"We wanted to create a business that does the right thing, not the easy thing or the thing that's going to make the most money," explains Dave Barnett, co-founder of independent media agency December19.
In an industry where transparency has become marketing's most overused buzzword, December19 stands as a rare example of an agency built on this principle from day one, not retrofitted when clients started demanding it.
Founded in 2010 by Dan Pimm and Dave Barnett, both former big network executives, December19 emerged from a growing disillusionment with how traditional agencies were structuring media deals that benefited their bottom lines rather than client outcomes. The date itself—December19, 2008, marks when Pimm left his role at a global network, determined to create something fundamentally different.
The challenger champion
While many agencies chase headline-grabbing accounts, December19 has deliberately positioned itself as the champion of what they call "challenger budgets", typically clients spending under £5 million annually who might otherwise be relegated to junior teams at larger networks.
"Clients under the £5 million pound spend were just being given to juniors in the big holding companies," Pimm notes. "We felt that those were the budgets which really needed to be looked after by seasoned media experts."
This approach has yielded impressive results. The agency recently secured an IPA Effectiveness Award for their work with accounting software provider Xero—a partnership that began in 2018 and demonstrates their commitment to long-term client growth rather than short-term tactical wins.
“The journey began when we started working with Xero in 2018 and launched them on TV in 2019,” says managing director David Lucy. “The IPA case study covers their brand repositioning in 2021 through to 2024, consistently demonstrating the value of our work and using that proof to optimize further.”
This focus on sustainable growth rather than flashy quick wins permeates the agency's approach. As Barnett puts it: "If a client comes to us and says, 'We've been showing steady growth, we've got a decent business with decent footings, but we understand we've got to grow and spending money on advertising will help us do that. Going on that journey, which is a long-term sustainable growth story, that's always a sweet spot for us."
Transparency beyond the buzzword
What sets December 19 apart in an industry where "transparency" has become marketing's most overused term is their structural commitment to it. Unlike networks that have had to retrofit transparency into existing business models built on opacity, December19 designed their entire operation around client-first principles.
"The industry has caught up with us," Barnett observes. "All of a sudden transparency was probably the most used word in 2019 for media agencies. They changed their marketing, but if you check their books, had they become more elaborate with how they structure these agency deals? Probably."
This foundational difference manifests in how the agency approaches client relationships. Their "now, next, future" framework establishes clear expectations for day-to-day operations, upcoming briefs, and longer-term strategic thinking, creating a structure where difficult conversations become part of the normal dialogue rather than crisis points.
"If we're speaking to clients because we have that openness and trust, it's not success washing. We're not just going to them with good news all the time," Barnett explains. "If there is some news that isn't so good or a campaign hasn't gone so well, it's not a big event. We have open and honest conversations throughout.
The measurement imperative
For an agency founded on transparency, measurement isn't an afterthought—it's fundamental to their approach. Lucy, who joined in 2019 to strengthen the agency's performance capabilities alongside their brand expertise, is particularly passionate about proving effectiveness.
"We don't do work without a clear understanding of what we're trying to do, what is the north star metric, what are we trying to shift?" Lucy emphasises. This commitment to measurable outcomes doesn't mean pushing clients toward expensive tracking solutions. Instead, December 19 works pragmatically within client constraints to establish meaningful proxies when comprehensive measurement isn't feasible.
"Not all clients want to have a £30,000 brand tracker or a £50,000 econometric study in place, and a lot of them don't need to," Lucy acknowledges. "We're not going to say you must have econometrics to understand what your campaign has delivered, but you have to have a north star metric that is a proxy for what you're trying to do."
This balanced approach to measurement, rigorous but realistic, reflects the agency's broader philosophy of doing what's right for the client rather than what's most profitable for themselves.
The human element
Despite their data-driven approach, December19 places equal emphasis on the human side of agency relationships. Their annual client satisfaction survey shows that 94% of clients would recommend them to colleagues.
"We've had long-term relationships with clients like Xero, Workspace, and Viking for many, many years," Pimm notes. "They know they're going to get a level of service, but they're also going to get expertise and a standard of media work that befits that of any other big agency."
This human-centred approach extends to their own team. In an industry notorious for burnout and weekend pitch work, December19 was prioritising staff wellbeing long before it became fashionable.
"Way back then, 15 years ago, no one was really talking about wellbeing," Pimm recalls. "There was talk about having fun in the office—ball pits, Nerf guns, pool tables—but they were just little tactics to keep people in the office. We just wanted to make sure that our staff were working normal hours and could forget about work over the weekend and on their holidays."
This commitment to ethical business practices culminated in B Corp certification—a rigorous assessment of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. "When Dave and I created this business, a lot of the chat wasn't obviously about B Corp because that was well in the future, but it was about doing the right thing," Pimm explains.
Future-proofing transparency
As the industry continues to evolve rapidly with AI and automation reshaping media buying, December 19 sees their founding principles becoming increasingly relevant. They've recently developed a proprietary programmatic platform built around transparency, addressing one of digital advertising's most problematic areas.
"The issues that we foresaw many years ago are real issues now," Barnett observes. "Which puts us in a fantastic spot for clients asking, 'What's your programmatic product? What's your planning product? Are you transparent?'"
For brands seeking a media partner that balances expertise with ethics, December19 offers a compelling alternative to the network model—one where transparency isn't just marketing speak but the foundation of every client relationship.
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