June 30, 2021
During this unprecedented time, The Lab was proud to announce that at the end of the financial year 2020, the Company managed to obtain a 44.3% growth in revenue to $911.70 million. Net profit rose by 34.13% to $127 million and total equity rose 30.38% to $464.20 million. Furthermore, the Chief Executive Officer, Kimala Bennett, mentioned that the impact of Covid-19, “has taught us that there is no crystal ball, therefore cost-containment measures were employed and the Company increased its investment in technological support to maintain its service.”
Notably, by the end of the 2020 financial year, each segment’s revenue had outperformed the previous year. Agency revenue had increased by 63.07% to $185.57 million (2019: $113.80 million), Media revenue had increased by 68.35% to $492.06 million (2020: $292.29 million), and Production revenue had increased by 3.7% to $234.11 million (2020: $225.75 million).
Furthermore, for the six months ended March 2021, revenue increased 31.02% to $619.08 million (2020: $471.41 million). “Covid-19 forced us to be agile and increase production,” noted CEO Kimala Bennett. It was also reported that profit before tax rose 31.02% to $133.56 million (2020: $86.62 million).
The Company’s 2025 vision is “to become the #1 integrated advertising agency and production Company in the region, recognized and respected internationally,” as expressed by the Company’s CEO. LAB intends to achieve this vision by using the following strategies:
- “Technology & Disruption – Leveraging technology to innovate and disrupt our product and service delivery.
- Expansion into new markets – Growth in different markets and service segments
- Strong Focus on Quality – Excellent Creative Outputs.”
The LAB received 12 American Advertising Awards between 2019 and 2021, with a significant emphasis on quality. Four of the twelve are Gold ADDY awards, and three of the four ADDY awards were won in 2021 for “Digestive- Better Because It’s Both”, “Chillin Wid Grace”, and “Grace Christmas Television.” The LAB dedicates its achievements to its strong team, the CEO mentioned, “We are all about people. So finding, securing and keeping the right team motivated is huge for us. Also, our strong focus on talent and acquisition will help us to maintain the high-quality work The LAB creates.” The Company ensures the team remains engaged through virtual daily meetings, virtual birthday celebrations, and more as a way of adapting to the new normal.
Kimala Bennett also spoke about SCOPE Caribbean, a subsidiary of The Lab. SCOPE Caribbean is a user-generated influencer and talent engagement online platform that allows anyone to sign up and fill out a profile, which then allows them to be included to the SCOPE database. “SCOPE’s focus recently shifted from being a location of a talent directory to a talent and influencer market agency,” according to Ms. Bennett. She further stated that “SCOPE can allow the company to be efficient in their production. SCOPE acquired the license for an influencer marketing platform which will provide capabilities that will streamline the entire influencer marketing campaign process across all major social media platforms this includes management and tracking in real-time fulfilling an immediate need for brands across the region.”
SCOPE will offer the following services:
- “Real-time reporting and data analysis
- Souring of talent and influencers for projects and campaigns in a seamless way
- One hub that manages all aspects of influencer marketing and talent recruitment experience.
- Management of existing brand ambassadors and influencers to ensure the client is able to track performance and return on investment and providing a “middle man” that negotiates and manages all influencer strategies.
- Content and reporting”
LAB recently added content to their three business units (Agency, Production and Media). Under content, LAB aims to create branding content, home grown content, short films and doc series, etc. The CEO explained that “our newly formed Content Department is a major step as the team position itself as the Caribbean’s primary hub for content creation. Our strategic approach covers three main channels of content creation: Content Marketing for our brands, Digital Content, Unsolicited Content that includes but not limited to Vlogs, Docuseries, Podcasts, Online Shows, Short and Feature-Length Film projects.”
The LAB will be hosting a Regional Pitching Competition for Content Creators in the Caribbean. “The competition will serve as a main catalyst for The LAB, as we become chief enablers and facilitators of content creation in the region,” said Kimala Bennett.
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