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Icon celebrates 20 years in business

Feb 05, 2023

Joe Papadatos

I’m excited to be celebrating 20 years in business with Icon Visual. The last few years have been extremely challenging for businesses around the world, and at Icon we have not been immune. So, to be celebrating 20 years after weathering the storm feels like a huge achievement.

I’m super proud to have run an independent, full-service marketing agency for two decades.

I started Icon in 2003 in a small office in Camden with just one other employee, and we’ve grown to become a significant force in marketing in Sydney’s south west.

Not only have there been many, many changes in people over those 20 years, there has also been a massive change in the way marketing programs are delivered to our clients.

In the early 2000s, digital marketing and content marketing were in their infancy, and we were on a steep learning curve. We learnt, experimented and adapted, to keep ahead of our competitors.

Back then, radio, direct mail, and newspapers were the go-to mediums for marketing, the online space was still emerging. Wow, how that has changed in Icon’s lifetime.

When we launched in 2003, the trend in agencies was to provide a specialist service, like creative or media buying. But we saw the opportunity to offer full-service marketing to our clients, taking the pain away from managing multiple agencies with multiple processes.

We’ve chosen to continue to base ourselves in the Macarthur region, moving to Campbelltown in our current office nearly six years ago.

This has enabled us to build strong working relationships with many companies in our region including property developers, builders, manufacturers, local Councils, venues, and many more. We’ve also worked with loads of companies outside the region which is becoming so much easier with the aid of technology. We’re not just suppliers, but genuine business partners.

I’d like to thank the many clients I’ve worked alongside in the past 20 years and look forward to continuing many of those relationships.

The other key component of any successful business is the people that work within it. I’ve been so fortunate to work with some amazing people at Icon, many of whom are long-term current employees. Sometimes it’s been sad to say goodbye to fabulous people, but I’ve always wished them well, and felt content that Icon has contributed to their growth as a person, and to their career development.

I wish I could thank everyone personally because there have been so many wonderful humans who have worked for Icon over the past two decades.

The years of Icon have presented many challenges and plenty of learning curves. But more than anything, I reflect on them with affection and gratitude as I have watched it transform from an idea to a living, breathing reality. Bring on the next 20.