In the past year, Adseo has increased its turnover by almost NOK 7 million. Now they are betting in Molde.
Tor Johan Stokke from Eidsvåg and the others in Adseo had a tough start when they broke away from other media agencies, and started for themselves at Fornebu in Oslo. Just one month later, the corona pandemic came, but they didn’t let that stop them.
– Everyone in the company has worked in larger agencies in the past. We found out that we should start up our own agency, and we did – one month before the corona pandemic came to Norway. Things were basically looking very bright – we had gained more customers, and then it crashed. Instead of planned work, we worked on the infrastructure and took on customers that we had not taken on before. For example, hairdressers for whom we created online stores. Then we saw that they sold hair products and had a good turnover. So they made a profit from it, and it was nice to see that it paid off to think a little outside the box, says HR manager and partner Tor Johan Stokke.
The company increased its turnover from NOK 410,000 in 2019 to close to NOK 7.3 million in 2020.
– Online shops took off and more companies saw potential in becoming more digital. It was a steep curve for us. We had two or three months at the very limit of what we could bear before it said bang. After that, we haven’t looked back, says Stokke.
Now they want to establish themselves in Molde. Take part in the local environment and make a circle around the business life in Molde and the surrounding area – and create a local agency and professional environment with good, solid expertise that companies in the region should be able to make use of.
– I come from Eidsvåg and have a local connection. We were looking for a digital consultant and content marketer, and just at that moment Lillian Langset got in touch. It didn’t take long before we had decided to employ Lillian, and to bet on a department in Molde.
Lillian, who has previously worked with Frode Heimen, mentioned to Morten Rydningen, one of the partners in the company, that Frode was a person that the company should invest in, and get on the team.
And it didn’t take long before Frode Heimen was in place in the new offices in Grandfjæra. In October, he started his new job.
– It took less than 24 hours from when I left EKH until I had a new job. Actually, things have gone at rocket speed and the calendar is already packed, says Heimen.
– What do you offer to local businesses?
– I work with search engines, but in reality it is marketing. We see huge opportunities in the region that no one is taking, and have measures that can four-five times the internet traffic of a company. Business life in the county is good, with both established and newly started businesses. We can help them to meet the right customers, and we see that turnover increases greatly with the right measures. There has been very little focus on this in the county, and we see that several industries are wide open to help. There is a shower with traffic right in front of them, but no one enters the shower. Here we can push the company in, says Heimen.
He will run the Molde office together with Lillian Maria Langset. She is clear about which customers we want.
– We are looking for people and companies with ambitions, says Langset.
Now they will help local companies to become more visible on the internet by creating websites and online shops, search engine optimization and paid search. In addition, the company also helps with social media. In addition to designing concepts, creative ideas, communication and expression, both established and start-up companies should seek us out to get the help they need.
– We have everything that belongs to the internet at business. Of course, there is competition on the market here, but that competition is for a part of what we offer – not everything. It’s a skill few have here in Molde, believes Stokke.
– There are many skilled agencies and designers in Molde. But they are missing in the search engine bit. In that way, we can assist other agencies that have created websites for companies as well. Huge sums of money – NOK 400 million or more – go from Møre and Romsdal to the agency in Oslo. We hope to keep some of that leakage here locally, says Heimen.
– What does it mean in practice?
– It does no good to have a nice website with good content if no one is interested in it. Then you are the same distance. I would compare it to creating a very nice shop in Molde with all kinds of goods, and then placing it far up in the forest where there are no people. Then it will be our job to move it down Roseby or in Storgata where the customers are, says Heimen, who believes that there are many mistakes made when companies create websites on the internet.
– It’s about using the wrong words, texts and images. You often have to search directly for the company name to find the page, and nobody does that.
– If you have a permanent hairdresser, then you call them. If there is no free time, then you call the first one that comes up as a search on the web. We can help companies become that, says Stokke.
Experiences from the corona pandemic have made the work even more relevant than before.
– It has been different from company to company, but overall we have noticed more pressure. We notice that smaller companies are more open to it, and see more value in it than before. The technology we acquire in five years has come in one year now. Many have only had to learn how to book an appointment or shop online. Therefore, companies also need to be smarter about it. Everything is about searching on the internet, believes Stokke.
Adseo now has 11 employees, including the two in the office in Molde
– What is the goal to achieve in Molde?
– We will eventually bring in three or four more in Molde. The goal is to have a fully functioning department with expertise at all levels, as we already have in Oslo, says Stokke.
