WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.520 I want you to picture the last time you were 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:05.019 in a grocery store. You're standing there, staring 00:00:05.019 --> 00:00:07.280 at the meat counter, maybe looking at a package 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:09.060 of pork chops. Sounds like a pretty standard 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:11.580 Tuesday. Right. It seems simple. You know, it's 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:14.199 dinner. It's a commodity. But then you see a 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:16.739 little sticker or a slogan, or maybe you remember 00:00:16.739 --> 00:00:19.960 an ad you saw on TV that makes you feel, I don't 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:22.260 know, slightly guilty. Or maybe strangely proud 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:26.410 to buy British pork. Exactly. We think we're 00:00:26.410 --> 00:00:28.410 making these independent choices, but we are 00:00:28.410 --> 00:00:30.789 actually walking through a landscape that has 00:00:30.789 --> 00:00:34.090 been very carefully curated by people we will 00:00:34.090 --> 00:00:36.670 never... ever meet. It is the infrastructure 00:00:36.670 --> 00:00:39.329 of persuasion. We see the ad, we buy the product, 00:00:39.450 --> 00:00:42.049 but we rarely see the architect who drew up the 00:00:42.049 --> 00:00:44.329 blueprints. And that is exactly what we are doing 00:00:44.329 --> 00:00:46.450 today. We are pulling back the curtain on one 00:00:46.450 --> 00:00:48.990 of those architects. And I have to say, the company 00:00:48.990 --> 00:00:51.109 we're looking at today has one of the weirdest 00:00:51.109 --> 00:00:53.670 origin stories I have ever seen. It really does. 00:00:53.909 --> 00:00:56.630 I mean, this is a massive global player that 00:00:56.630 --> 00:01:00.149 helps sell everything from smartphones to actual 00:01:00.149 --> 00:01:03.229 livestock. Yet at one point in its history, it 00:01:03.229 --> 00:01:05.579 was legally operating. under the name The Carpet 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:08.019 Tile Company. Talk about a humble beginning. 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:11.500 Or perhaps just a very confused corporate identity. 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:14.939 So today we are doing a deep dive into Chime 00:01:14.939 --> 00:01:17.359 Communications Limited, which is also known as 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:19.540 the Chime Group. And just to establish our foundation 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:21.819 here, we are looking at their corporate profile 00:01:21.819 --> 00:01:26.140 as it stands in early 2026. We have pulled their 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:28.939 Wikipedia history. We are looking at board structures 00:01:28.939 --> 00:01:31.780 and tracing the financial shifts to see how they 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:35.120 went from a management buyout in the 80s to this 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.680 massive marketing services powerhouse. And the 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:40.879 mission here for us is pretty specific. I want 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:42.700 to understand how a holding company actually 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:45.159 works in the marketing world. Because trying 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:47.359 isn't just one office where everyone sits around 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:49.659 brainstorming jingles. Not at all. It's a beast. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.280 It is one entity managing 54 different companies 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:56.340 and over 2 ,000 people to basically shape public 00:01:56.340 --> 00:01:59.140 perception. It's a fascinating study in scale, 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.099 really, but also in how influence is structured. 00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:04.480 So let's start with the basics. We are headquartered 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:06.680 in Westminster, London. The absolute heart of 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:09.080 British political and corporate power. Right. 