Digitella, a Wellington-based digital marketing agency, was founded by Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington alumni and The Atom—Te Kahu o Te Ao resident entrepreneurs Daniel Raats and Bob Anderson at a time when New Zealanders were collectively adapting to seismic changes to the way they live and work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As an e-commerce and software as a service (SaaS) marketing agency, Digitella have leveraged these challenges into opportunity and found a success sweet spot. As their agency levels up, they’re recruiting fellow graduates for the ride.
The partnership between Daniel and Bob began with an online scooter sale. They realised they enjoyed working together and decided to take advantage of the pandemic media landscape and start an e-commerce/SaaS marketing business. “Bob started off working full time and Daniel part time. Seeing an opportunity with reduced media costs and business opportunities for our initial clients during the pandemic, we quickly got some early client wins – and that is how Digitella Marketing started.”
Daniel and Bob are convinced they got in their own way initially. “We think the biggest barrier to entry was actually ourselves. We were waiting for the ‘perfect time’ or ‘million-dollar idea’.”
If they could give any wisdom to students thinking of getting into entrepreneurship, it’s this: back yourself. “You don't need to have all the answers, you just need the willingness to go figure it out. Now is the time to be bold and take a chance. Either way, you’ll be richer from the experience.” They add: “although the thought of a business not succeeding may be paralysing in itself, the experience you gain from putting yourself out there will greatly enhance your chances in future interviews should you need to apply for a job anyway.”
Get networking. That’s the other key piece of advice they would share. Go to the events and conferences. It’s great for students who are interested in starting their venture to connect with entrepreneurs.
While they started out “with a hiss and a roar”, their story has had its share of challenges. Notably the pandemic and its general climate of uncertainty. With business owners facing tough times, they saw “an opportunity to start lean and produce some really good results for our early clients as media was so much cheaper due to less competition.”
“For many businesses, lockdown forced them to re-approach their marketing strategy and start taking online/digital more seriously as a channel. This allowed us to work and help migrate businesses across digital platforms. We celebrated our second birthday recently, and the majority of our existence has been within pandemic times, so it all seems quite normal to us. We’re lucky that the nature of our business can be handled remotely.”
Imposter syndrome is a fact of life, and particularly in business. Bob and Daniel have dealt with this in the same way they have faced other challenges: applying previous experience, looking to others to see how they handle things, and leveraging their environment. “We both have been naturally curious and inquisitive in our previous roles as we’ve both always had that natural entrepreneurial ambition.”
“Although we might not have personally faced many of the challenges we’re now running into, we have observed other organisations and those around us go through them, giving us some pre-exposure to what to expect and how to face them.”
Their education, networks at the University and general support from lecturers, University staff, and fellow students has been a key factor in their success. “Networks from the University mean that we have budding lawyers, marketers looking for jobs, and lectures/tutors with entrepreneurial experience who we’ve been able to look to for support and capacity when required.”
While neither Bob nor Daniel have studied ‘Digital marketing’ specifically, they say they employ their degrees and formal education in their everyday work. “Outside of marketing and management theory, which has contributed to our styles, we’ve also found the University network and community vital to our success. Having the support of previous lecturers, tutors, and students have allowed us to access the right advice and information at arm’s reach – meaning we’ve been able to jump from strength to strength.”
Business is a team sport, and Digitella Marketing is no exception. “Having the right people around us from early on has helped us mitigate the disruption of challenges as they’ve appeared. Whether it’s been hiring, contracts and legal work, or business support - it’s been surprising how well our university background has helped us manage them.”
They’re proud of the team culture they’ve fostered, with casual attire and an informal work environment. “We have a relaxed work culture – instead of wearing suits and dresses we’re wearing casual clothes (and often sports gear for our lunchtime basketball games), sharing our music tastes, and catching up daily, creating a strong culture. This is why we’re a tight team as we’ve all bought into the common goal of bringing continuous improvement to the campaigns we’re delivering.”
It would be a mistake to label their ethos as casual, however. “We move fast, and we get it done. We’re a young team who are hungry to make a name for ourselves and have fun while doing it… We feel we punch above our weight and our team’s experience stretches further than what you’d expect from actual years in the game.”