Lines from the Lockdown - Part Three - Goho to GOHO

May 10

Lines from the Lockdown - Part Three - Goho to GOHO

by Stacey-Rebekka Karlsson - MD @ Goho

What started as a short piece trying to spread some hope and positivity during this time, sharing my experience of living through coronavirus, and attempting to bring our small community closer together has now morphed into a perpetually open, window into my life during lockdown.

This week I wanted to talk about my company, Goho. Like all ‘parents’ I think my child is utterly gorgeous and perfectly formed. I made it and wanted it to stay just like that; a little piece of me (and the lovely Mike Black who is our designer extraordinaire). But I’m currently going through the troublesome stages of it growing up.

It seems like only yesterday Mike and I were sat in Ole & Steen (to help channel the Scandi vibes into our work) thrashing out pantones, graphics and creating the Goho brand. It was hard work, like all good things - but it was a work of love and I adored what we created. Fast forward a few weeks, and I was sitting in my lounge, with my macbook, having massive difficulty working out how to create a proposal (Pages was no Microsoft Word let me tell you). I was sick of staring at the same four walls, without people to bounce ideas off. So I packed my gear up and moved to We Work in Devonshire Square. This was the place dreams were made of. Prosecco on tap, bottomless biccies, and people, lovely people everywhere. This vital injection of energy gave me a jump-start, and very shortly I had landed the Conde Nast contract, as well as Alta, Light Your Way and Norse Group.

To say I was overstretched was an understatement, so I found the lovely Lana. Who came onboard, fresh from VCCP and raring to go. With a degree in Marketing, and the gung-ho of a millennial having grown up with social media, (Not a 30-something gazing in from the outside) we were a team not to be reckoned with. We landed the Signature Flight account, Green Park, and EY. The team continued to grow, flying gorgeous Roxy in from Barcelona to be our Head of BD, and not one, but two Liv’s. (Olivia was crowned PR Week magazine’s intern of the year in 2019 and Liv H joined us with over 12 years experience leading award-winning marketing teams). This ‘A team’ of six was delivering best-in-class activity for our clients. We were unstoppable. Until Covid that was.

Despite the illness, and the terrible loss of life, and the stress and the reduction in business, and the loss of money. And the uncertainty, And, well, the list goes on…..

Being a ‘glass-half-full’ kinda gal, I genuinely think this period has been a good thing for me.

It’s given me time to step back and rethink my plans, our strategy, our brand. Goho was the Girl on her own, but I realised that is no longer the case… we are a team of strong, curious, intelligent, brave, honest, daring, adaptive individuals, and we genuinely care about our clients and what we do. I’ve spent a lot of time reading and learning and trying to prepare myself and my team for whatever the new normal will be. I came across this article from Wolff Olins (yep, those guys that made the London 2012 logo, sigh) but I really like what they’ve got to say, and it feels really in line with this new, more grown-up version of Goho. https://www.wolffolins.com/views/wolff-olins-conscious-brands/

We’ve transitioned, we’ve matured, we’re more experienced, we’ve been through more, our roots have deepened, our relationships have strengthened, we’re no longer the new kid on the block.

We’re not slick, corporate or mechanistic, we are emotionally intelligent, organic, constantly morphing, and yes, we always laugh at ourselves.

See how we’ve grown on our website, and get in touch if you’d like to discuss how you can grow with us. My door, as well as my window is always open.

Peace and Drums