25 years of excellence
We’re delighted to announce that 2020 marks a milestone in DSA’s history as we celebrate our 25th year in business! The party’s been postponed and the prosecco…well that needs replacing. For now, we take this opportunity to remember how far we’ve come, from simple beginnings to a globally recognised name.
Journey of innovation
In 1995 a new type of exhibition design agency was born. Founded by Dave Sargent, DSA offered a one-stop shop to design, build and project management services to major clients exhibiting globally. The tried and tested formula proved successful. After approaching fifty years in the industry, Dave took a step back from the business, handing over management to son, Alex Sargent.
A lot has changed in 25 years. In 1997, we worked closely with Nokia to support the launch of their new state of the art project – the mobile phone. Fast-forward 20 years, the digital revolution coupled with the fast-moving nature of the industry has incentivised us to push forward. More recently, we bolstered our services to include interactive technology and marketing communications. We make it our mission to say ahead of the game. It’s what sets us apart.
In the early days, it was a global leader in medical technology Welch Allyn that first put DSA on the map. From there, business boomed. We began attracting major brands such as Marks and Spenser and Royal Bank of Scotland – who became our first long term client.
Solid client relationships remain central to our ethos. We’re fortunate to have grown with a number of long-standing, loyal clients such as Nokia, Hitachi, Olympus, Harmonic and Nvidia who have worked with us for years. We put this down to our core values – honesty, transparency and integrity.
To date, our greatest client win is Pioneer, global creators of high-tech entertainment and electronics. The win was a high-five moment for the team who had produced an outstanding competitive pitch which showcased our brand exceptionally.
Launching Pioneer’s latest product at the Plasa exhibition, we were responsible for stand design and built, project management and delivery. We also developed a strong strategic marketing plan. This included a VIP event, a multi-lingual microsite and six-part email campaign, coverage in leading industry publications, SMS ‘After Party’ communications and data capture applications throughout the event.
Looking back, we’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved. We’ve got a great reputation within the industry and great relationships all over the world.
The future is bright
Our 25th year has undoubtedly been the most challenging yet. As we venture into uncharted waters, we reflect on the generational can-do culture, inspired by Dave, that cemented our industry success. Maintaining our can-do spirit, we’re confident that determination will ensure a bright future for DSA.
The lockdown left many event professionals twiddling our thumbs. But, with a little extra time on our hands, we turned our attention to a new project. Project DSA. Over the years, we’ve been so busy uplifting other brands that nurturing our own fell to the bottom of the totem pole. A brand refresh was overdue. Transforming our logo through to our website, we’ve injected life back into DSA creating a fresh look and feel that mirrors our creative culture.
With a newly refurbished website, our vision remains on growing the business with a continued focus on providing exceptional creativity, unrivalled delivery and stellar marketing comms. As the future of live events is being rewritten, we look to advanced technology such as AR, VR, AI and XR to catapult us into a new era of virtual and hybrid events. Never static, we’re always developing new and innovative ways to deliver memorable experiences.
Thank you
We’d like to say a heartfelt thanks to our tremendous clients old and new who’ve helped contribute to our remarkable success. We wouldn’t be DSA without your invaluable support, unremitting inspiration and dedication to achieving excellence. We look forward to continuing our exciting journey as we lap into the next generation of the events industry, energised by new technologies and ground-breaking innovation.
Here’s to a great 25 years in business!