00:02:09.180 --> 00:02:11.439 And Chime is technically classified as a marketing 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.039 services company. But honestly, that feels like 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:16.560 such a dry term for what they actually do. It 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.639 is a massive understatement. Services here covers 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:22.340 the entire spectrum of human communication. We're 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:25.199 talking sports marketing, public relations, advertising, 00:02:25.740 --> 00:02:28.580 digital strategy, market research. corporate 00:02:28.580 --> 00:02:31.379 responsibility, health care. Basically, if you 00:02:31.379 --> 00:02:33.360 have a message and you need it to enter a human 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.379 brain, Chime has a division for that. But before 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:38.539 we get to the umpire, we really have to talk 00:02:38.539 --> 00:02:40.740 about the name. Because I was reading through 00:02:40.740 --> 00:02:42.520 the chronological history in the source file, 00:02:42.580 --> 00:02:45.500 and I actually laughed out loud. You expect a 00:02:45.500 --> 00:02:48.340 global communication giant to have a history 00:02:48.340 --> 00:02:51.840 of these powerful visionary names. And instead, 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:55.099 you get 1986. 1986. Okay, walk me through this. 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:58.259 January 1986, they start as Glarmaid plaque. 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:01.319 Glarmaid. It sounds like a cough syrup that got 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:03.180 recalled. It's not exactly catchy. I'll give 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:05.919 you that. But then, just a few months later, 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:10.479 still in 1986, they pivot. And they changed their 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:13.259 legal name to the Carpet Tile Company Plaque. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:15.960 Which is honestly my favorite detail in the entire 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:19.659 file. Why? I mean, were they just confused? Did 00:03:19.659 --> 00:03:21.539 they honestly think the future of high stakes 00:03:21.539 --> 00:03:24.960 PR was commercial flooring? No, no. You have 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:27.139 to understand the context of the London financial 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:30.719 markets back in the 1980s. It was the Wild West. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:34.199 What you're seeing here, this shift from Glarmead 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:37.240 to carpet tiles, is likely a classic financial 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:39.840 maneuver. It's often about shell company. A shell 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.379 company. Right. Sometimes if you want to get 00:03:42.379 --> 00:03:44.539 a business listed on the stock exchange quickly, 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:47.580 you don't go through the long. incredibly expensive 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:50.039 process of an initial public offering, an IPO. 00:03:50.780 --> 00:03:53.379 Instead, you find a company that is already listed 00:03:53.379 --> 00:03:55.900 but is effectively dormant or failing. Like a 00:03:55.900 --> 00:03:58.259 carpet tile company that isn't selling many tiles. 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:01.060 Exactly. You buy it, you take it over, and you 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:03.500 inject your new business into that old shell. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:05.340 So it's like a hermit crab. You find an empty 00:04:05.340 --> 00:04:07.180 shell and you crawl inside. That's a perfect 00:04:07.180 --> 00:04:09.520 analogy. It is a reverse takeover vehicle. It's 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:11.580 a way to shortcut your way onto the market. So 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:14.080 the fact that they were the carpet tile company 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:16.860 between 86 and 89 suggests They were aggressive, 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:19.600 scrappy and looking for the absolute fastest 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:22.819 route to growth. That makes a lot of sense. But 00:04:22.819 --> 00:04:25.800 I still love the mental image of a bunch of high 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:28.379 powered ad executives sitting under a neon sign 00:04:28.379 --> 00:04:30.980 that just says carpet tiles. It keeps you grounded. 00:04:31.180 --> 00:04:33.779 So eventually they do shed the flooring persona. 00:04:34.389 --> 00:04:37.610 In 1989, they become the Chartwell Group Palk, 00:04:37.769 --> 00:04:40.870 which sounds much more dignified. And then finally, 00:04:40.990 --> 00:04:43.670 in 1994, they settle on Chime Communications 00:04:43.670 --> 00:04:46.310 Promos. And that's the brand that stuck. But 00:04:46.310 --> 00:04:48.389 the real DNA of the company, the actual people, 00:04:48.589 --> 00:04:51.189 that story starts with a management buyout in 00:04:51.189 --> 00:04:54.990 1989. They split from a group called Low Howard 00:04:54.990 --> 00:04:57.670 Spink and Bell to form Low Bell Communications. 