What’s our purpose?

When Cogs was founded back in 2004 we were based in London and focused on recruiting for digital agencies in the UK.

Now we’re a 60-strong and growing team, working on briefs across the world and a much more diverse client base, we decided to take a fresh look at our brand positioning. Founding Director and APAC CEO Chris Frost explains:

“We feel our founding values of ‘humility, effectiveness and professionalism’ still apply, but the industry has evolved and we’ve evolved with it. From working more or less exclusively with digital agencies like AKQA and Critical Mass, around 2006 we added trailblazing entertainment and fashion brands like Burberry, who wanted to put digital at the core of their business. From 2012 we added digital-first tech companies, like Deliveroo. Today, our clients include more traditional companies from all sorts of sectors, who are looking to transform and succeed in the digital economy, as well as the service and product design studios supporting that transformation, like Frog and Fjord. So we wanted to think about how best to communicate that breadth and depth.”

Working with Sally Skinner, a writer who started her advertising career around the time Cogs was born, the team embarked on a series of brand-defining workshops. Liam Morgan, co-founder and Europe CEO explain why being clear about our purpose is so important:

“Clarity is so valuable when it comes to brands, including ours, and that’s what a well-defined purpose gives us. As our offering evolves, this understanding will help us deliver genuine value to our clients, candidates and colleagues. From building relationships with our clients to deciding who to hire, all our decisions can now be aligned with our mission statement.”

We also have a brand new manifesto: ten values or beliefs that make Cogs… Cogs. This is already proving an amazingly helpful and versatile tool and should help keep us on track as the journey continues.

KNOWLEDGE IS EVERYTHING

CORRECT IS BETTER THAN QUICK

CONNECTING PEOPLE FEELS GOOD

NUMBERS CAN ONLY TELL HALF THE STORY

WORK SHOULD BRING OUT YOUR BEST SELF

TRUST COMES FROM BEING THERE

TALENT KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES

TRUE PARTNERSHIP PAYS OFF

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLD

WE’RE IN THE BUSINESS OF PEOPLE

By making our values public, we are implicitly inviting our clients, candidates, current staff and potential recruits to see how we measure up.

Finally, we’ve refreshed all our messaging across the website, social channels and client collateral, so everything is aligned with our mission: to help individuals and businesses reach their full potential.

Some things never change.