The Elephant Room

What The Elephant Room does

The Elephant Room is a London-based, independent creative agency founded in 2017. It operates as a private limited company (The Elephant Room Limited) under UK jurisdiction and is affiliated with the DO Network. The agency specialises in culture-led brand transformation, integrated campaigns, social impact programmes, and community mobilisation for enterprise clients across telecommunications, financial services, technology, sports-fashion, beverages, and cultural institutions. Named clients include Vodafone, Samsung, Barclays, Uber, PUMA, Converse, Pinterest, The Botanist, Typhoo, Quaker, British Library, Barbican, Mayor of London / Greater London Authority, Macmillan Cancer Support, Prince's Trust, and Compare The Market, with documented engagements including the global Converse Create Next launch (October 2021), the Arsenal x adidas 2024/25 away kit campaign, and the Samsung Grassroots Academy partnership with Baiteze FC.

The agency delivers professional creative services rather than technology products. Its core capability combines cultural insight, community access, and creative direction, supported by the One Month Mentors programme (now in its fifth year), which functions as a sustained talent and creator pipeline. Campaigns span brand platforms, visual identity, OOH, digital, social, experiential activations, podcasts, and content series, with measurable outcomes such as the Macmillan Open House campaign achieving 5 million impressions and 12x industry-benchmark engagement rates. Revenue is generated through project-based creative agency fees, with new business directed to Founder and Managing Director Dan Saxby via direct enterprise field sales. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and engagements are negotiated per project or retainer.

The Elephant Room is led by a three-person senior team: Dan Saxby (Founder and Managing Director), Shannie Mears (Founder and Head of Culture & Communities), and Nina Taylor (Executive Creative Director). The agency reports a headcount of 1-10 employees, suggesting a lean core team supplemented by freelance and partner capacity (including DO Network peers, Baiteze FC, Copa 90, Coldr, Bounce Cinema, and Zero Formation). No external institutional investment, private equity, or venture capital backing is evidenced in the available data, and no revenue, funding rounds, or M&A activity are disclosed.

Name

The Elephant Room

Legal name

The Elephant Room Limited

Website

https://theelephantroom.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Elephant Room is a London-based independent creative agency founded in 2017 that delivers culture-led brand transformation, integrated campaigns, and community mobilisation for enterprise clients across telecommunications, financial services, technology, sports-fashion, beverages, and cultural institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Agency Services

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Brand Activations & Experiential Campaign Design (MPAAAGAA)

Keywords

• Creative agency services
• Brand campaign development
• Cultural insight marketing
• Integrated advertising campaigns
• Purpose driven marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Creative agency fees: The Elephant Room generates revenue through project-based creative work for brand clients, including integrated campaigns, brand transformation projects, social impact programs, and cultural activations. Revenue is derived from fees for creative development, campaign production, and ongoing client partnerships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Elephant Room is an independent creative agency that sells culture-led brand transformation and integrated creative campaign services to enterprise clients. Its offerings span brand strategy, visual identity, social and digital campaigns, OOH, experiential activations, branded content and podcasts, and purpose-driven social impact programmes for brands and non-profits seeking authentic engagement with diverse audiences.

Product overview

The Elephant Room is an award-winning independent creative agency that provides services rather than standalone software products. Their core offerings include culture-led brand transformation, integrated campaigns that mobilize communities, cultural insight and consulting, and social impact and talent programmes. They work with clients across various sectors including finance (Barclays), technology (Samsung, Vodafone), fashion (Converse, PUMA), beverages (The Botanist, Quaker), and cultural institutions (British Library, Barbican). Their work focuses on purpose-driven campaigns, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and community engagement strategies rather than technology products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Culture-Led Brand Transformation Strategic brand transformation service that uses cultural insight and community credibility to help enterprise brands build cultural relevance and authentic audience connection, demonstrated through case studies for The Botanist (global brand revolution 'All We Need Is Now') and the British Library ('Beyond the Bassline' visual identity and exhibition campaign).
• Integrated Creative Campaigns End-to-end campaign production spanning social, digital, OOH, experiential, film, photography and podcast formats, delivered to enterprise brand clients across sectors including telecommunications, banking, FMCG, fashion and technology.
• Cultural Insight and Consulting Research-led cultural insight consulting that informs campaign strategy and helps brands understand diverse audiences including Black, South Asian, Gen Z and LGBTQIA+ communities.
• Social Impact and Talent Programmes Purpose-driven campaigns and creator/talent programmes such as the Converse 'Create Next' six-month mentoring programme with Bounce Cinema and Samsung Grassroots Academy with Baiteze FC, plus community fundraising campaigns for Prince's Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support.
• Branded Podcast and Multimedia Content Production Production of branded podcast series and multimedia content for cultural institutions and brands, such as the Barbican 'At the Barbs' Gen Z podcast series ranked among Barbican's most successful for new user acquisition and retention.
• One Month Mentors Programme The agency's long-running creator and talent mentorship programme, running for 5+ years and providing authentic access to a network of creators, cultural tastemakers and community voices that inform client campaign work.