00:04:58.250 --> 00:05:00.230 Which sounds exactly like a law firm. It does. 00:05:00.350 --> 00:05:03.649 But the Bell in that name refers to Lord Bell. 00:05:04.110 --> 00:05:06.329 He is a massive figure in British PR. He was 00:05:06.329 --> 00:05:08.750 actually Margaret Thatcher's PR guru. So right 00:05:08.750 --> 00:05:10.589 from the very start, this company had high level 00:05:10.589 --> 00:05:13.209 political DNA baked into it. So they get the 00:05:13.209 --> 00:05:15.170 name, they get the listing, and then they start 00:05:15.170 --> 00:05:16.949 to grow. And this is where I want to get into 00:05:16.949 --> 00:05:19.569 the invisible giant aspect of the sources. Because 00:05:19.569 --> 00:05:21.430 I think when people imagine an ad agency, they 00:05:21.430 --> 00:05:24.410 picture maybe 10 cool people in a loft playing 00:05:24.410 --> 00:05:26.569 ping pong and coming up with the slogans. That 00:05:26.569 --> 00:05:30.639 is the complete Mad Men fantasy. Chime is an 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:32.879 industrial complex. The numbers in the file are 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:34.860 just staggering. We were talking about a massive 00:05:34.860 --> 00:05:37.120 headcount. The source material mentions over 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:40.779 2 ,000 in one section and then specifically cites 00:05:40.779 --> 00:05:44.579 2 ,500 employees. That is a small army. It really 00:05:44.579 --> 00:05:47.480 is. And crucially, they aren't all in one building. 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:51.019 They are spread out across 54 different companies. 00:05:51.339 --> 00:05:55.079 Okay, let's stop there. Why 54 companies? Why 00:05:55.079 --> 00:05:58.209 not just have one big company called Chime? If 00:05:58.209 --> 00:06:00.129 I am a client, why do I care if I'm working with 00:06:00.129 --> 00:06:03.329 a tiny subsidiary? That is the magic of the holding 00:06:03.329 --> 00:06:06.009 company model. There are two main reasons for 00:06:06.009 --> 00:06:08.509 this. First is specialization. You have specific 00:06:08.509 --> 00:06:11.170 agencies dialed in for specific tasks. But the 00:06:11.170 --> 00:06:13.870 second reason is much more pragmatic. Conflict 00:06:13.870 --> 00:06:16.370 of interest. Exactly. Imagine you are a big holding 00:06:16.370 --> 00:06:18.449 company. You really want to represent Coca -Cola, 00:06:18.569 --> 00:06:21.529 but you also want the account for Pepsi. If you 00:06:21.529 --> 00:06:24.149 are just one single agency, you can't do it. 00:06:24.170 --> 00:06:25.970 It is a direct conflict. Right. They'd never 00:06:25.970 --> 00:06:29.370 allow it. But if you own... Agency A that handles 00:06:29.370 --> 00:06:32.129 Coke and Agency B that handles Pepsi. And they 00:06:32.129 --> 00:06:34.509 have completely different offices and different 00:06:34.509 --> 00:06:36.750 creative teams. Suddenly, you can take money 00:06:36.750 --> 00:06:39.089 from everyone. Precisely. And if you look at 00:06:39.089 --> 00:06:42.069 their five main divisions, you see this specialization 00:06:42.069 --> 00:06:44.970 in action. They have the VCCP group. Which handles 00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:47.569 the big, flashy marketing campaigns we usually 00:06:47.569 --> 00:06:50.910 see on TV. Right. But then they also have VCCP 00:06:50.910 --> 00:06:53.569 business. Which honestly sounds a bit redundant 00:06:53.569 --> 00:06:56.069 to me. Why do you need a business division? Isn't 00:06:56.069 --> 00:06:58.879 all marketing for business? Not at all. VCCP 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:03.279 Group is B2C, business to consumer. That is selling 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:07.389 a soda directly to you. VCCP business is B2B, 00:07:07.509 --> 00:07:10.329 business to business. That is selling a $5 million 00:07:10.329 --> 00:07:12.870 cloud computing server to the chief technology 00:07:12.870 --> 00:07:15.170 officer of a global bank. Okay, I see the difference. 00:07:15.449 --> 00:07:17.850 The psychology is completely different. Consumer 00:07:17.850 --> 00:07:20.709 marketing is emotional, it's quick, it's visually 00:07:20.709 --> 00:07:23.089 driven. Business marketing is highly rational, 00:07:23.310 --> 00:07:26.009 long -term, and technical. You absolutely cannot 00:07:26.009 --> 00:07:28.829 use the same copywriter for both. So Chime creates 00:07:28.829 --> 00:07:32.300 a separate silo just for it. And running this 00:07:32.300 --> 00:07:35.319 entire show, managing all these silos, we have 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:37.779 the current co -chief executives, Adrian Coleman 00:07:37.779 --> 00:07:41.220 and Matthew Vandrell. Right. Managing that many 00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:43.939 moving parts requires a very specific kind of 00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:46.100 leadership. You aren't just a creative director 00:07:46.100 --> 00:07:49.220 anymore. You are effectively a portfolio manager. 