We’re the face of AXA’s new ‘Meet the Inspired’ campaign
Lantern selected to front a new business insurance campaign for the UK’s biggest insurer of startups.
AXA Business Insurance provides tailored business cover direct to UK small businesses and is the UK’s biggest insurer of startups (founded within the past three years). The company is also ranked as the No. 1 insurance brand worldwide, so we were understandably delighted when we were selected to be the face of their new campaign.
Running online and across social media, their ‘Meet the Inspired’ campaign launches today and includes a host of advice and support on building and growing a business and brand, with plenty of content from our very own Founder and Director, Ryan Tym.
After almost a decade working in different agencies, Ryan decided to go it alone and start Lantern in 2014. From a spare room, to achieving an award-winning team and an office in East London, Ryan speaks candidly about what’s kept him driven and what advice he’d give to other entrepreneurs.
First port of call? A point of difference.
As you might expect, building a brand is an integral part of the process. He launched ‘brand attitude’ agency Lantern from a spare bedroom and hasn’t looked back.
“When I created my first business plan I knew the kind of companies I wanted to be like. I used them as benchmarks to pitch myself against, and then improve on.”
“It’s a real challenge to stand out from the rest of the competition,” Ryan says. When starting Lantern he saw few agencies focusing on brand attitude and tone of voice “I felt like that was missing a little bit in the way that UK agencies work, so that was really the driving force for how I wanted to do something a bit different.”
“It’s really important to understand what your point of difference is and what you stand for.” No point of difference? No point starting up.
Creating something with lasting impact
Ryan explains, “people fall into the trap of [building] a brand or a business around themselves.” But this can undermine the company’s credibility.
“You need to think about it on a bigger level… separately from you as a person, to what this is as a business and what you want it to stand for. I think it’s quite easy when you’re starting up to miss that step.”
It’s about, as Ryan says, creating a legacy that you can build and evolve alongside others. “I’ve always wanted to create something that was a business entity in its own right, so that one day maybe I might not be a part of it and it can live and exist on its own.”