Quantifiable outcome

• Vodafone Open Line campaign: 4.8 million parents reached, 18 million YouTube impressions, +9.1 ad recall uplift, 33% VTR on Meta, +4.6ppt brand uplift, 90% positive sentiment
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• DO NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Elephant Room is part of the DO Network, a collective or network of independent creative agencies or businesses. No further details on the nature of the partnership are available.
• Pink NewsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with Pink News for the Uber Pride campaign, where 15 stories of Uber's LGBTQIA+ community were shared on a dedicated blog page, in the app, and across Uber's social channels.
• Bounce CinemacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner6-month mentoring programme for the Converse Create Next campaign, where Bounce Cinema provided mentors from the Converse network to guide five young London filmmakers, alongside John Boyega.
• Baiteze FCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-creation of the Samsung Grassroots Academy with FA Sunday Cup winners and social media masters Baiteze FC — the world's first football academy teaching clubs to thrive through social, creativity and Samsung tech.
• Copa 90minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with Copa 90 for branded content and storytelling to showcase grassroots football clubs and their unique stories as part of the Samsung Grassroots Academy campaign.
• ColdrminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Coldr for the Pinterest Black to Z pop-up exhibition at Noho Studios, where more than 100 journalists, influencers and opinion formers explored and celebrated Black creativity.
• WingstopminorGTM or Marketing PartnerWingstop hosted the 5th anniversary Black History Month cohort celebration for One Month Mentors, featuring an evening of inspiration, community, and a short film premiere.
• Labrum LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLabrum London, a British African heritage brand, was selected by Arsenal and adidas to design the unique 2024/25 away kit. The Elephant Room partnered with Zero Formation to capture the collaboration through launch film and photography.
• Zero FormationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZero Formation was engaged to capture the Arsenal x adidas collaboration through a powerful launch film and photography campaign celebrating the kit's cultural significance.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Livity: London-based independent agency purpose-built around youth, diversity, and social impact, serving brands like Google, Unilever, and the BBC. Directly comparable in mission-driven positioning and cultural community expertise.

Broad incumbents

• Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH): Long-established London creative agency (now part of Publicis) known for culturally iconic campaigns for major brands like Barclays, Levi's, and Audi. Comparable in serving enterprise brands from London with culture-led creative.
• Droga5 (Accenture Song): Acclaimed global creative agency (now part of Accenture Song) with a London office serving brands like Heineken, Amazon, and The New York Times. Comparable as a culture-led, award-winning creative shop competing for the same enterprise budgets.
• Wieden+Kennedy London: London outpost of the globally renowned independent creative network, serving brands like Nike, Honda, and Tesco. Comparable in being an enterprise-grade creative shop delivering culture-led, award-winning work from the UK.
• 72andSunny: Global creative agency with a London presence known for culturally resonant brand work for clients like Google, Adidas, and Activision. Comparable in delivering culture-led, integrated campaigns for enterprise brands.

Direct peers

• Mother London: Independent creative agency headquartered in London with a similar boutique-but-enterprise positioning. Comparable in serving major global brands with culturally resonant, idea-led creative work and a reputation for producing award-winning campaigns.
• The&Partnership: Independent London-headquartered creative and media agency working with major clients such as News Corp, Toyota, and NatWest. Comparable as a mid-sized independent competing for enterprise creative mandates.
• Uncommon Creative Studio: London-based independent creative agency built on purpose-driven, culture-led brand work for major clients. Directly comparable in size, structure, and mission-driven positioning to The Elephant Room.
• Lucky Generals: London-based independent creative agency founded by former Mother London leadership, serving major brands with culturally relevant, entrepreneurial creative work. Comparable in size, independence, and enterprise client focus.
• Anomaly: Independent creative agency with a London office operating an unconventional, entrepreneurially structured model serving major global brands. Comparable in being a non-holding-company independent competing for enterprise creative budgets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-elephant-room-limited
• Instagraminstagram.com/elephantroomuk
• Xx.com/ElephantRoomUK

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Elephant Room