Business development means different things to different agencies. For some, it’s purely about chasing new business, for others, it’s a numbers game, focused on volume over value. But at RBH, business development is something much more meaningful and far more powerful.
When you’re an independent, employee-owned creative agency, business development isn’t just a department, it’s something woven into the way we think, collaborate and show up for our clients every day.
As the BD manager here at RBH, I get a unique view of how our services connect, how they help organisations grow in a changing world. This blog explores what business development really looks like here and how that approach creates better results for the brands we work with.
Before we talk about creative, strategy, PR or digital we need to start from understanding the challenges our clients are facing. This means using data, insights and looking at all factors that are currently driving a particular sector or audience. We use tools like YouGov, SimilarWeb, StackAdapt and HubSpot to give us a detailed picture of audience behaviour, competitor performance, market trends and engagement patterns. But insight isn’t just numerical – it’s cultural, emotional and contextual.
We take the time to understand what is changing across the industry. What pressures or opportunities are shaping your decisions? What story do you want to tell and why? We also put ourselves in the shoes of your target audience. What are they thinking, feeling and expecting? What pain points are they facing?
This insight-led approach ensures that everything we recommend – whether it’s a brand refresh, a PR campaign, recruitment drive or social strategy – is grounded in real understanding, not guesswork.
Growth isn’t just about ‘winning’ new clients. It’s about building relationships that last, based on trust, collaboration and genuine value.
As an employee-owned agency, relationships matter to us because everyone in the business has a stake in its success. That means every interaction, every campaign and every conversation is driven by shared responsibility and collective pride.
From a business development perspective this means we take a consultative, conversation-first approach. We are here to understand before we propose, and we treat all potential clients the same way we treat existing ones: with care, curiosity and collaboratively.
When we connect with an organisation, we aren’t looking to sell a service. We are looking to find alignment, where our creativity, strategic thinking and integrated capabilities genuinely help them move forward.
For clients, one of the most valuable things about RBH is our ability to bring together multiple disciplines seamlessly. Business development isn’t about pushing a particular service; it’s about identifying the right combination that solves a client’s problem. This could mean:
- a new brand identity to reflect a shift in strategy,
- a PR campaign to raise awareness or manage reputation,
- a digital overhaul to improve conversion or engagement,
- a creative concept that cuts through the noise,
- a social strategy that builds meaningful community, or
- a multi-channel campaign that ties all the above together.
Our ‘creative-first’ mindset exists because that’s who we are at our core. We know the strengths of our teams inside out, which means we match our clients with the right specialists from the very beginning.
You’ll often hear creative agencies talking about ‘big ideas’, but at RBH, creativity isn’t just about impact, it’s about effectiveness. Business development plays an important role in this by helping clients see the power of creative thinking as a driver of commercial success. Creativity to us means standing out in a crowded marketplace, making audiences feel something, building trust with brands and most importantly delivering measurable outcomes that matter.
Creativity isn’t just an ‘added bonus’, it’s a strategic advantage, especially when it is supported by strong brand positioning, meaningful PR and data-led digital execution.
One of the biggest parts of my role is helping clients understand the full picture of how RBH can support them, from the first discovery meeting right through to campaign delivery and beyond. We want to focus on visibility, reputation and long-term growth. We use content, storytelling, media opportunities and award submissions not just as marketing tactics, but as tools that strengthen a brand’s reputation and relevance over time.
In my time in business development, I’ve found that the secret is to be authentic. People buy from people – it’s the oldest adage in sales, yet we forget it time and again. At RBH, our people make us who we are. They are the reason our work feels genuine, collaborative and energising. We dare to care and it shows in our output every day. Everyone who contributes to our day-to-day successes has bought into our culture. We are not doing this for execs who sit in glass offices. We are doing it for each other.