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:52.620 And the talent they attract to run these subsidiaries 00:07:52.620 --> 00:07:55.259 is top tier. I noticed in the file that the CEO 00:07:55.259 --> 00:07:57.459 of one of their subsidiaries, the Good Relations 00:07:57.459 --> 00:08:00.410 Group, is Jackie Brock Doyle. Does that name 00:08:00.410 --> 00:08:02.490 ring a bell for you? It sounded familiar when 00:08:02.490 --> 00:08:04.629 I read it. She was the communications chief for 00:08:04.629 --> 00:08:07.089 the London Olympics. Oh, wow. Okay, so we definitely 00:08:07.089 --> 00:08:09.750 aren't talking about interns here. No. When you 00:08:09.750 --> 00:08:12.649 hire the person who managed the messaging for 00:08:12.649 --> 00:08:15.009 the Olympics, which is arguably one of the most 00:08:15.009 --> 00:08:17.370 scrutinized events on the entire planet, you 00:08:17.370 --> 00:08:19.529 are signaling to the market that you can handle 00:08:19.529 --> 00:08:23.569 anything. Crisis, celebration, massive global 00:08:23.569 --> 00:08:25.769 scrutiny. Well, speaking of scrutiny, we have 00:08:25.769 --> 00:08:27.290 to talk about the part of the source file that 00:08:27.290 --> 00:08:29.050 felt a little bit like a corporate thriller. 00:08:29.449 --> 00:08:31.730 The Bell Pottinger connection. Yeah. You literally 00:08:31.730 --> 00:08:34.889 cannot research Chime without bumping into the 00:08:34.889 --> 00:08:37.590 ghost of Bell Pottinger. It is the elephant in 00:08:37.590 --> 00:08:41.129 the room. For a long time, the PR firm Bell Pottinger 00:08:41.129 --> 00:08:44.029 was wholly owned by Chime, and they were the 00:08:44.029 --> 00:08:47.549 crown jewel of their PR division. Absolute heavyweights. 00:08:48.129 --> 00:08:50.929 But they were also, well, let's say they had 00:08:50.929 --> 00:08:53.610 an appetite for controversy. Our sources note 00:08:53.610 --> 00:08:55.769 they had a reputation for taking on clients that 00:08:55.769 --> 00:08:58.919 other agencies simply wouldn't touch. And just 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:01.220 to be clear to you listening, we aren't here 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:03.559 to take a political stance on Bell Pottinger's 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:05.799 client list, whether it leans left, right or 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:08.019 anywhere else. We're just impartially looking 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:10.620 at the facts in the source material, which show 00:09:10.620 --> 00:09:13.299 that their reputation created some intense internal 00:09:13.299 --> 00:09:15.539 dynamics. Exactly. We're just looking at the 00:09:15.539 --> 00:09:18.399 corporate mechanics. And eventually the tension 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:20.960 between the main chime group and the Bell Pottinger 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:23.279 division reached a breaking point. The source 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:25.580 material calls it a management buyout in July 00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:28.549 of 2012. Right. Think of it as a corporate divorce. 00:09:28.929 --> 00:09:31.309 The management team at Bell Pottinger basically 00:09:31.309 --> 00:09:33.590 scraped together the cash to buy themselves out 00:09:33.590 --> 00:09:36.190 of Chime. They wanted total independence. And 00:09:36.190 --> 00:09:37.929 Lord Bell left the Chime board right around then 00:09:37.929 --> 00:09:41.590 too, June 2012. He did. He left to go with the 00:09:41.590 --> 00:09:44.509 ship he helped build. But here's the really fascinating 00:09:44.509 --> 00:09:47.549 part about corporate restructuring. Chime didn't 00:09:47.549 --> 00:09:50.070 just let everything walk out the door. This is 00:09:50.070 --> 00:09:53.090 exactly what confused me in the timeline. The 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:55.509 file specifically says Chime kept some of the 00:09:55.509 --> 00:09:58.049 regional offices of the Bell Pottinger Group. 00:09:58.350 --> 00:10:01.830 Yes. But if Bell Pottinger is buying their independence 00:10:01.830 --> 00:10:05.269 and leaving, how do you keep their offices? You 00:10:05.269 --> 00:10:07.909 keep the assets. You keep the office leases, 00:10:08.110 --> 00:10:11.490 the staff, the lucrative client contracts, but 00:10:11.490 --> 00:10:14.570 you completely kill the name. Chime knew that 00:10:14.570 --> 00:10:16.590 the Bell Pottinger brand was becoming, or at 00:10:16.590 --> 00:10:19.129 least had the potential to be, too volatile for 00:10:19.129 --> 00:10:22.090 a publicly traded company. But the actual work 00:10:22.090 --> 00:10:24.250 those regional offices were doing was excellent. 