In the June-August 2026 issue of NZ Marketing magazine, we asked agency founders to tell us the story behind why they started their agency, their favourite thing, what they’ve learned and their best advice.
Chemistry
- Founders: Joseph Silk and Mike Larmer
- Year founded: 2012
Tell us the story behind founding your agency.
Silk: I had a long career in corporate agency life and had grown frustrated with how little time, as a senior agency leader, you get to spend on client business day to day.
You are running a business, after all, with overseas shareholders. So I’d left and built up a successful consultancy with some loyal big name clients and was keen to scale.
I’d known Mike for years and we both had a similar philosophy. Clients want an agency’s most senior experienced talent on their business. Mike had also run some big successful agencies here in NZ and also London.
We felt there was a gap in the market for a small, forward-thinking agency that had the experience and brain count to forge deep client relationships and join up brand building with performance marketing and digital without all the layers and internal agency bureaucracy. Chemistry was born.
What’s your favourite thing about running your own agency?
Of course everyone is going to say freedom. You won’t get an argument from us. Being the masters of your own destiny is pretty freeing.
While freedom allows you to plan your own path, it also comes with the challenges of managing the P&L, the business strategy, the people and staying relevant.
The market isn’t always kind but in your own agency you have the flexibility to respond without seeking approval from an international overlord. Sometimes you get things right, sometimes you get things wrong, but being independent means you can flex fast.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned?
Don’t wait for the brief – focus on your clients’ pain points and have an opinion.
It might not be 100% right, but it’s better than not having one and clients appreciate the thinking. Our clients are looking for business partners as much as an agency to execute their advertising needs.
If you know what keeps them awake at night then you can provide proactive thinking, have business conversations and craft the brief you get.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received or given out?
Silk: As a business owner you need to lift your eyes to the horizon and not get too focused on what’s right in front of you.
If you are too myopic, you could miss the big opportunities. Don’t get me wrong: this isn’t about ignoring the important details that need to be actioned every day, it’s about ensuring you have the time and mental space to look ahead, read the signs and pick up on the opportunities.
Larmer: I have had some great mentors over the years. They taught me how important it is to recognise that, if you are going to be effective on your own agency business as a leader, then you can never forget you need to be in the business too.
If you are too divorced from the realities that your clients and their customers are facing, then you are far less effective and that has a knock-on effect for your wider team – and ultimately the client relationships that your agency treasures.
Clients want agency leaders who (with their teams) have an opinion and a perspective and ideas to fix their problems.
Anything else we should know?
There’s a lot going on in our industry right now. We have never seen the level of transformation pace we are seeing today – mergers, acquisitions, downturn-related redundancies of very good people, technology impacts (AI client and agency side) and volatile business confidence.
The agencies that will come out stronger are those that have their eyes out of the trenches, adapt fast and address the challenge head on.
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 87, June-August 2026. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
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