Impact: A Potted History
Long before some bright spark conceived the notion of arts marketing, Impact was a thriving small business engaged in the fraught business of fly-posting (and distributing a few leaflets here and there).
As Impact’s poster archive reveals, in the early ‘90s we worked with major record labels to promote new releases by such up-and-coming bands as Oasis and Blur, as well as a handful of theatres and galleries.
A selection of poster campaigns from the early years
In 1994, youthful entrepreneur Zol Hoffmann spotted the opportunity in leaflet distribution and bought the fledgling company, while the fly-posting arm was sold to another firm (and went on to indulge in ‘criminal damage’, but that’s another story).
From such humble beginnings, with one van, a shoebox for an office and an early ‘mobile’ telephone (think car battery with gramophone attached), Zol built up the business, winning contracts from many of London’s most renowned arts organisations – including Sadler’s Wells, the BFI and the Barbican Centre.
Impact leaflet display 1995
We’re proud to say that all of those organisations still work with us nearly 15 years later, but that’s about all that remains from those early days.
The one van has become an entire fleet, with state-of-the-art GPS tracking devices; the shoebox is now a fashionable wharfhouse overlooking the Regent’s Canal, with 20 permanent staff and the latest technology; and our portfolio of services has increased from a score of leaflet racks to include on-street promotions and guerrilla marketing, video- and word-of-mouth services.
As for Zol… well, he stepped up from active service to the chairman’s seat in 2006 and was replaced as managing director by Simon Drysdale, former chair of the Arts Marketing Association.
A lot has changed at Impact over the years, but the values that were so important at the outset remain and we continue to pride ourselves on offering creative, innovative and cost-effective solutions for all of our customers’ marketing needs.
The Impact Marketing team in 1999
