E3 Media is a privately owned digital communications agency founded in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 in 2000. It specializes in interactive marketing

Interactive marketing

Interactive Marketing refers to the evolving trend in marketing whereby marketing has moved from a transaction-based effort to a conversation. John Deighton argued that interactive marketing features “the ability to address an individual and the ability to gather andremember the response of that...

, design and build, and user experience and currently has a total of 50 employees in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 and Farringdon, London.

New Generation Productions

Originally named New Generation Productions, the company was founded by Mike Bennett

Mike Bennett (businessman)

Mike Bennett, is a businessman who started one of the UK's very first digital agencies in Bristol with his partners Stuart Avery. He is actively involved in the wider media and creative landcape of Bristol and the South West of England...

 and Stuart Avery six months before the duo graduated from university in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

.

Between 1997 and 1999 New Generation Productions employed a team of six people, designing local web sites for the clients that included Venue (magazine)

Venue (magazine)

Venue is the what's on magazine for the Bristol and Bath areas of the UK.It was founded in 1982 by journalists who had been working for another Bristol magazine, Out West, which had been consciously modelled on London's Time Out magazine....

, the University of Bristol

University of Bristol

The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...

, and several design and advertising agencies.

In late 1999 New Generation Productions Media accepted over £300,000 from two of Bristol's leading publishing entrepreneurs; Scott Davidson and Dougal Templeton in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

.Both became non-executive directors and significant shareholders in New Generation Productions. Shortly after obtaining funding the company grew from 6 people to over 30 and launched several online initiatives, including the first internet investment vehicle outside of London called E3 Media.

In November 1999 New Generation Productions was valued at £25 million UK Pounds by investment house 3i

3i

3i Group plc is a multinational private equity and venture capital company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has offices in 13 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas and had total assets under management of £12.7 billion as at 31 March 2011...

. Bennett and Avery were also offered £7 Million UK Pounds in a joint cash and share deal to sell 51% of their company to Jellyworks, a London based investment firm backed by Barclays Bank. Bennett and Avery turned the offer down.

E3 Media

In early 2001 the internet bubble burst and New Generation Productions was rebranded as E3 Media and the investment arm was closed to focus on web design and the agency. E3 Media has continued to expand their client base with major brands including Orange (brand), FCUK, Halfords

Halfords

Halfords Group plc is a leading retailer of car parts, car enhancements and bicycles operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Czech Republic and more recently in Poland, although it is currently pulling out of the latter two countries...

, National Express

National Express

National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...

, Vodafone

Vodafone

Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...

, o2, MGM, and Cadburys. They also opened an office in Dublin to tap into the Irish high tech boom.

Expansion

E3 acquired Farringdon based creative agency Butterfly Effect in late 2005 to gain a foothold in the capital. In March 2009, Avery and Bennett had completed a management buy out of E3 that resulted in their 100% ownership of the company.

E3 remains a successful digital agency in the UK, and is ranked in the UK's top 50 agencies.

In 2009 E3 was named Digital Agency of the Year in the MIN Awards ,

External links

• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/related_reports/article1052148.ece
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2005/jan/08/careers.graduates
• http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2001/07/15/story901201928.asp
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4115448.stm
• http://www.mandadeals.co.uk/strategy/22561/e3-a-growing-concern.thtml