Relevance isn’t something you claim but something you earn

Relevance isn’t something you claim but something you earn.

At We Are Futures, we’ve been on a journey to redefine how we show up: not by reinventing who we are, but by expressing our value with clarity, confidence, and curiosity.

Our New Business Director, Becky Hipkiss, spoke with jfdi on how that shift has helped us connect more deeply with clients and win some of our biggest opportunities to date.

Originally posted on LinkedIn.

At We Are Futures, we always challenge our clients with the question:“Where is your permission to play?” By that, we mean: what gives you the credibility, the authenticity, and the right to show up in a particular space? And this year, we realised we had to ask the same of ourselves.

In a market where expectations are higher, impact needs to be more immediate and measurable, and relevance is constantly being redefined, it became essential to reassert what gives us our edge. For us, that’s our people, our network, and our agility.

We were leaning on the strength of our heritage and case studies. But recent opportunities - including pitching for new business and repitching for some of our biggest clients - showed us that wasn’t enough. More and more, clients were asking us to make the business case for why what we do is a necessity, not a nice-to-have. It became apparent we needed to refine not just what we say, but how we show up.

So, we refreshed our proposition. Not to reinvent who we are, but to better express the value we deliver in today’s landscape. We leaned into our strengths, sharpened our articulation, and made our difference immediately clear.

We shifted to leading conversations with insight and curiosity, not just credentials, and energised the whole agency with a “new biz is everyone’s biz” mindset.

This wasn’t easy. It meant stepping away from the comfort of past wins and retraining ourselves to resist generic outreach. Lead times are longer, competition is fiercer, and keeping momentum when things go quiet can be hard. But pushing through that has been critical.

The results have been transformational. We’ve won some of our biggest pitches to date - including Team GB/ParalympicsGB and Formula E - with clients telling us it was our energy, passion, and clarity that set us apart. On a personal note, being recognised as a BD100 Rising Star felt like validation not just of my own growth, but of the agency’s evolution.

You should focus on clarity and curiosity. Don’t rely on what worked yesterday. Show up with insight, energy, and conviction in what value you offer - and make sure your clients feel chosen, not chased.

And above all: remember that people buy people.