Living Group
Living Group is a privately held creative brand agency with offices in London, New York, and Hong Kong serving enterprise financial, professional services, and technology clients. Its proprietary Living Ratings platform benchmarks brand and digital intelligence across 100+ criteria, underpinning its strategy, digital, and campaign services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Living Group does
Living Group is a privately held creative brand agency founded in 2004 and headquartered in London, with wholly owned regional operations in New York and Hong Kong. The firm specializes in brand strategy, visual identity development, website design and build, and integrated digital marketing campaigns for enterprise clients in three sectors: financial services (asset managers, investment banks, private banks, wealth managers, and private equity firms), professional services (law firms, accountancy firms, and consultants), and technology (fintech and lawtech firms). The company positions itself as a long-term strategic partner to in-house marketing teams, delivering all services directly through its three offices rather than via intermediaries or resellers.
At the core of Living Group's service stack is Living Ratings, a proprietary trademarked research platform that benchmarks brand and digital intelligence of leading financial, professional services, and technology firms across more than 100 criteria spanning engagement (website functionality and social channels) and evidence (brand and content) dimensions. The platform underpins an annual series of sector-specific reports — Living Ratings of Law Firms 2026 (now in its 27th edition), Living Ratings of UHNW Wealth Managers 2026, Living Ratings of Asset Managers 2025, and Living Ratings of Professional Services Firms (2020/2021) — and feeds a three-tier Brand & Digital Diagnostic offering (Snapshot Benchmark, Profile Diagnostic, and Bespoke Advisory Diagnostic). Service delivery is organized into four modules: In-depth Research, Engaging Brand, Disruptive Digital, and Integrated Campaigns.
Living Group's revenue model is professional-services-based, combining project engagements and ongoing retainer relationships with enterprise clients. Pricing is engagement-based and not publicly disclosed; the Diagnostic product line also functions as a client-acquisition funnel into larger agency mandates. Named enterprise clients include AB ETFs, Reed Smith, Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, CFA Institute, Carlyle Global Wealth, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, State Street Global Advisors, Broadridge, Hausfeld, Hill Dickinson, Mawer, Centellic, and Forvis Mazars. The firm is co-founded and led by Kate Shaw (CEO) and Duncan Shaw (CCO); no external funding, parent company, or M&A activity is disclosed in the available material.
Living Group firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Living Group
- Legal name
- Living Designs Associates Limited
- Website
- https://living-group.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Living Group is a privately held creative brand agency with offices in London, New York, and Hong Kong serving enterprise financial, professional services, and technology clients. Its proprietary Living Ratings platform benchmarks brand and digital intelligence across 100+ criteria, underpinning its strategy, digital, and campaign services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Living Group industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Brand and Marketing Services
- NAICS
- Advertising Agencies (541810), Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Consumer & Lifestyle PR (MPAAADAB)
Keywords
Where Living Group is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Living Group business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Brand Strategy and Creative Services: Living Group provides brand strategy, visual identity development, website design and build, and digital marketing campaign services to clients across financial, professional services, and technology sectors. Revenue is generated through project-based engagements and ongoing agency retainer relationships.
- Research and Diagnostic Reports: The company offers bespoke research consultancy services including brand diagnostics, competitive analysis, and Living Ratings benchmarking reports for firms seeking to understand their market position and improve brand/digital intelligence.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels9 records
Living Group product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Living Group is a creative brand agency that designs brands, websites, and campaigns for financial, professional services, and technology firms. Its offering spans brand strategy, visual identity, website design, and digital marketing campaigns, and is differentiated by Living Ratings — an in-house research and benchmarking platform that scores brand and digital performance against 100+ criteria.