00:10:24.330 --> 00:10:26.389 It was highly profitable. What was the play? 00:10:26.549 --> 00:10:29.070 They took those regional offices and rebranded 00:10:29.070 --> 00:10:31.870 them as Good Relations. Good Relations. That 00:10:31.870 --> 00:10:34.509 is suspiciously pleasant. It's absolute genius, 00:10:34.629 --> 00:10:37.769 isn't it? Bell Pottinger sounds aggressive, aristocratic, 00:10:37.850 --> 00:10:40.730 maybe a little intimidating. Good Relations sounds 00:10:40.730 --> 00:10:42.570 like a friendly neighbor bringing you a warm 00:10:42.570 --> 00:10:46.350 pie. It is the ultimate PR move for a PR company. 00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:48.730 They keep the money -making machine, but you 00:10:48.730 --> 00:10:51.549 paint it a nice beige color so no one gets alarmed. 00:10:51.610 --> 00:10:54.110 Exactly. It signals stability. It signals we 00:10:54.110 --> 00:10:56.809 are the safe pair of hands. And that subtle maneuver 00:10:56.809 --> 00:10:59.649 allowed Chime to retain the revenue stream without 00:10:59.649 --> 00:11:02.149 any of the associated drama. And I should note, 00:11:02.230 --> 00:11:04.250 Lord Bell wasn't the only high -profile departure 00:11:04.250 --> 00:11:07.210 over the years. The board saw other notable exits 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:11.399 like... Dame Sue Tinson in 2006 and Lord Davies 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:14.299 of Abersock in 2015. Yeah. But let's shift focus 00:11:14.299 --> 00:11:17.009 to what good relations actually does. Because 00:11:17.009 --> 00:11:19.450 post -rebrand, they were a massive part of the 00:11:19.450 --> 00:11:21.450 Chime Empire. They really are. We are looking 00:11:21.450 --> 00:11:24.450 at about 215 staff in that group, with the vast 00:11:24.450 --> 00:11:28.110 majority, 172, based in the UK. And they operate 00:11:28.110 --> 00:11:30.090 as a group within a group. It includes specific 00:11:30.090 --> 00:11:33.370 agencies like Harvard, MMK, and Ptarmigan. Ptarmigan. 00:11:33.470 --> 00:11:35.350 Like the bird that changes color in the winter. 00:11:35.450 --> 00:11:37.429 Just like the bird. Again, you have to love these 00:11:37.429 --> 00:11:40.029 weird British agency names. Look at the client 00:11:40.029 --> 00:11:42.600 list for good relations. This is where the rubber 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:44.799 meets the road. We are talking major brands. 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:50.919 Sky, Sony, Vodafone, Unilever, EADS. EA Days 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:54.919 being the massive European aerospace giant. So 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:58.440 they are handling defense and aerospace. Right, 00:11:58.500 --> 00:12:00.840 and the file mentions they even used to represent 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:04.320 Nintendo. Until July 2012, yes. But here is my 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.860 absolute favorite part of the entire deep dive. 00:12:07.139 --> 00:12:10.159 We go from European aerospace and cutting -edge 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:13.299 smartphones straight to pigs. I knew you were 00:12:13.299 --> 00:12:15.279 going to fixate on the pigs. How could I not? 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:18.620 This case study is right there in the file, and 00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:22.159 it is incredible. The client was BPX, which was 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:24.779 the British pig executive formerly known as the 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:27.259 Meat and Livestock Commission. OK, so here is 00:12:27.259 --> 00:12:30.000 the situation they were facing. Pig farmers in 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.320 the UK were getting absolutely crushed. The major 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:35.799 supermarkets were squeezing them on price, basically 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:37.940 paying them less than it cost to actually raise 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:40.720 the pigs. It's a classic supply chain power imbalance. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:42.919 The supermarkets have all the distribution, so 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:45.059 they have all the leverage. So if I have a big 00:12:45.059 --> 00:12:47.460 farmer in that situation, my first thought is 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:50.230 I need a lawyer. Or maybe I need a lobbyist to 00:12:50.230 --> 00:12:52.429 go to parliament. But good relations looked at 00:12:52.429 --> 00:12:54.809 it and said, no, you don't need a lawyer. You 00:12:54.809 --> 00:12:57.029 need the shopper. So they launched this campaign 00:12:57.029 --> 00:13:00.090 in 2007. And the slogan they came up with was, 00:13:00.210 --> 00:13:02.710 pigs are worth it. Which is a very clever riff 00:13:02.710 --> 00:13:06.009 on the famous L 'Oreal line, because you're worth 00:13:06.009 --> 00:13:08.309 it. It's brilliant. But break it down for me. 00:13:08.610 --> 00:13:11.950 Why does that actually work? How does a catchy 00:13:11.950 --> 00:13:15.990 slogan about pigs change the hard economics of 00:13:15.990 --> 00:13:18.350 a massive supermarket chain? Because it takes 00:13:18.350 --> 00:13:20.889 a basic commodity and turns it into a moral choice. 