Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

NDA Agency News: Born Social, Tribal Worldwide, Initials and more

Social media agency, Born Social, has announced the launch of a new studio to help brands navigate the next phase of the internet, known as web 3.0. Born Beyond will arm brands with the latest insights on a wide range of digital disciplines including the metaverse, crypto, NFTs, AR and the creator economy. Following a rebrand earlier this year, the agency has built a name for itself in helping brands navigate the chaos of social media to become social-first brands. The studio will help evolve their work to include brands interested in the metaverse, which is in itself, a nascent concept in the early stages. With the launch of Born Beyond, brands can now tune into the latest information and receive insider expertise from a range of experts. Kicking things off with a newsletter with the latest industry musings and thinking within the space, Born Beyond will expand into events with other activations expected to launch in 2022.

Hero Group, the Switzerland-based international food company with a focus on natural healthy foods, has appointed digital agency Tribal Worldwide to create its new global website platform following a competitive pitch. Tribal will create one unified global tech website platform for 16 of the Hero brands across 19 markets. Work began in October and Tribal and will use their Total Experience approach to design and build a platform that combines exceptional customer and employee experience whilst ensuring the unique values of each of Hero’s brands are embodied throughout.

Creative agency Initials has announced a new positioning and creative identity for potato milk brand DUG ahead of the brand’s entry into UK grocery stores in February. Initials was tasked with helping DUG create a splash in the crowded dairy alternatives category. In order to ensure cut through in this highly saturated market, Initials developed the world of ‘Dare to DUG’, built around a daring, revolutionary, urban personality it created for the brand. Mindful of the need to engage both category rejecters and dairy alternative consumers with existing brand preferences, the campaign is designed to inspire audiences to challenge their perceptions, step away from the norm and delve into the unexpected. Creative executions feature bold graphic typography, provocative photography and daring copy. The shopper elements include static and animated assets featuring bold headlines and imagery, aiming to drive consumer action and celebrate the benefits of the brand.

Certes, a global data security provider specialising in providing customers with cyber security solutions, partnered with ngena in April 2021 to combine SD-WAN as a Service with High Assurance Data Security Overlay, and Certes relied on Neo PR’s knowledge and network to support its launch in to the industry. In working with Neo PR, a leading B2B technology PR agency, Certes was able to leverage its latest partnership to expand further into the cyber industry. The combined offering maximises the value of Certes’ and ngena’s best-of-breed technologies in data security and encryption, and SD-WAN respectively, to enable Cisco VARs to deploy an SD-WAN solution that exceeds the increasing regulatory compliance requirements on data handling in sensitive data environments. Neo PR has worked with both parties to position Certes as an expert thought leader and coordinated a webinar of which both Certes and ngena would launch its partnership to internal stakeholders, as well as the cyber industry. Driven by the need to prioritise the security of sensitive data, both private enterprises and public sector organisations alike continue to encounter challenges in adopting SD-WAN as a technology which Neo PR was tasked with informing the industry about.

Independent communications collective, Harbour Collective, has selected three candidates for its inaugural Harbour Fellowship programme, as it seeks to offer young talent a way into the industry and experience across a broad range of communications disciplines. As part of the government’s Kickstart initiative, the one-year Harbour Fellowship programme offers an opportunity for three people currently claiming Universal Credit, aged 16 to 24-years-old, to gain experience across a number of the specialisms within member agencies, including brand advertising, PR, content, entertainment and social. No previous advertising or marketing work experience is required. Following an application process which kicked off in October, Harbour Collective has selected three individuals to take part in this year’s programme: Hajra Razak, 24, from Brighton, who has been working on her small business called Genki Bazaar, Olly Reeves, 23, from London, who recently completed a course in content production with Creativity Works, and Saul Wickremasinghe, 22, from London, who recently graduated from Central Saint Martins.

A campaign by Fox Agency for leading office solutions provider Fellowes Brands has highlighted the link between workspace satisfaction and increased productivity. The ‘Satisfaction’ campaign, which surveyed 6,000 people across six European markets including the UK, revealed that a third of employees are up to 50% more productive when they are satisfied with their workspace. Generating over 200 media placements, the campaign comprised media relations, creative development including video production, survey development, social media, and the creation of supporting sales and marketing tool kits. As part of the campaign, global efficiency and productivity expert Martin Geiger authored a whitepaper exploring the impact workspace satisfaction has on productivity, and how businesses can motivate employees whether working from home, the office, or taking a hybrid approach. Following a period where many people have had to work from home, the campaign’s focus on employee wellbeing was timely and relevant. Fox Agency and Fellowes Brands also share cultural values in terms of prioritising employee wellbeing and creating positive workplaces.

Following a series of consultations, Leicester based life insurance disruptor brand DeadHappy has chosen Jaywing to deliver a new PPC strategy. Jaywing was selected after forecasts from the consultancy’s award-winning proprietary technology ‘Decision’ showed proof of concept through strong commercial gains modelling. The use of Decision will support DeadHappy’s TV media and social activity into 2022.

