Hello Yellow
London, Sydney, Cape Town
Website: Hello Yellow
Founders: Ryham Fontenot and Ollie Duff
Year founded: 2020
UK headcount: <50
Locations: London, Sydney, Cape Town
When you’re a small agency, you can come out, swing punches and challenge the status quo.
Profile
Hello Yellow’s roots started to form when co-founders Ryham Fontenot and Ollie Duff were working together at VCCP around a decade ago. Working agency-side had left them feeling that too many agencies were preoccupied with their own growth and not focusing on delivering client value.
They often joked that they could do everything between them – Ollie with the more technical skills, and Ryham the more strategic and analytical – and over the next few years found a new partnership brewing.
Hello Yellow officially launched in 2020 with offices in London and Sydney, where Ryham and Ollie were living at the time. On opposite sides of the world, they were united by their goal to create a digital marketing agency that could serve clients better.
Key to this has been building a team of generalists that have a range of skills across the board. There are currently 12 employees in various corners of the globe – including in LA, Bali and Vietnam – and now, having doubled its headcount over the past year, Hello Yellow has ramped up its global ambitions with the launch of a new hub in Cape Town.
Some of its biggest clients include Virgin, Conde Nast and News UK, with 90% of revenue coming from the UK and US. Maintaining client satisfaction has been a major driver of sustainable growth to-date, with client revenue churn just 2% in 2024 and single-digits in prior years.
Fontenot remembers Hello Yellow winning its first competitive pitch well, which is what gave them the confidence boost they needed to start going up against agency heavyweights. But for this young agency, whatever the pitch, having strong and unwavering core values that go back to their roots is the secret sauce to standing out in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Further cementing its growth trajectory, Hello Yellow achieved Google Premier Partner status in 2024. Taking a range of criteria into consideration – including client growth, acquisition and retention, and annual ad spend – Hello Yellow now belongs in the top 3% of agencies in the UK, alongside the likes of Dentsu UK, Jaywing and MGOMD.