00:13:21.190 --> 00:13:23.850 Think about it. Before the campaign, you walk 00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:25.929 into the store, you look at the bacon, you see 00:13:25.929 --> 00:13:28.710 cheap bacon and expensive bacon, you naturally 00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:30.210 buy the cheap one. Right, it's just breakfast. 00:13:30.509 --> 00:13:33.580 Exactly. But pigs are worth it. interrupts that 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:36.259 automatic thought process. It tells you if you 00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:38.740 buy the cheap one you are actively devaluing 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:41.340 the animal and hurting the local farmer. It shifts 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:43.860 the ethical weight onto the consumer. It empowers 00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:46.000 the everyday shopper to feel like an activist 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.840 just by picking a slightly more expensive pork 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:51.519 chop. And it actually worked. It worked beautifully. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.820 It raised consumer awareness, which in turn put 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:57.500 immense pressure on the supermarkets to pay fair 00:13:57.500 --> 00:14:00.799 prices. And it helped stabilize the entire industry. 00:14:01.460 --> 00:14:04.299 That's the real power of this invisible machinery. 00:14:04.779 --> 00:14:07.919 They can take a dry supply chain dispute and 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:10.299 turn it into a national conversation about value 00:14:10.299 --> 00:14:14.220 and ethics. It's amazing. And honestly, a little 00:14:14.220 --> 00:14:16.809 scary. It is definitely both. And they don't 00:14:16.809 --> 00:14:18.409 just do this for agriculture. They do this across 00:14:18.409 --> 00:14:20.149 the board. Look at the work they did for Power 00:14:20.149 --> 00:14:22.789 Perfector. Ah, yes. The energy consumption reduction 00:14:22.789 --> 00:14:25.210 technology. This one is maybe less emotional 00:14:25.210 --> 00:14:27.970 than the pig farmers, but the timing is incredibly 00:14:27.970 --> 00:14:31.009 suspicious to me. Good Relations was officially 00:14:31.009 --> 00:14:33.149 appointed by Power Perfector in September of 00:14:33.149 --> 00:14:35.450 2009 to handle their PR. Which just seems like 00:14:35.450 --> 00:14:37.870 a random date on paper. Until you look at the 00:14:37.870 --> 00:14:41.250 UK legislative calendar. Right. Because in 2010, 00:14:41.590 --> 00:14:44.330 just a few months later, the UK government launched 00:14:44.330 --> 00:14:46.909 a massive legislative push on carbon reduction. 00:14:47.330 --> 00:14:50.350 So they hire the PR firm. right before the massive 00:14:50.350 --> 00:14:53.490 law changes. That is what we call strategic foresight. 00:14:53.610 --> 00:14:57.230 A firm like Chime or Good Relations isn't just 00:14:57.230 --> 00:14:59.809 reacting to the daily news. They have their ear 00:14:59.809 --> 00:15:02.669 to the ground in Westminster. They know the carbon 00:15:02.669 --> 00:15:04.649 reduction commitment is coming down the pipeline. 00:15:04.970 --> 00:15:07.610 So they go to the client and say, get ready. 00:15:07.950 --> 00:15:10.690 We're going to position you as the exact solution 00:15:10.690 --> 00:15:12.850 to a problem the government is about to create. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:15.360 So by the time the government finally announces 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:17.799 the problem to the public, Power Perfector is 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:19.620 already standing there in the spotlight saying, 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:22.519 here is the fix. Exactly. That is the fundamental 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:25.179 difference between basic public relations and 00:15:25.179 --> 00:15:27.720 strategic counsel. One is just writing press 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:30.259 releases. The other is guiding your entire business 00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:32.440 strategy. The sources also mentioned they were 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:34.519 appointed by the Allmet Group, a biotech and 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:39.379 drug development company, in 2010. So within 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:41.840 just a three year window, this one single group 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:45.019 is saving pig farmers, capitalizing on green 00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:48.519 energy legislation and launching complex pharmaceuticals. 