Social-first creative agency Digital Natives has announced its appointment by Elmer’s, a Newell Brands Writing Division brand. The agency will create unique, thumb-stopping content for social ads and organic content, helping to drive brand awareness and engagement amongst digital audiences. The company approached Digital Natives to help them reach new consumers and raise awareness of their product development online. Digital Natives will deploy its digital and social expertise to create attention-grabbing, social-first assets for Elmer’s. The content will be created for EMEA and APAC markets. It will focus on three of Elmer’s ranges: Glow in the Dark Glue, Gue – Pre-made Slime and Elmers’ range of Glue Sticks. Targeting parents and teachers of kids ages 3-10, Digital Natives will craft vibrant and playful organic and paid content, driving purchases and raising awareness of Elmer’s amongst digital audiences. Taking Elmer’s brand vision ‘Only Elmer’s Glue inspires kids to get creative and make things’, Digital Natives shaped a series of creative concepts that capture the relationship between Elmer’s products and imaginative play. Launching in March 2022, the ads will feature on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook to grow awareness across digital audiences. 

Global beauty brand NYK1, has appointed search marketing agency Wolfenden to handle its digital growth across channels – including paid search, organic social media strategy, digital PR and affiliates activity, increasing brand awareness and generating a consistent uplift in site revenue. Leeds-based Wolfenden will look to implement a PPC and affiliates strategy which maximises NYK1’s brand presence amongst a much wider global audience and drive new customer acquisition, whilst organic social media activity and digital PR will grow a loyal online community through a strategic content and influencer approach. The appointment comes as NYK1 expands its range, launching new salt-free and sulphate-free haircare products.

Multinational food company, McCain Foods, has appointed global, socially-led, creative agency, We Are Social, to manage its social media presence for the McCain brand in the UK and Ireland. As McCain’s new social media agency of record, We Are Social will be responsible for social and editorial strategy, always-on content and brand campaign creative development. The agency will be tasked with taking a culturally-led approach to help McCain reach new audiences on social, as well as developing a brand campaign to target Gen Z and millennials. 

Creative technology and content production studio Happy Finish has announced it has signed a new 2-year strategic partnership with iconic British retailer, Marks & Spencer. The tie-up will see Happy Finish establish and implement a new roadmap for rich customer experiences and content creation for M&S Home (which has been identified as a business opportunity for M&S). The Happy Finish studio team will be charged with using a digital approach to solve challenges around displaying hidden innovations for all products, deploying augmented reality for product visualisation and creating scalable imagery across all Furniture & Upholstery areas. The partnership is designed to enable M&S to deliver richer lifestyle content using CGI. The award-winning skills of Happy Finish will be utilised to showcase the products in a realistic form and to continuously evolve and reflect growing customer expectations right across the customer omni-channel journey.  

Advertising media and music agency, Truant London, is resurrecting its music showcase UNRULY: a performance platform that brings music and advertising together. Truant invests in the UNRULY showcase as part of its music specialism. The agency has a dedicated music department, headed by sync consultant Jemma Skidmore, and has previously fostered artist and brand collaborations that include D Double E (for Pepsi), Grace Carter (for Virgin Red) and Noel Gallagher (for Vauxhall). Taking place on Wednesday 24 November 2021 at independent artist and business hub Tileyard, UNRULY provides an opportunity for artists to explore branding opportunities by performing for leading marketers from brands that include Samsung; while giving brand folk a chance to experience the latest culturally plugged-in music. The latest event – the first UNRULY since the pandemic struck – features Tokio Myers (genre-busting pianist and 2017 Britain’s Got Talent winner) and Harvey Causon (up-and-coming singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist from the Bristol music scene). In between performances, guests will be given plenty of time to network while listening to DJs. Now that UNRULY is able to make a comeback, Truant will invest in quarterly showcases alongside live streamed sessions bolstered by online content, panels and radio curation. Previous UNRULY performers include Ayanna, DJ Karistocat and Represent Radio MC’s. 

Nelson Bostock UNLIMITED has won the PR brief for leading global Embedded Finance Experiences platform and fast-growing fintech Railsbank. The integrated brief will continue to build awareness of the Railsbank brand and story, and position Railsbank at the coal-face of innovation within financial services. The agency will focus on the UK, primarily, and lead Railsbank’s global network.

TEAM LEWIS, the global marketing agency, has launched its 4th annual Global Marketing Engagement Index™. Analysing the top 300 companies from the Forbes Global 2000 list using proprietary methodology, the Marketing Engagement Tracker (MET). In all a world of heightened uncertainty and change, audience expectations have dramatically evolved. This year’s MET Index demonstrates that marketing performance is not just about volume and reach. It’s about a brand’s ability to listen and react when it matters most – at speed and with human understanding across channels. To nurture relationships, respect diversity and build inclusive experiences. Consumers and customers are alike in wanting to be informed, entertained and engaged in a way that respects boundaries and personal choice. The 2021 Global Marketing Engagement Index analyses the effective use of channels and marketing mix in achieving this. 

An electrifying knock-out competition saw Click Consult become champions of the latest UEFA pitch process. The partnership will look to capitalise on the many opportunities that technical SEO and optimised content can offer as UEFA looks to promote European football and its competitions as well as its phenomenal work building trust with and providing leadership for the many national football associations it represents.

Automotive UK retailer Pendragon has appointed The Kite Factory to lead its media planning and buying for their new used vehicle proposition. The new brand, aimed at delivering an innovative customer-centric approach within the automotive sector will soft launch later in Q4 and continue roll out through a phased approach into 2022. There was no incumbent. Additionally, Cruise.co.uk – Family run cruise business, Cruise.co.uk have appointed The Kite Factory to lead its digital account, including Paid Social, Paid Search, and FlightDeck reporting.