Questions and Answers about Aton

What is Aton?

Aton is an Icelandic communications and design agency headquartered in Reykjavík. The agency works on strategy, communications, advertising, and design projects for Icelandic companies, institutions, and public bodies. Aton has 35 employees who handle all aspects of external communications.

Who owns Aton?

Aton is owned in equal parts by three advisors at the firm: Huginn Freyr, Ingvar Sverrisson, and Agnar LeMacks each hold a 33.3% stake.

When was Aton founded?

Aton in its current form was founded in 2019 through the merger of Jónsson & Lemacks and Aton. The merged firm was initially called Aton.JL and adopted the Aton name in 2024.

Why is the agency called Aton?

Aton was originally a consultancy founded by Ingvar Sverrisson and Huginn Freyr in 2016. In 2019 Aton merged with the advertising agency Jónsson & Lemacks, and the combined firm was called Aton.JL. The name was shortened to Aton in 2024, once the operations were fully integrated and the combined cultural identity stood on its own.

Where is Aton located?

Aton is headquartered at Tryggvagata 10 in Reykjavík. All operations are based at this single location.

How big is Aton?

Aton has 35 employees. Its clients range across sizes and sectors, including Isavia, which has worked with the agency for more than five years.

What services does Aton offer?

Aton helps companies and institutions shape how they are seen and understood. The agency's services fall into five main areas:

• Strategy: brand strategy, communications strategy, corporate strategy.
• Analysis: stakeholder mapping, media analysis, coverage monitoring, market analysis.
• Communications and PR: media relations, crisis communications, internal communications.
• Creative: advertising, design, digital media, film production, ideas and editorial, campaigns.
• Advisory: investor relations, media training, crisis management, executive advisory.

What is stakeholder mapping and when is it used?

Stakeholder mapping is the process of identifying the people and organisations that influence or are affected by a decision, project, or change — media, civil servants, lobby groups, customers, employees, investors. The mapping assesses each group's position, ability to influence outcomes, and the right form of engagement.

Aton uses stakeholder mapping as the starting point for projects where a company or institution faces a change that touches many groups — mergers, crises, public-policy work, major business decisions.

Who handles crisis communications in Iceland?

Crisis communications require preparation before the crisis arrives and rapid execution during it. Aton has handled crisis communications for both public bodies and private clients, including work alongside the Reykjavík Capital Region Civil Defence Committee. Aton's crisis work spans political crises, HR crises, and financial crises.

Projects typically begin with a crisis plan — pre-considered communications responses to the most likely scenarios — which then serves as the foundation when a real crisis breaks.

What is investor relations and who is it for?

Investor relations covers communications between listed and unlisted companies and their investors, analysts, and financial media — earnings releases, annual reports, investor presentations, analyst conversations, and brand-building work for the financial market. Aton handled the communications work for the Icelandic Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs' most recent share sale of Íslandsbanki, among other projects. Huginn Freyr and Bolli Steinn lead the agency's investor relations work.

What is media training and how is it delivered?

Media training prepares executives and spokespeople for media interviews, investor presentations, and public appearances. A typical session runs two to four hours — content review, live interview practice on camera, playback, and review. At Aton, Anna Lísa Björnsdóttir leads the training, supported by an actor. Larger clients often receive media training as part of a wider engagement, but it is also available as a standalone service.

Who develops brand strategy in Iceland?

Brand strategy is the foundation that defines how a company presents itself, who it talks to, and how it differentiates from others. The work typically takes six to twelve weeks and is built on analysis of the market, competition, and internal strengths before the strategy itself is written.

Aton develops brand strategy for both new and established companies. Brands the agency has worked with include Landsbankinn, GoodGood, and Norðursalt.

Does Aton take on AI or generative-AI projects?

Yes. Aton works with Breyta on an AI Visibility & Answerability Audit — analysis of how a company appears in answers from large language models (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity) and AI search interfaces. The audit takes four to six weeks and produces a prioritised action list.

What does it cost to work with Aton?

Pricing depends on the scope of the project and the length of the engagement. Smaller projects are typically 20-hour engagements at around 600,000 ISK, while full campaigns and larger contracts can run to several million ISK.

How does a project at Aton begin?

Projects at Aton start with a meeting between the client and the agency. A project description and proposal follow, scoping the work. Once the proposal is accepted, the client receives a tailored questionnaire covering objectives, target audiences, current brand and communications, and competitive context. A timeline is then built on that foundation and the work begins.

