Jo Taylor knows what it’s like to sit on both sides of the table. After 13 years at Tangerine Communications, rising from account manager to associate director, she made the leap in-house to Transport for Greater Manchester, where she led the brand strategy and rollout of the Bee Network, one of the most significant public transport transformations in decades.
This mix of agency nous and client-side insight is what underpins BrandXYZ, the purpose-led agency Taylor launched in late 2024. Operating what she calls the ‘super agency’ model, it’s designed for a marketplace where agility is a necessity, not just a nice-to-have.
“We can rapidly bring together the right specialists to respond to a brief, even when time is tight,” Taylor said. “Our agile model builds a senior, expert team around each client’s specific needs, delivering tailored insight and deep sector knowledge. The result is the capability of a larger agency, but with a more flexible approach to resourcing.”
The super agency model works through a curated network of freelancers, contractors and partner agencies, allowing BrandXYZ to scale up or down at speed. Rather than maintaining a fixed team with fixed capabilities, Taylor can assemble bespoke teams tailored to each project’s specific requirements.
“We’re working in a turbulent world,” she said. “Marketing budgets are changing dramatically and often quickly. If you’re a traditional agency with a full team of employed staff, when clients cut budgets or disappear, it can be difficult to manage. Our model de-risks that while still delivering the specialist expertise clients want and need.”
It’s an approach that industry observers are increasingly noting as the preferred direction of travel. As Taylor added: “The feedback we’ve had from across the industry is that they think the traditional agency set up is definitely evolving into more flexible models and it’s something clients are really embracing.”
Transforming Greater Manchester
In more ways than one, Taylor’s time at TfGM was transformative.
The Bee Network represented the first time in 40 years that England had seen bus deregulation reversed. Mayor Andy Burnham described it as “devolution in England coming of age”. The stakes were enormous and the public interest intense, with the rollout managed across three phases while communicating with communities at different stages of the journey.
As Head of Brand, Marketing, Design and Digital, Taylor built the new brand’s strategy, developed an in-house agency approach for the marketing, social and design teams and created a three-year brand rollout delivery plan where effective communication was key.
It’s a project that she remains very proud of.
“When my children walk to the bottom of the street and see a Bee Network bus and say ‘that’s one of your buses, Mummy,’ that’s amazing,” Taylor said. “They will get to benefit from the fact that we now have an integrated transport network in Greater Manchester. Fares are more manageable, the whole network is more joined up. That’s what drives people who work in the public sector: wanting to help and improve the communities you live in.”
Both sides of the table
The move in-house also gave Taylor a new perspective. Having spent the beginning of her career on the agency side, she suddenly understood the pressures clients face from the inside.
“One of the biggest things moving in-house does for anyone is give you a really stark understanding of what clients are dealing with on a day-to-day basis,” she said.
“It’s really difficult when you work in an agency. Although you try, you just can’t have that perspective because you don’t know the inner workings and the demands on time. Going in-house gives you that understanding of how to get the best out of the relationship.”
Taylor also serves as volunteer comms lead for Women in Transport’s North West hub, a role that keeps her close to the issues shaping the sector. “It gives us a unique insight as an agency to be part of a body that champions growth and development in transport,” she said. “We’re very proud to support it.”
BrandXYZ works exclusively with brands making a positive impact. By that Taylor means they need to demonstrate solid values across every aspect of their business. It’s a principle she’s prepared to defend commercially, having turned down work that doesn’t align with the agency’s values.
“If the brand does some good in the world, has good morals, good values, that’s what we’re looking for,” she added. “And if that means turning down work, then that’s what we do. I’ve turned away projects because they don’t align with what we do. Sticking to your values is something I learned from Tangerine, and it’s really important.”
That commitment extends to donating 1% of profits to charity each year – a pledge Taylor made when she founded the company – and she offers pro bono support to causes in need.
Since launch, BrandXYZ has built a client roster that includes national facilities management company Thermatic, The Growth Company, First Internet and several local authorities navigating their own bus franchising journeys, including West Yorkshire and the North East Combined Authorities.
With the government having given every local authority the mandate to explore bus franchising, and rail integration on the horizon from 2030, Taylor’s timing looks prescient.
Taylor is laser focused on her plans for BrandXYZ: “Our vision is that every brand that cares about doing good for people and planet is as successful as it can be,” she added.
“We want to support those brands that are making a difference and allow them to deliver what they need to do. That’s what gets us excited. That’s why we do this.”
