It turns out Jonathan Stonier has a lot more going than your average CS guy. Before the Wunderman and Aqua merger, Jono worked at Wunderman for seven years and rated Aqua as one of the best digital agencies in the country. Some research and a digital company audit later, he discovered that Aqua was rated as number one, which led to Wunderman merging with Aqua.

Meeting expectations

On asking Jono what he expected from Aqua, he says, "a highly energetic, noisy, fast paced and creative environment".  He's happy to report that he got all that, and a lot more. As a bonus, he says that although the merger has met his expectations, it came with less responsibility (meaning time with family and friends) and more bosses (meaning time with family and friends).

Now that Jono's a lot more settled in his role, we wanted to know how he's found digital compared to direct marketing. His answer was, "They are both exceptional channels, but the message to the customer is still key." And it's that exact persona that's helped define the role he plays within the agency-hectic, pressured, stressful, inspired and constantly delivering. In Jonathan's words, "It makes a challenging environment really rewarding when you get creative concepts cracking."

Forming a new culture

Aside from being the resident ginger, all round nice guy and a client service manager not to be reckoned with, Jonathan and his team have brought an entirely new element to the Aqua culture. For starters, there is no longer a division.

As aquanauts, we've had enough time to get to know each other, and not long after the Wunderman team moved in did new groups start emerging. From the breaks on the balcony to the canteen cliques, it seems like there was never a division to begin with. There's a new dynamic in studio. With the art directors singing poetry to the social media team, the creative directors arguing and throwing paper at each other, traffic managers bartering for resources and the client service managers secretively forming their own support groups on how to deal with the crazy creatives, life at Aqua is good.

At the heart of our new look, values and culture, and where it all began, was Jonathan and the rest of the Wunderman team joining the family. It's the Aqua difference.