2025: Dock’s year in review
...And what’s coming in 2026.
Looking back on 2025, one thing in particular stands out: Dock didn’t even exist 12 months ago.
Up until 17th January, we were still known as IGOO.
Rebranding to Dock set the tone for a turbulent but successful year, bookended by a move into our brand new studio in December. Here’s how transition, branding, and tech advances shaped Dock’s 2025, and what we’re looking forward to in 2026.
Two major milestones, 12 hectic months
After nearly 20 years in business, the Dock rebrand marked a new chapter in our journey as a full-service digital agency. As part of the change, we refreshed our website and visuals, complete with a modern logo and imagery that reflect our growth as a business.
And, let’s be honest, even though IGOO served us well, it wasn’t the easiest to pronounce.
The refresh gave us the momentum we needed to end the year with a move into a new studio on Brick Street, after a decade-long search for a permanent home. Owning the building rather than renting on someone else’s terms was always a goal, and the new studio gives us plenty of room to grow.
Plus, getting the keys on the same week we turned 20 felt pretty special.
These two major moments framed everything in between, including being chocker with client work, growing the team, and navigating the dawn of the AI age.
The AI shift
Not content with taking on a rebrand and a studio move, we also had to adapt to the AI revolution. Not that we had much choice. AI impacted the entire digital marketing industry.
Much of our focus went into understanding how we’d adopt AI internally and how it was affecting our clients. The big shift was traffic. Where strong SEO-led blogs and product descriptions once drove consistent organic visits, AI began sweeping up impressions and reducing click-throughs.
Then there was the collapse of traditional attribution. Updated iPhone privacy, new browser protections, and GDPR and cookie compliance made tracking harder than ever. Where we once knew exactly where customers came from and what they spent, we became blind to that information.
We had to learn fast, rethink reporting, and reset client expectations.
Growing the team (and our workload)
Despite all the noise around AI replacing jobs, we recruited two new staff members last year: Alice and Macauley. With Camilla returning from maternity leave, our staff headcount was at its highest since before COVID.
The 25% increase in our workforce was well timed, as we were at capacity with client work all year. Even with a bigger team and added AI automation, we were still flat out for 12 months, delivering the best possible results for our clients.
The projects that defined 2025
Our clients were, as always, central to everything we did last year. While we give our all to every project, a few standouts were:
- Killer Ink – six-month project including a full front-end rebuild
- Complete PE – workshop-focused, one-off website launch
- Creative Hut – unified digital platform to increase impact
- Police Supplies – reinventing an outdated site using Hyvä
Balancing these large builds alongside our retained clients was a challenge we embraced, with a clear focus on delivering everything on time and to plan.
We set out to strengthen relationships across our client base, and achieved our best financial year to date.
What’s the Dock forecast for 2026?
AI will play an even bigger role in 2026. Alongside using LLMs for quotes, data, and comms, we’ll also be exploring how to monetise AI for clients.
We’ve always been willing to experiment. And that won’t change. From the early days of Google Shopping to firmly believing in white hat SEO (which was the right choice!), we believe in staying on the front foot and pushing boundaries. Next year, that means keeping a close eye on AI-driven product discovery, reviews, and direct purchasing, and helping clients make sense of these emerging opportunities.
Internally, we want our new studio to be the best kind of creative space in the city – somewhere our team are proud to work, and clients are proud to visit. That means the right environment, the best tech we can get our hands on, and using every tool available to improve how we market and build.
AI will be at the forefront, but the human touch will always come first. Our business has been built on face-to-face, person-to-person relationships for 20 years.
Long may it continue.