00:15:48.539 --> 00:15:50.460 It really shows their range and it perfectly 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:53.340 illustrates why this holding company model creates 00:15:53.340 --> 00:15:55.179 so much value. They literally have an expert 00:15:55.179 --> 00:15:57.860 silo for everything. So they're killing it. They 00:15:57.860 --> 00:15:59.500 have the massive clients, they have the reach, 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:03.000 they have the pigs. But then we hit 2015. The 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:07.059 big pivot. On October 16th, 2015, Chime Communications 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:10.279 delists from the London Stock Exchange. They 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:12.940 completely stop being a PLC. They go private? 00:16:13.580 --> 00:16:15.500 Now, I always sort of assume that when a company 00:16:15.500 --> 00:16:17.820 goes private, it means they failed. Like they 00:16:17.820 --> 00:16:19.980 couldn't hack it and had to retreat from the 00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:22.039 public eye. Not in this case at all. This wasn't 00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:24.779 a retreat. This was a highly calculated takeover, 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:27.679 a massive purchase. And a really big one. So 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:29.799 who actually bought them? It was a tag team acquisition. 00:16:30.340 --> 00:16:35.460 The majority. 81 .1 % was bought by Providence 00:16:35.460 --> 00:16:39.000 Equity Partners. Private equity? Yes. And the 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:42.820 remaining 18 .9 % was bought up by WPP Pelosi. 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:46.100 Wait, WPP? Aren't they one of the biggest advertising 00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:49.519 companies in the world? Like, Chime's direct 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.000 rival. They are the absolute giant in the room. 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:54.820 So why is the giant buying a tiny minority slice 00:16:54.820 --> 00:16:57.809 of Chime? Why not just buy the whole thing? Or 00:16:57.809 --> 00:17:00.330 just crush them in the market. It is a classic 00:17:00.330 --> 00:17:03.230 frenemy strategy. By taking that minority stake, 00:17:03.529 --> 00:17:06.329 WPP keeps a foot in the door. They get a look 00:17:06.329 --> 00:17:08.069 at the books. They get some insight into what 00:17:08.069 --> 00:17:10.089 Chime is doing. They get to share in the profits. 00:17:10.410 --> 00:17:13.609 But they don't have the massive headache of trying 00:17:13.609 --> 00:17:17.109 to fully integrate 54 new companies into their 00:17:17.109 --> 00:17:19.549 own corporate structure. It's a strategic hedge. 00:17:19.769 --> 00:17:21.630 That makes sense. But what about Providence, 00:17:21.730 --> 00:17:24.390 the private equity guys? Why do they want to 00:17:24.390 --> 00:17:26.940 own a marketing group? Cash flow. Marketing agencies, 00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:29.960 when they are run well, like Chime is, are absolute 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.880 cash engines. But more importantly, taking a 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:35.000 company like this private completely changes 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.559 the timeline they operate on. How so? When you 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:40.640 are a PLC, a public company, you basically live 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:42.960 your life in three -month increments. You have 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:44.839 to report your earnings every single quarter. 00:17:45.019 --> 00:17:47.960 If you miss a target, your stock crashes. It 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:50.240 is incredibly stressful and it forces you to 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:52.579 be very short -term focused. You can't take any 00:17:52.579 --> 00:17:56.079 real risks. Exactly. But private equity, they 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:58.460 operate on a five to seven year timeline. They 00:17:58.460 --> 00:18:00.140 can come in and say, OK, we're going to take 00:18:00.140 --> 00:18:03.619 time private. We're going to spend two years 00:18:03.619 --> 00:18:07.380 quietly restructuring, cutting costs, maybe merging 00:18:07.380 --> 00:18:09.819 some of those 54 companies to be more efficient. 