One Hundred & Ten Communications has been named agency of record for Mount Saint Vincent University and Efficiency Nova Scotia, giving the fledgling Halifax firm its first two AOR clients.
One Hundred & Ten was founded last year by former Colour creative director Brian Hickling, who is the sole full-time employee and whose business model relies heavily on freelancers.
He was awarded the Mount Saint Vincent account in late October and the Efficiency Nova Scotia business just before Christmas. In both cases, the agency emerged victorious over established competitors in the RFP process.
Mount Saint Vincent initiated its search for a new agency after its previous AOR, Bristol, folded last year.
“It was a great first win for us in that it was a competitive pitch,” said Hickling. “It let us know that we do have a good model.
“Mount Saint Vincent is a small university and I think I can add value by finding a way to articulate their strengths.”
Hickling said a new Mount Saint Vincent campaign would likely be in market in the next few weeks.
Efficiency Nova Scotia is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to educating the province’s residents about energy conservation.
“This is a new entity started up by the government and they needed an agency to partner with to go to market with creative solutions for their messaging.”
One Hundred & Ten has worked on projects for clients such as the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation and Nova Scotia Community College in the past year, but the two AOR wins now put the agency on more solid footing.
“These two accounts have really thrust us into legitimacy, I think,” said Hickling. “We are going to be doing some great work and hopefully building off of these accounts.
“These are our first big announcements to say, ‘We’re here and we’re here to stay.'”
Hickling said his new clients were attracted in part by his business model, which involves assembling freelance teams according to the specific needs of a given project. This approach, he believes, makes more efficient use of client budgets.
“We can actually put a custom group together with the skill sets that [the client] requires,” he said, adding that tools he and his freelance teams use, such as online video conferencing, also eliminate waste.
“I might even argue that we’re more efficient than if we were working in an office, chit-chatting about our holidays,” he said. “You have a video conference, you talk about what you need to do and you go get it done.”
Hickling does envision making One Hundred & Ten a brick-and-mortar operation with more full-time employees, but said the agency likely requires at least one additional major account to achieve such growth.