Product overview
Living Group is a creative brand agency operating across three offices (New York, London, Hong Kong) that specializes in creating brands, websites, and campaigns for financial, professional services, and technology firms. The company's core offering centers on Living Ratings, its proprietary research platform that benchmarks brand and digital intelligence across sectors. Living Ratings produces annual sector-specific reports including Living Ratings of Law Firms (2026), Living Ratings of UHNW Wealth Managers (2026), Living Ratings of Asset Managers (2025), and Living Ratings of Professional Services Firms (2020). Supporting the research platform, the company offers Brand & Digital Diagnostic Services at three tiers (Snapshot Benchmark, Profile Diagnostic, and Bespoke Advisory Diagnostic). Service delivery spans four modules: In-depth Research (brand discovery), Engaging Brand (visual identity and messaging), Disruptive Digital (website and digital experience design), and Integrated Campaigns (campaign execution).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Living Ratings: Proprietary research platform that benchmarks the brand and digital intelligence of leading financial, professional services, and technology firms
Products and services
- Brand Strategy
- Visual Identity Design
- Website Design
- Digital Marketing Campaigns
- Living Ratings Proprietary research and benchmarking platform that evaluates brand and digital intelligence of financial and professional services firms against 100+ criteria, used to underpin the agency's strategic recommendations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Client's LinkedIn followers increased by 1,800% (from 5,000 to 95,000+) through executive communications program
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Living Group
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Living Group technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Living Group partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators6 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Living Group competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Siegel+Gale: Brand strategy and design firm known for simplicity-focused work, with established financial services and technology client relationships. Overlaps meaningfully with Living Group's brand strategy, identity, and digital experience services, though at a larger network scale.
- Interbrand: Global brand consultancy that combines brand strategy, identity, and proprietary research (Best Global Brands) for financial services and technology clients. Operates at substantially larger scale and broader portfolio than Living Group, but overlaps in the combination of brand advisory plus a flagship annual research product.
- Ketchum: Global PR and communications firm with a strong financial services practice, offering brand and integrated communications services that overlap with Living Group's offering. Operates at much greater scale and with a broader client base, including consumer and public sector work.
- Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy serving financial and professional services clients with brand strategy, identity, and design. Larger and more diversified than Living Group, but overlapping directly in target sectors and in the sale of brand-led transformation engagements to enterprise clients.
- Landor & Fitch: Large global brand consultancy with a strong financial services practice, offering brand strategy, identity, and experience design. Significantly bigger and more diversified than Living Group, but directly overlapping in target client verticals (banks, asset managers, professional services) and core offering.
- FleishmanHillard: Global PR and communications agency with deep financial services and professional services expertise, providing brand and integrated communications work for enterprise clients. Comparable to Living Group in serving financial brands, but at substantially larger scale and with a broader service portfolio.
Direct peers
- Superunion: Integrated brand agency (formerly The Brand Union) serving financial services, professional services, and technology clients with a combined creative, strategy, and research model. Directly parallels Living Group's mix of brand strategy plus sector-specific research output.
- Vested: Financial services-focused content marketing and communications firm that helps financial brands with content strategy, executive visibility, and brand work. Closely parallels Living Group's sector focus and emphasis on executive communications, particularly in asset management and financial services.
- Brand Finance: UK-headquartered brand research and valuation firm that publishes annual rankings of global banks, insurers, and law firms. The closest direct analog to Living Group's Living Ratings benchmarking platform, with a shared focus on quantifying brand and intangible value for financial and professional services clients.
- Bow & Arrow: UK-based B2B brand agency of comparable mid-size profile, with a similar focus on brand strategy, identity, and digital work for financial and professional services clients. The closest direct peer to Living Group in terms of size, geography, and sector specialization.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Living Group social profiles
Digital presenceLiving Group financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Living Group leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Living Group subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Living Group funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Living Group M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Living Group
What does Living Group do?
Living Group is a creative brand agency that designs brands, websites, and campaigns for financial, professional services, and technology firms. Its offering spans brand strategy, visual identity, website design, and digital marketing campaigns, and is differentiated by Living Ratings — an in-house research and benchmarking platform that scores brand and digital performance against 100+ criteria.
Is Living Group a public or private company?
Living Group is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Living Group founded?
Living Group was founded in 2004. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Living Group based?
Living Group is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Living Group make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Brand Strategy and Creative Services are the primary driver. The others are research and Diagnostic Reports.
Who are Living Group's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Siegel+Gale, Interbrand, Ketchum, Wolff Olins, Landor & Fitch and FleishmanHillard. Direct peers are Superunion, Vested, Brand Finance and Bow & Arrow.
Does Living Group have an API?
No public API is recorded for Living Group.
What industry is Living Group in?
Living Group's product category is Brand and Marketing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAADAB, Consumer & Lifestyle PR. Its NAICS code is 541810 and its SIC code is 7311.