• Making a move to the US is a big, expensive decision, one to take with great care.
• However, now might well be the perfect time to make the leap – whether that’s opening an arm of your agency there or reaching out to more US-based clients.
• Sophia ‘Puff’ Story will be shining a light on what it’s like to work for a UK agency in the US, and how you can still make an impact without even getting on a plane.
“Now is a great time to be looking at the USA,” says Sophia ‘Puff’ Story, co-founder of 3SidedCube USA. “There’s a lot more stability than in the UK. Budgets are bigger, contracts are longer, and they’re welcoming UK agencies with open arms.”
Puff moved from Bournemouth to Florida in July 2021, and helped to launch the US arm of 3SidedCube. Just over a year on, and she’s noticed some stark differences between how both countries operate.
“There’s a remarkable difference in the quality of client servicing between UK agencies and some US agencies,” she says. “The speed and quality of communication and very different, and US clients love the agility that UK agencies offer.”
Even the way they win work is different: “We’re part of a pitch for a $25m project over five years. We’re down to the last two and there’s no formal pitch process. It’s mad how big the contracts are out here.”
While making an impact is perhaps slightly easier with a US presence – Puff says “being on the ground is important, with someone on a US time zone being critical” – outsourcing work is still a great opportunity for UK agencies who can’t make the move just yet.
“People are more open to having conversations about outsourcing work from the US to the UK now – our clients don’t mind that. We’ve been working with US clients for ten years, before the move – and we’ve shown them we know how to use the time zone to our advantage.”
Come along to this session to hear more about Puff’s Stateside journey so far, and how you might be able to make a splash across the pond – perhaps even from afar.