Dynamic Duos: SKMG’s Neil Shoebridge and Andrew Knowles
In this week's Dynamic Duos, SKMG co-founders Neil Shoebridge and Andrew Knowles share what drove their decision to start a business five years ago, their "rock solid" partnership, and the challenges they have overcome together.
In Dynamic Duos, Mumbrella each week asks two members of the same organisation with a professional and personal affiliation to share with readers the importance of workplace relationships in an increasingly hybridised world of work.
Neil Shoebridge:
We met in August 2015 when Andrew joined the Ten Network publicity department. We got on well, became mates and eventually realised we both wanted to start on our own business, but not on our own.
I’d wanted to set up a comms business for a while, but I never wanted to be a one-person band. I wanted someone with whom I could build a business. Andrew is a great writer and strategic thinker, with lots of strong ideas. Why did he want to set up a business with me? You’d have to ask him!
We launched SKMG on 28 May 2018 with a detailed business plan, a clear positioning, two clients and no office. Five years on, we have a team of five – including our brilliant General Manager, Sam Somers – a dozen market-leading clients, an office and an even sharper idea than we had at the start about how we work with and help our clients.
Anyone who runs their own business knows the challenges it brings, and we’ve had our share. Just six months in, we lost a client that represented a third of our revenue due to a corporate takeover. We replaced that – and more – then COVID-19 arrived and revenue dropped by about 40% almost overnight. We hunkered down, over-serviced our remaining clients, found new growth avenues and added some great new clients.
The point of this potted history is that Andrew and I couldn’t have done it if we didn’t have such a rock-solid and focused partnership. We push each other and bring out the best in each other. We have complementary skills, we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and we know intuitively how each other works. There are times when we think and say the same thing, which can be chilling!
We both have always had a really clear view of what SKMG does. The starting point is asking the client what they need their audience to understand and, more importantly, why. Then we work out the key messages that need to be landed to drive the influence and the reputation they need. From there it’s a three-pillar strategy: action, explanation and amplification – three words I’m sick of hearing Andrew say, but they are right. It’s all about creating the right activity to undertake and talk about, finding the best way to explain it to achieve buy-in, and amplifying it to the right audience to make sure the message sticks.
Like any relationship, ours is built on trust, loyalty, honesty, respect, consideration, trying not to take ourselves too seriously, and robust discussions about the things that matter. We like being together and we know how to have fun (although Andrew’s taste in music can be questionable). And, again as with any relationship, we don’t take each other for granted and we make the time to work on our partnership.
I’m not sugar-coating things here. We don’t (and shouldn’t) agree on everything and we have had some very lively arguments. But they always get resolved and we never disagree on the things that really matter. Our core values are the same. We are a great team.
Andrew Knowles:
I have a very clear memory of the first time I encountered Neil Shoebridge. I was mid-existential crisis scanning copies of women’s magazines in my new role at Ten when I felt a sudden chill in the department. Neil was strolling through, cracking one-liners and accosting the team for their middle names. I remember thinking: “Who is this fabulous man in alligator shoes that everyone appears to be afraid of?” After a quick Internet stalk and a deep dive into the archives of the AFR, I decided this was someone worth getting to know.
Neil became a mentor to me during our time at Ten. I was hungry to write more and wanted to get better at it; he was the best. After a few years, those discussions eventually turned to planning. SKMG started over a beer at The Dolphin in Surry Hills and it’s still where we have our shareholders’ meetings. Independently, we had designs to start our own businesses and it was pretty clear that we’d become great mates, so working together just made sense. In hindsight, it was a perfect combo: I wanted to take what I’d learnt building brands in music and the writing skills I’d developed in TV to help businesses tell their story better, and Neil had one hell of a black book of media and journalist contacts – plus an instinctive news sense that he was ready to take to market. We hit go and never looked back.
I remember about two months into launching the company I was working with a client in Cannes when Mark Fairhurst turned to me, unprompted mind you, and said: “You just scored the best bloody internship of anyone’s life working with that man. The sheer volume of knowledge he has is incredible. And could probably get a few people arrested.”
Mark was right, about most things anyway. The one thing Neil’s always been careful to point out is that we’re a team, and if he wanted an intern, he’d turn somewhere else. Point being, there were definitely a few raised eyebrows when an industry veteran started a business with someone in their early 20s and it was Neil, not me, who would fiercely point out to anyone that I was there on merit not a handout – even if I was the one who sometimes had to be convinced. He’s always had confidence in what I can do, beat the imposter syndrome out of me with a stick and an acid tongue, and has been my greatest champion, sounding board and critic ever since.
Five years later we’ve both learnt a lot, and we’ve picked up an amazing team on the way. A good earned communications strategy is a lot more than PR, and is at its best when we earn the trust to act as strategic advisors, not just mouthpieces. I’m beyond proud that Neil and I have built a business that some of the leading brands in the country across a whole range of industries trust to do exactly that, and we’re just getting started.
Neil on Andrew:
Most memorable moment with Andrew: Going to the Cannes advertising festival in 2019. It was a wild week, we worked really hard (true story) and we learnt an incredible amount for our clients and our business – so much so, we’re going back this year. Jet skiing on a croc-infested river in Cairns was also pretty memorable! And the TV network upfronts where we had to corral $30,000 of giant, inflated gold and silver balls was comedy gold.
Best word to describe Andrew: This is easy: smart. Andrew is remarkably smart and insightful about the work we do, our relationships with our clients, our business, our team, our partnership and our friendship.
Andrew’s most annoying or endearing habit: He is right 99% of the time about what we do and our business. It’s great and annoying at times and great. He also loves to talk, a lot, which is a pretty good attribute for a comms person.
Andrew on Neil:
Most memorable moment with Neil: There’s too many to count and a lot I probably shouldn’t share publicly, but at one point early in the company’s life, Neil and I decided to host some friends who had helped with the business on a go-karting day.
On the third lap, first corner, I found my business partner more than 20 metres off the track, sideways, and at the top of a rather high embankment. After the race, as about 10 of us came rushing up to find out what happened, Neil calmly explained: “I was busy admiring the olive grove on the neighbouring farm.” Soon followed by: “You f****** arsehole, why the f*** didn’t you stop to check I was ok!?”
I’m very competitive in a go-kart. Neil, however, was content to sip rosé trackside for the remainder of the day.
That afternoon we also decided to employ our now General Manager, Sam Somers, but that’s another story.
Best word to describe Neil: Does relentless sound harsh? It shouldn’t. Neil gets it done.
Neil’s most annoying or endearing habit: He’s impatient. And when he’s impatient, he nags. That will come as no shock to many reading this.
Thing is, our business would be nowhere without it. Neil’s seemingly God-given ability to remember everything that’s happening with every one of our clients, everything on our team’s to-do list and every live pitch with a journalist – then follow up on them in a timely and often tireless fashion – is the bedrock of the client service we pride ourselves on. I’d call him an elephant but he’d take offense at that. The man doesn’t miss a beat and he’s bloody fast.
Oh, and he also insists on taking charge of the music in the office, to very mixed reviews. Right now, he’s playing (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance by Gene Pitney.
If you and a colleague would like to submit your story to Dynamic duos, please email kwelch@mumbrella.com.au.
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