Aaron Bernard
November 29, 2024

Spatial Media's Unique Culture Fuels 10 Years of Success

In an industry often defined by rigid corporate structures and stifling bureaucracy, Spatial Media has carved out a unique niche by prioritising company culture above all else.

In an industry often defined by rigid corporate structures and stifling bureaucracy, Spatial Media has carved out a unique niche by prioritising company culture above all else.

As the Spatial Media and visualisation firm celebrates its 10th anniversary, the founders reflect on how their unconventional approach has been the key to their longevity.

"From the beginning, we had a real desire to do things differently," explains co-founder Aaron Bernard. "That includes the anti-corporate, the flat structure, the startup culture – all of those sort of things."

Rather than imposing a top-down management style, Spatial Media has built a culture of trust and collaboration. "Trust is key to collaboration, not top-down structure," says Bernard. "It's a collaboration thing. It's not a me versus you and us versus them."

This emphasis on trust and autonomy has been a driving force behind the company's ability to retain talent for over a decade - a rarity in the fast-paced world of startups. "Everyone is trusted to be a professional," notes co-founder Jai Eakin. "There is no one  looking over your shoulder."

The remote-first approach has also been integral to Spatial Media's culture. "From the beginning, we had no office," Bernard shares. "We believed that creatives shouldn't have to pretend to be creative between 9 to 5, Monday to Friday and shouldn’t be driven by timesheets and billing increments."

“Business fundamentals are important, but providing people the freedom to excel is equally as important. In a creative industry, our brains don’t work in the same way as other industries. We need time to investigate, to trial new ideas and to work when our creativity is at its best. If that is 2 am on a Wednesday and that works for you; awesome. We’re focused on delivering the work to our client’s needs and timelines, not by the traditional idea of working from 9 to 5,”

This freedom has resonated with employees like Nathan Green, who joined the company after freelancing. "I wouldn't have lasted the 10 years if I suddenly had to go to the office," he says. "The autonomy and creative freedom are really compelling."

Beyond the lack of a physical office, Spatial Media has fostered a sense of community through regular team gatherings and events. "We get the whole team together twice a year, and we have a lot of fun, we do a lot of hard work, and that's the bonding time we do," Eakin explains.

This commitment to culture has paid dividends, even as the company has grown and expanded across the globe. "When we started, the idea of a totally remote workforce was seen as borderline insane," Eakin notes. “Then came COVID, and the world worked from home for a little while, and it rapidly became the norm. We were just a little bit ahead of the curve and while it was seen as risky by some, it has worked and we now have team members across every corner of Australia as well as in New Zealand, Canada, USA, the UK and Bangladesh and our people get to work where they want to live.”

For Morley Foster, who has served as a mentor to the founders, the key to Spatial Media's success lies in the talent and passion of the team. "You always look at the people and say, ‘Are they talented enough to be able to overcome those challenges? Are they talented enough to know when to pivot? Are they talented enough to make customers happy?’ And it was, yes. It was an emphatic yes to all of those."

As Spatial Media celebrates its 10th anniversary, the founders are proud of the culture they've built and the impact it has had on their business. "It's been terrifying, exciting, and worth it," says Eakin.

from our clients

Spatial are my go-to for solutions

Spatial are my go-to for solutions nobody has dreamt up yet! They have an incredible knack for combining tomorrows tech solutions with creativity, intuitive UX and analytics. The results are engaging interfaces that are impactful and ultimately bridge the gap between project and stakeholders.
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Kate Kernaghan, Company Director, Factotum Communications

They look tremendous, the team have done amazing work!

Our booth very popular - the corflute poster was so incredible to point at our ideas, even at a concept level. Well done to you and the Spatial Media team!
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99
Rainer Knobloch, Co-Founder - Strategy and Operations

It was a pleasure to work with everyone

Spatial Media masterfully brought our CETO wave energy technology to life and provided a glimpse into how we're harnessing the immense power of the ocean to create clean, renewable electricity. Thank you to Spatial Media - Visual Engagement Solutions for their incredible work on this animation!
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Brighid Jay, Chief Commercial Officer, Carnegie Clean Energy

A very straightforward and fun process for EnergyAustralia

From the initial kick off meeting to the final video, it was a very straightforward and fun process to work with Spatial Media. The final video is outstanding and really helped bring the project to life for our stakeholders. Highly recommended.
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99
Matt Bruers, Development Director, Wooreen BESS, EnergyAustralia

Top shelf solutions for North East Link project

Spatial Media offers top shelf solutions that help tell the often intricate stories around the construction of major infrastructure. From animations to 3D models, dealing with Spatial has been seamless, and the end results have been first class.
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Jamie Aldridge, Communications Manager, Spark – North East Link – D&C 

Airside Driving Simulator an important part of the training program

It can be storming outside. It could be night time. Any time of the day or night we can create these simulations. It’s very flexible.
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Niel Young, Training Coordinator, Brisbane Airport

Enhancing and innovating communication for Melbourne Airport

Spatial Media is an excellent partner and we’ve been impressed by the work the team has produced for Melbourne Airport to help inform our travellers and community about our terminal upgrades and new runway. They are great to deal with and deliver a polished product with creative thinking and a can-do attitude.
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Andrew Lund, Head of Media and Communications, Melbourne Airport

They are our go to tech-savvy experts with huge amounts of creative flair!

COVID19 social distancing restrictions made having our large scale community event nearly impossible, so we decided to take our face-to-face event online. Spatial worked really closely with us to develop the concept, design and platform that would host our virtual community event. The Spatial team are exceptionally creative, with a fantastic ability to bring your idea to fruition in a way you never thought possible. They made our pen on paper scribble into something that over 45k stakeholders visited online, more than what we could have reached in person. Thank you
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Emily Divitaris, Senior Communications Advisor, WestConnex

Valuable long-term partnership with Brisbane Airport Corporation

The Spatial Media team are always professional, well organised and continuously deliver high quality content pieces on time and on budget. They bring new ideas to the table and constantly adapt to changing requirements. I would highly recommend Spatial Media to all.
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Lauren Graham, Head of Commercial Marketing, Brisbane Airport Corporation