I am often asked how we came up with our
Sometimes, there are things that happen in life that jolt your priorities and make you realign what's important to you. In my mind, that day is as clear as if it were yesterday. It was poignant and profound. A moment in time.
An Ethical Agency?
It was 2018, and we'd just had one of our biggest growth years. We were head-down, bum-up focused on reaching our business goals, and competing in a ferocious (and sometimes unethical) industry. It was exhausting. Successful... but exhausting. We'd lost sight of what really mattered to us.
We needed to sit down and weigh up our priorities, delve deeply into our values, and peel back the layers. We were finding ourselves giving too much to people who we didn't necessarily enjoy working with, and taking on projects that we didn't necessarily believe in. It's pretty darn unrewarding to deliver results for someone that you don't form a genuine relationship with. It's got an expiration date.
What it means to be an Ethical Digital Agency
Our adage was born through a desire to encapsulate and abide by our ethics. It's our guiding principle in everything we do. Our Who, What, When, Where, and Why.
The phrase "Good Work for Good People" came from within the team. It's a statement that is as practical as it is mighty. The work we do might not change the world, but if we stick to our values, it can do a world of good — it can help businesses to grow and scale; it can help not-for-profit organisations communicate with vulnerable audiences; it can lead to a more educated and informed world.
Ever since that mission was born, we've understood deeply how critical it is to stand by it. Unrelentingly.
We believe that the success of our business depends on the quality of our clients and partners. That's why we are selective about who we work with, and we only partner with individuals and organisations that align with our values.
We understand that the world of digital marketing can sometimes be murky, with unethical practices never far away. But we're committed to standing out from the crowd by doing things the right way. We are proud to be an ethical agency, and we work hard to maintain that reputation.
We trust our mission — "Good Work for Good People" — to guide us in how we choose who we worked with. It's not a strict set of criteria that we measure people on... it's mostly instinctual. We consider their genuineness. Their 'goodness'. We cast this lens on the people we hire, the partners we work with, and the clients that we work for.
Where to Next?
I'm proud to say that our mission is serving us (and our clients) well.
Our team has grown to well-over double in size, with no signs of slowing down. Our client list is both larger and more rewarding. We're able to be selective about the clients that we work with — we have a strict 'no assholes' policy.
Even more rewarding is the work that we've been able to do in our community. Each year, as a group, our team selects a charity, not-for-profit, or community organisation that we can support. Once selected, we forge a partnership that sees Spicy Web donate a fixed dollar figure for every new client project, as well as offering our expertise in design, development and marketing to help them achieve their goals. We call it
Digital Marketing For Not-For-Profits and Government Agencies
We also maintain a focus on working with not-for-profits and community/health/sustainability organisations whenever we are afforded the opportunity. It's a space that allows us to use our skills for the greater good — whether that's to help a community charity like MacKillop Family Services reach vulnerable communities with critical information, or partnering with Monash University and Sustainability Victoria to communicate the latest research around sustainable business practices.
Work just got a whole lot more meaningful, and it feels
