"We only want to work on things that we believe could create better futures," explains Andy Harvey, reflecting on the founding principles that drove him to establish Communion after two decades in the agency world. In an industry where scale often trumps substance, this independent creative studio is proving that small teams can deliver outsized impact for luxury, sports, and lifestyle brands seeking transformation.
The global studio has carved out a distinctive niche by rejecting the rigid boundaries that typically define creative services. "We don't consider ourselves to be a design agency or a comms agency," Harvey explains. “What we do differently is to sit eye level with a chief brand officer or a founder and help them create something special."
This approach has won them partnerships with global luxury powerhouses like Rosewood Hotels and Zegna, alongside breakthrough projects for women's sports innovator Mercury 13, all while maintaining a core team of under 10 people.
The dot connectors: Building bridges between brand and culture
At the heart of Communion's philosophy is what Harvey calls "dot connecting" - the ability to bridge long-term brand vision with immediate cultural relevance. "We can balance that sense of pointing you somewhere forward for the next 10 years, but we can still connect in the now with exciting ideas, campaigns and experiences," he says.
This dual-speed approach has proven particularly valuable for brands navigating complex transformations. For Rosewood Hotels, Communion has spent over two years developing a comprehensive rebrand that positions them as a purpose led lifestyle innovator, moving them beyond hospitality into the broader lifestyle space.
Alexandra Woolf, who leads client partnerships at the agency, attributes their success to a collaborative model that eliminates traditional agency hierarchies. "Because we're independent, smaller, and most of our team are quite senior, there's a speed and agility to how we work," she explains. "We get to the answer a lot quicker because we work much more collaboratively."
This approach has proven particularly effective for clients seeking to break industry codes. When Mercury 13 approached Communion to create a brand for their women's football venture, described as "the LVMH of women's football", the agency delivered a complete brand identity in just five weeks.
"We gave them this platform called 'We Belong Here'—a rallying cry for independent teams and women in the men's game, but also a powerful long-term statement that women belong in any traditionally male spaces," Harvey explains. "The work didn’t just help land a Nike kit deal worth two to three times their previous Adidas sponsorship, it also sparked real cultural traction, with growing recognition across press and the wider football community before the brand had even launched."
The chemistry factor: How small teams deliver big results
What might surprise potential clients most about working with Communion is the sheer volume of work their compact team delivers. "Clients don't necessarily realise that we're a small but mighty team who can do a lot," says Woolf. "Rosewood and Zegna are massive brands with massive challenges and creative opportunities, but that wasn't done by a 50-person agency pulling in half the business. It was far less than that."
The studio's effectiveness stems from a deliberately flat structure that encourages open dialogue and rapid decision-making. "One of the biggest killers in a creative studio is stress, pressure and anxiety," Harvey notes. "We try to create autonomy. We give the guys a lot of space to do what they know is right, but try to take away a lot of that pressure so they can be their most creative self."
This approach extends to client relationships, where formality is actively discouraged. "We always try to punctuate any formality," Harvey says. "I just don't think it helps us in any way."
The result is a working environment that feels more like a recording studio than a traditional agency. "It's the space where we all come together and make something real," Harvey explains. "We might have had all those ideas floating around in our head, but this is where we come together and crystallise it—and it should be filled with jokes and laughs and interesting reference points."
Radical optimism: The values driving future growth
When asked about the values they look for in team members, Harvey highlights two key principles: "Being good ancestors" and "radical optimism."
"We have to be wildly optimistic on every level," he explains. “Optimistic about the future, and the way we can use creativity to overcome the fact that our world is going to shit, creating futures we actually want to see ourselves in ... but I also think optimism plays out day-to-day — in the power of good ideas, and problem solving.”
This optimism is balanced with a no-ego approach that prioritises collaboration over individual recognition. "Whenever we've had people with big egos come to the studio, it rocked the studio and it's just not wanted," Woolf emphasises. "It creates a different space and it's a mood killer, a vibe creative killer."
The agency has recently clarified its offering into what Harvey calls a "two-speed offer" combining longer-term brand direction with immediate cultural connection through campaigns, platforms and experiences. "That's the real power of us as an agency, we can connect the dots between those two things."
The partnership principle: Challenging each other to reach higher
For brands seeking transformation, Communion offers a refreshing alternative to traditional agency relationships. Their approach is built on establishing a shared ambition from the outset, then maintaining honest dialogue throughout the process.
"We've built the client partnership model and we call it that instead of client services or accounts for a reason," Harvey explains. "It's a partnership for us, with everything that word implies. So there's a lot of give and take."
That commitment has real consequences for the work. "It’s not just about how we collaborate, but how that collaboration helps clients move faster, think more clearly, and take bolder steps," Woolf adds. "When the relationship is built on trust and shared ambition, the work naturally becomes more focused and impactful."
For brands looking for a shakeup in luxury, sports, and lifestyle categories, Communion offers a compelling proposition: the strategic depth and creative firepower of a major agency, delivered with the agility and personal touch of an independent studio. As Harvey puts it: "We're not just your hands, we're your hearts and your brains."
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