With offices in the world’s leading cities for innovation – Paris, New York – Antidox continues to extend its global expertise and outreach. In December 2015, Antidox opened a new office in London while launching a new integrated offer dedicated to start-ups and also digital transformation for corporate clients. Why is that? First and foremost, because of the city’s dynamism. More than 600 000 firms have been incorporated in the UK in 2015, including 200 000 in London. Then because London is a major tech hub that has constantly broken records over the past years: $3.6 billion have been invested in the UK by investment funds in 2015. Six months after its launch and in a post-Brexit context, let’s talk about Antidox’s presence in London with Florence Naillat, UK managing director.
Why did Antidox move to London? To what extent do Antidox’s French clients also benefit from it?
Florence Naillat: We had to be in London! Since its creation, Antidox has developed a global approach. We support and advise our clients throughout the world, whether it be in France, where the company was founded, or in the United States, in Switzerland, in Japan, in Gulf countries or in North Africa. Our international team allows us to unfold an expertise specific to each market’s features.
Thanks to the offices in London, one of the most international cities in the world, we have managed to improve the quality of our offers. Above all, London is a genuine opportunity multiplier, whether it be for our clients or partners, or for the agency itself.
One has to think about London’s capacity of innovation in “tech”. London concentrates the talents and the capital that will shape the world of tomorrow. For Antidox, it is the opportunity to have a direct access to technologies, disruptive startups and emerging unicorns… Therefore, London is a real advantage in terms of resources and expertise.
How does Antidox’s offer in the UK differ from its competitors?
Florence: Our offer in the UK follows the agency’s fundamental principles. Antidox is “anti-doxa”, we provide custom-made advice aiming at setting up a strategy of influence based on expertise and specific methods. We firmly refuse to follow the beaten path. But we also do not compromise efficiency for being at the forefront! Whether here or in France, our partners know they can count on our in-depth understanding of their challenges, contents of quality and innovative tools to achieve their objectives.
Obviously, we are not the only consulting firm to provide innovation and high-standard content production in the UK. However, our methods are specific. One needs to know that most of the agencies here in London are specialised in specific sectors: IT, hotel and restaurant industry, health, public services… That is not the case for Antidox. Our USP lies precisely in our capacity to connect a variety of people and ecosystems together. We create synergies that would have never appeared naturally. We set up the meetings that we think are valuable to our clients. To do so, we have to remain curious and eager to partner with any type of client. That is particularly true today, with offices on both sides of the channel.
What are Antidox’s main projects in London?
Florence: For now, the priority is to carry on with the installation process. Many things happened these past six months, yet six months is short to build a brand image and a network within a highly competitive market. The opportunities are many and varied but in order to make the most of it, we need to carry out a lot of research and experiments. It is impossible to either introduce Antidox or approach customers in the UK the same way we do in France.
Besides, the consultancy just launched two integrated offers dedicated to start-ups: even though they are not exclusive to the British market, they are designed to be managed from our London office. The question on how to address the needs of start-ups in terms of communication was one of these past months’ major concerns. We set up two offers that are taking the “product” approach more than the “project” approach: no monthly fixed costs but a unique, measurable, concrete and nonetheless custom-made service. One offer has been especially designed for crowdfunding campaigns for which we charge only in case of success.
Last but not least, no one doubts that the Brexit will have a significant impact on companies from both sides of the channel. They will have to adapt their strategies of influence and positioning accordingly. Thanks to its global, European and Franco-British approach, Antidox surely has to play the role of either the pathfinder or the facilitator. So we will have to monitor these developments closely, as they are vital to our clients. This monitoring, analytical and advising service will be at the heart of our mission for the next months.
About Florence Naillat
A graduate from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lettres et Sciences humaines (French Grande Ecole), Florence Naillat started her career in the political field, in particular as advisor to the French Minister for Defence and Veterans. Passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation, she is involved in the business development and communication activities of startups. In December 2015, Florence joined Antidox as partner and UK managing director. She is also a board member of French Square, a non-profit organisation for French entrepreneurs based in the UK.