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:12.900 And we simply do not care what the public thinks 00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:15.200 because we aren't public anymore. So they basically 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:17.680 go into a submarine. That is a great way to put 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:20.619 it. They submerge. In fact, they re -registered 00:18:20.619 --> 00:18:23.220 as a private limited company just three days 00:18:23.220 --> 00:18:25.660 after leaving the stock exchange. So the transparency 00:18:25.660 --> 00:18:28.279 is completely gone. The quarterly reports stop. 00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:31.400 The public scrutiny of the board diminishes. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:34.559 They are still operating and probably more aggressively 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:37.200 than ever. But the blueprints are no longer on 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:39.640 display for us to read. That is a wild trajectory. 00:18:39.779 --> 00:18:41.599 Let's just zoom out for a second and look at 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:43.799 this whole arc based on the sources we've gone 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:46.180 through. It really is the life cycle of modern 00:18:46.180 --> 00:18:48.940 influence. We start in the 1980s with a shell 00:18:48.940 --> 00:18:52.900 company named after carpet tiles. Just scrappy, 00:18:53.019 --> 00:18:56.160 weird, looking for a break. Then they grow through 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.519 acquisition, swallowing up other agencies, and 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:02.579 building this massive specialized network. They 00:19:02.579 --> 00:19:05.119 survived the toxicity of the Bill Pottinger split 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.990 by performing a brilliant brand transplant. cutting 00:19:08.990 --> 00:19:11.089 out the volatile name but keeping the profitable 00:19:11.089 --> 00:19:14.170 organs as good relations. They execute massive 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:16.930 behavioral change campaigns, convincing us that 00:19:16.930 --> 00:19:19.730 pigs are worth it and that we urgently need new 00:19:19.730 --> 00:19:22.569 energy tech. And then, when the machine is perfectly 00:19:22.569 --> 00:19:24.990 tuned, they get bought out by private equity 00:19:24.990 --> 00:19:27.789 and the world's biggest ad agency, and they just 00:19:27.789 --> 00:19:30.210 vanish from the public markets. From total transparency 00:19:30.210 --> 00:19:33.410 to complete opacity. But the influence remains 00:19:33.410 --> 00:19:35.940 exactly the same. It really makes me rethink 00:19:35.940 --> 00:19:38.039 that entire walk through the grocery store. As 00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:40.400 it should. When you see that pork chop, or you 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:42.980 see a news story about a new drug or an ad for 00:19:42.980 --> 00:19:45.740 a phone, you're not just seeing a product. You 00:19:45.740 --> 00:19:48.420 are seeing the final output of this massive, 00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:51.140 invisible engine. And remember, Chime is just 00:19:51.140 --> 00:19:53.299 one of them. There are dozens of these holding 00:19:53.299 --> 00:19:55.279 companies out there. They are the invisible layer 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:57.799 between the product and the public. So here is 00:19:57.799 --> 00:19:59.200 the question I want to leave you with today. 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:01.720 We talked a lot about that shift from public 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:05.190 to private. When a communication giant like Chime, 00:20:05.309 --> 00:20:09.170 an entity whose entire job is to shape what millions 00:20:09.170 --> 00:20:11.910 of people think and buy, moves from the sunlight 00:20:11.910 --> 00:20:14.589 of the stock exchange into the shadow of private 00:20:14.589 --> 00:20:18.009 equity, does that change the game? It is ultimately 00:20:18.009 --> 00:20:21.349 a question of accountability. Exactly. When the 00:20:21.349 --> 00:20:23.849 architects of our daily reality no longer have 00:20:23.849 --> 00:20:26.509 to show us their blueprints, do we lose the ability 00:20:26.509 --> 00:20:29.240 to understand how our world is being built? That 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:31.160 is quite a heavy thought to take on your next 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:34.700 grocery run. Pigs are worth it. And so is knowing 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:37.019 the truth. Fair point. Thanks for diving in with 00:20:37.019 --> 00:20:38.000 us today. Always a pleasure.