Q> What are some of the most important lessons that you have learned while running your company?

The most valuable lessons I have learned are to trust my instincts and trust in good people. It may sound cliché, but there is also truth in "feeling the fear and doing it anyway." Despite countless reasons why Blutui shouldn't have succeeded, our laser focus on our mission has been instrumental in our achievements.

Q> How do you ensure that your company stays competitive in 2023?

By exclusively helping Adland agencies 'Do Digital Right', we aim to provide a tactical advantage in delivering digital projects. Our focus is on breathing life into agencies suffering from diminishing margins and low productivity in a fiercely competitive space.

We differentiate ourselves by delivering technology and support that aligns with our agency friends. We prioritize the agency experience over a subscription-driven approach, always going the extra mile to help agencies win in digital delivery.

Q> How has your company adapted to changes in the industry over the past couple of years?

Being a creative and technology-centric group, we wholeheartedly embrace creative freedom and technological innovation in everything we do. By remaining flexible, fluid, and agile, we have successfully navigated the challenges of the past few years.

Q> What are some of the most exciting new developments that have taken place at your company recently?

We are thrilled to have Christy Fung onboard as our chief commercial officer. With her experience in growing global SaaS technology brands, Blutui is well-positioned to enter new markets and scale. Additionally, Liam Tubridy has joined our technology governance team as CTO, adding valuable expertise alongside chief product officer Charlie Cooper, whom many of you may recall from Cannes in 2018.

Q> What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the advertising industry in 2023?

In my humble opinion, the advertising industry's greatest challenge is complacency as a sector, particularly where agencies consider their Adland peers as their only competition, keeping a weather eye on their traditional rivals when entire industries are challenging for their clients budgets.

Blutui takes an industry-wide view of project delivery and recognizes countless scenarios where agencies leave substantial revenue on the table due to lethargy. While agencies may perceive themselves as fast and relevant compared to their peers, the industry as a whole struggles to deliver digital projects efficiently when compared to external vendors. As a result, agencies miss out on opportunities and lose client relevance.

Q> Looking forward, what are your key goals and ambitions for the year ahead?

The Blutui team are privileged to work with a diverse range of agencies, from independent and network brands to holding agency production hubs serving multiple agency clients. 2023/24 is shaping up to be a significant growth year and the team is committed to scaling to service agencies in North America, the UK, and Europe. We aim to have boots on the ground in each of these regions within the next 12 months.