Agency perks, such as beer taps and ping pong, work for some but could the sand between your toes and the ocean breeze during your lunch break be the ultimate icing on the salary package?
While a typical agency office is bang in the middle of the congested and polluted cityscapes such as Surry Hills or Richmond, coastal environments are clinically proven to improve human health, body and mind.
So naturally, agencies have found the beaches a calmer and more creative environment to thrive in. For this reason, Simon Joyce, founder and CEO of creative agency Emotive, has always kept his office within eyesight of the beach.
From Clovelly to Tamarama and now 50 metres from Coogee’s sand “being an agency by the beach immediately became part of our brand story,” Joyce told AdNews, “it's a pretty attractive place to come to work.”
Emotive management team outside their Coggee beach-front office. Berks and linen hint at a more casual office attire.
With more skin and tan lines showing, Joyce believes that "less rules by the beach means more open minded people and greater diversity”. This exposure expands the fluidity of staff creativity and helps this business culturally thrive.
Not only is the ocean a source of inspiration, but staff use the sand as a reset for coffee breaks. “Just seeing the ocean gives people relief and helps them think more clearly,” Joyce said.
Ross Berthinussen, president at 72and Sunny Sydney, has seen first hand how moving from a city office to a beach office can change an agency's work environment.
After two years in a ‘traditional agency office’ in Woolloomooloo 72andSunny moved to a space in Manly - which overlooks the water - as the company was becoming more and more remote with its introduction of a work from anywhere (WFX) policy.
Berthinussen had to rethink what his agency needed from an office space, as they no longer mandate anyone to come into the office and most of the company works remotely most of the time.
“Being by the ocean feels like a more free and creative environment than being in the city,” Berthinussen told AdNews. “As humans, we are biologically wired to feel calmer, more inspired and a whole heap of other benefits just by being around water.
“Manly is our space where we can come together to get inspired, feel creative, collaborate as a team or workshop with clients.”
The view from 72andSunny's manly office.
The beach and the ocean are very much integrated into the time staff spend at the space, Berthinussen said. This lifts the mood of the company and reinforces a sense of optimism that is at the heart of the agency.
Between work, 72andSunny staff are often going for a dip in the ocean or a surf. “We’re also big on walking meetings around the water”, Berthinussen said, as occasionally staff meetings will be held on a beach called ‘The Office’ across the road from their space.
Beyond employee happiness, working by the beach has also given the agencies work. Since many CMO’s live in the East, Emotive "won one client purely by the fact they live in the area and saw our branding,” Joyce said. 72andSunny also won Manly born 4 Pines Brewing Company.
But what about parking? While it's notoriously hard to get a park by the beach on weekends, during work hours it's ‘weirdly’ easy for agency staff to get all day parking. Even on sunny days because Emotive staff is coming in earlier than the average beachgoer parking is really straightforward.
“We're also lucky a lot of people live locally and walk to walk. We've probably got four or five who actually live in Coogee and a lot who live in between here and Bondi,” Joyce said.
While agency life by the beach sounds like a great recruitment slogan, it might not always work well as it depends on the location of the recruit.
“If you live way down South, Manly is a little bit of a trek,” Berthinussen said. However, thanks to its WFX policy 72andSunny has recruited remote teams in Brisbane, New Zealand and all over Australia.
Then for company-wide meetings, 72andSunny flies all staff outside of Sydney to their stunning agency office by the beach.
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