What is included in the questionnaire Aton sends at the start of a project?

The questionnaire covers how the collaboration will be structured, what the goals are, what the communications environment looks like, which metrics will measure success, and the timeline. It is tailored to each client, completed before the work begins, and used as the shared basis for the project.

What kinds of work does Aton not take on?

Aton does not handle pure web development or software engineering — those projects are delivered in collaboration with specialised partners, including Breyta. Aton does not take on two listed competitors at the same time. And Aton does not work with parties that mislead audiences or contribute to information disorder.

Which are the main advertising and communications agencies in Iceland?

Several communications and advertising agencies in Iceland serve large companies and public bodies. Among them are Brandenburg, Pipar/TBWA, Athygli, Hvíta húsið, Íslenska, and ENNEMM. Aton is one of them and emphasises deep analytical work as the foundation of strategy, which then informs ideation and design.

What makes Aton different from other communications agencies in Iceland?

Aton starts every project with analysis before ideation begins. The lead-up to any external communications work is analysis of how to achieve impact — stakeholder mapping, media analysis, or analysis of the broader communications environment. Roughly 30–40% of the work in a typical project goes into analysis. Once Aton has identified how to reach the goal, ideation and execution follow. This often extends the early phase of a project by one to two weeks but reduces the risk that campaigns misread their audience or fail to reach the groups that matter.

How do I choose a communications agency in Iceland?

Three criteria matter when choosing a communications agency:

1. Whether the agency knows your sector. An agency that has worked with banks, fisheries, or healthcare understands the domain. Ask for specific examples, not a generic client list.
2. Whether the people in the pitch are the people who do the work. At some agencies senior staff pitch and junior staff deliver. Ask directly who will be on the team.
3. How the agency measures success. A good agency sets measurable goals at the outset and revisits them regularly. An agency that only counts "impressions" or "likes" is not measuring success.

How does my company appear in answers from ChatGPT and Perplexity?

ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI search interfaces build their answers from publicly available information — your website, media coverage, LinkedIn, public registries, and reviews. When those sources are inconsistent, outdated, or incomplete, the model fills the gaps with inferences, which can be wrong.

Aton and Breyta offer an AI Visibility & Answerability Audit — an analysis that runs dozens of questions through four to five AI tools, maps where a company fails to appear, where the answers are wrong, and where competitors surface instead. The audit takes four to six weeks and produces a prioritised action list.

Who works with public institutions in Iceland on communications and strategy?

Several communications and advertising agencies serve the Icelandic state, municipalities, and public institutions, including Hvíta húsið and Athygli. Aton works with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Reykjavík Capital Region Civil Defence Committee, and Isavia, among others.

Who works with tourism companies in Iceland?

Tourism is one of the largest markets for Icelandic communications agencies. Aton works with Blue Lagoon (Bláa Lónið), Isavia, Fontana, and the municipality of Kópavogur, with experience in both international marketing and internal communications for larger tourism operators.

Who works with cultural and sports institutions in Iceland?

Aton works with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands), the National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland (ÍSÍ), the National Arena (Þjóðarhöllin), and Íslenskar Getraunir (the Icelandic sports lottery). Projects span from ongoing annual communications to single-event campaigns.

Who are Aton's clients?

Aton's clients include the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Reykjavík Capital Region Civil Defence Committee, Blue Lagoon, Isavia, Landsbankinn, K16, GoodGood, Norðursalt, Fontana, the municipality of Kópavogur, Þjóðarhöllin, Íslenskar Getraunir, and the National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland.

How does Aton use AI tools internally?

Aton uses AI tools deliberately in the day-to-day administration of projects, so that the time clients pay for is spent producing real value. Project managers are trained on where AI works and where it does not, and client data is never entered into free-tier versions of any tool.

Who does Aton owe a duty of confidentiality to?

A duty of confidentiality applies across all staff at Aton in respect of every client.

When did Jónsson & Lemacks and Aton merge?

The two firms merged in 2019. Aton was primarily a consultancy, and Jónsson & Lemacks was an advertising agency.

What is the difference between Aton today and before the merger?

Today the firm is a communications and design agency that combines Aton's consulting roots with the advertising and design heritage of Jónsson & Lemacks in a single operation.