Archetype (Communications Agency)

Text100, one of Archetype’s predecessors, was founded by Mark Adams and Tom Lewis and was known for technology communications; Aedhmar Hynes served as Text100’s chief executive for 18 years. Archetype describes itself as having a heritage of more than 40 years in tech storytelling. The other predecessor, Bite, was likewise a public relations agency owned by Next 15 (then called Next Fifteen Communications Group).⁠[1][1][2][3][2]

Archetype’s UK legal entity, Archetype Agency Limited, was incorporated in England on March 7, 1997, under the original name Text 100 Limited.⁠[4][4]

In 2014, parent company Next Fifteen announced the merger of Bite and Text100 in Asia and Europe. Text100 global chief executive Aedhmar Hynes said the move was aimed at building a strong global brand, and denied that problems with Bite’s leadership had motivated the merger.⁠[5][6]

On September 20, 2018, Aedhmar Hynes announced that she was stepping down as chief executive of Text100 and said that Bite and Text100 would come together to form a new company with a new brand, led by then-Bite chief executive Helena Maus. At the time, Text100 had a presence in India, while the former Bite India team made up HyperText.⁠[1][1][1]

In the financial year ended January 31, 2019, Next Fifteen booked £2.2 million in exceptional restructuring costs for the merger of Text and Bite and recognized an onerous lease provision for excess office space following the merger; the group said the merger had held back organic growth in its US business in the short term.⁠[7][7][7]

In February 2019, the merged Text and Bite agencies were relaunched under the Archetype brand; Next Fifteen said the change simplified the group’s operating structure. The UK entity Text 100 Limited also adopted its current name, Archetype Agency Limited, in March 2019.⁠[7][7][4]

The new name was meant to “set a standard for the next generation of global agencies.” Chief executive Helena Maus said Archetype was built for the world of today, where marketing and communications have converged, every company is a technology company, and “global” means finely tuned to individual markets; each office is a pioneer in its local market while following consistent client standards. APAC regional director Lee Nugent said clients demand market-leading consultancy, powerful creative and high-quality execution, and need all three.⁠[8][9][9][9]

In the financial year ended January 31, 2020, Next Fifteen’s group revenue declined by 2% on an organic basis because of previously flagged difficulties at two agencies, Beyond and Archetype; excluding these two brands, organic growth was 10.5%. The brand marketing segment posted an organic decline because of the expected disruption from the launch of Archetype, and excluding Archetype the segment’s organic growth was 2.8%. The group also said the Archetype brand had made progress, particularly in the US, and booked restructuring costs for its ongoing relaunch in the UK and US.⁠[10][10][10][10][10]

In February 2023, Archetype established Archetype Ascend, an independent but interconnected division within the agency that provides strategic communications support to BIPOC founders, executives and venture capitalists, led by executive vice president Ulysses King and senior vice president Erica Billups Johnson. By Archetype’s own account, midsize to large global agencies typically require a five-figure monthly retainer, which keeps minority-led startups with little funding from obtaining their services; Ascend therefore offers specialized rates to smaller clients, serving minority-led startups, established brands looking to extend their diversity efforts, and executives of color who want to build their personal brands.⁠[11][11][11][11][11][11]

Next 15 announced the formation of a collective named Marker, bringing together three of its technology PR agencies, Archetype, Outcast and Nectar, with Archetype chief executive Helena Maus serving as Marker’s chief executive while continuing to lead Archetype. Maus said the three agencies could progress and optimize their business more quickly by working together. Leadership appointments announced at the same time included chief product officer Andrew Wyatt and chief technology officer Dylan Pyle (both co-founders of the fashion brand platform CALA), Archetype North America partner Jon Silk as Marker’s chief creative officer, and Archetype chief financial officer James Richardson, who extended his financial role to the whole collective.⁠[12][12][12][12][12][12]

Archetype positions Marker as a product developer and creative accelerator funded by Archetype, Nectar and Outcast, aimed at supercharging the way work gets done and elevating the agency experience. In its 2025 annual report, Next 15 summarized the move as bringing the capabilities of the three agencies together into a more coordinated, product-led business.⁠[13][14][14]

Archetype Ascend won Gold in the Leadership Team category of The Drum Awards for Agency Business. Over the preceding year, the division’s clients had included Docusign (helping its chief diversity officer develop the company’s first bi-annual internal diversity report), TikTok (storytelling around creators of color) and the AI estate planning platform Alix, and it ran personal brand projects for executives from Shopify and Airbnb; in late 2024, Ascend introduced an “office hours” program that lets clients prepurchase six months of consultation hours.⁠[11][11][11][11][11][11]

In its results for the financial year ended January 31, 2026, Next 15 divided its businesses into “Track 1” and “Track 2,” placing Marker in Track 2 alongside Activate, Brandwidth, elvis and MHP; these five businesses generated combined revenues of £160.9 million (prior year: £191.4 million). In the marketing and communications segment to which Marker belongs, the group said B2B technology-focused agencies had a challenging year as clients reduced and deferred marketing spend; the group was also pursuing a time-boxed portfolio review and had cut its businesses from 22 to 11.⁠[15][15][15][15]

Archetype calls itself a communications agency and says it combines human instinct, behavioural science and creativity to lift brands above the noise, pairing startup agility with global agency strength under the slogan “We build magnetic brands.” Its clients all use technology in some way to disrupt or define their category; Next 15 describes it as an agency that partners with category creators and industry leaders to build brands through strategic communications and marketing.⁠[3][3][16][17]

Its services fall into several groups: strategic communications (analyst relations, corporate communications, crisis communications, executive thought leadership, internal communications, media relations and training, messaging and narrative development and more), content and creative production, digital marketing (creator and influencer relations, search marketing, social media), insights and analytics, brand strategy, and DEI communications. It also has a brand consultancy, Archetype Brands, that specializes in building new brands and repositioning existing ones.⁠[13][13][13][17]

As of October 2026, by parent company Next 15’s count, Archetype had more than 600 employees in 14 countries and 20 offices, including four in the US, seven in EMEA and nine in Asia-Pacific; by the count of Archetype’s Asia-Pacific business, it had more than 600 people in 21 offices worldwide. Its office locations include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York, Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, Delhi (Noida), Mumbai, Bangalore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.⁠[17][17][2][18][18][18][18][18][18]

Major clients listed by Next 15 include Asana, AWS, CES (Consumer Electronics Show), Coursera, Shopify, Slack, Spotify and Zebra. Archetype’s US and UK businesses are certified B Corps, and it has been named a PRWeek Best Place to Work and one of the Financial Times’ 2024 Leading Management Consultants.⁠[17][17]

Archetype: Official website: https://www.archetype.co/ (opens in a new window).⁠[17]

Archetype APAC: Official website: https://apac.archetype.co/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

Next 15 Group: Official website: https://www.next15.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[17]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/archetypeagcy/ (opens in a new window)⁠[3]