It was when he experienced the Cannes Lions festival that Dominic Chapman realised he could do more. With a background in fitness training and modelling, he’d always had a creative itch. “I felt I could do something for myself rather than being a template or muse for others.”
Surrounded by the fizzing energy of creativity in Cannes last year, he became even more determined to branch out. “I was like a fly on the wall, listening and learning as much as I could. It really inspired me.”
He launched his own business, DC Talent Ltd, at the end of 2022. Very soon afterwards he was contacted by Bosideng, the Chinese fashion brand. “I ended up doing fashion shoots in Sweden and Portugal, which were used on the screens in their stores.”
Essentially a solo operative for now, Dominic has a network of contacts he can reach out to depending on clients’ needs. And the clients have been coming in. He’s become something of a China specialist, managing social media for Mobfever, a digital marketing agency, and its sister organization Shopfever, an e-commerce platform linking brands worldwide with Chinese consumers.
“They’ve both become active in the UK,” says Dominic. “It’s an interesting experience culturally. The approval process is different in China and so are the formalities, which is why it makes sense for Mobfever and Shopfever to launch in the UK market since they will help us Brits navigate around these.”
The nascent agency has three clear areas of expertise: social media management and consulting, brand content, and the sourcing of talent like actors, dancers and models. “I feel I’ve come a long way very quickly – but this is just the beginning.”