Garden centre retailer Dobbies has unveiled a brand-new multichannel campaign, “Spring’s a Big Deal at Dobbies”. The push was developed in partnership with creative agency elvis. Dobbies has partnered with elvis to develop an integrated campaign that celebrates the significance of Spring for UK gardeners from all walks of life, showing off the great value on offer. It aims to reassure shoppers that a visit to Dobbies will give them everything they need for their garden, with quality and cost at the forefront. Leading with a 20-second film directed by Ben le Tourneau at production company The Operators, the push plays with fun visual metaphors to represent the huge bargains available at the retailer, with products being blown up to incredible sizes, to the amazement of gardeners. The campaign sees Dobbies testing out a new media mix, moving into broadcast video-on-demand, out-of-home and digital audio. This is supported by activity across digital display, social and eCRM. Media planning and buying for broadcast, audio-visual, digital display and partnership activity is by EssenceMediacom, while paid social, search, shopping and additional targeted digital display activity is by Clean Digital. This is also supported by PR activity in collaboration with Frame.
Balance, a new marketing consultancy and agency dedicated to financial services, has launched to help businesses hit their online growth goals and better serve prospective clients. The agency is being headed up by Alex Murphy – one of the most experienced finance marketers in the country, with 20+ years of financial services marketing experience with brands such as Admiral, The Royal Mint, and GoCompare. Murphy is joining forces with Co-Founder Gareth Morgan, another marketer with over 20 years of experience, most of it in financial services. As CEO of the wider Liberty Marketing Group, Gareth has worked alongside dozens of finance clients such as Admiral, Target, Aviva, and MotoNovo. This launch sees Balance become the newest agency in the Liberty Marketing Group, alongside Liberty and Foundation. It boasts a joint resource pool of more than 40 specialist marketers who offer services including SEO, paid media, content creation, social media management, digital PR and digital strategy.
Fast-growing digital marketing agency, Climb Online, has secured its first major client in Australia, following its recent international expansion into Makati City, The Philippines. Having signed Mazuma Mobile Australia, one of the country’s leading online mobile phone reuse companies, Climb Online is now responsible for leading its SEO digital marketing strategy. With a proven track record in delivering holistic and commercially driven campaigns, Climb Online plans to develop and execute an omnichannel approach that will effectively integrate with Mazuma Mobile’s growth objectives and exceed targets for 2023 and beyond. This exciting client win comes just six months after Climb Online was acquired by global digital agency, xDNA Group, and will aid its further expansion into Australasia over the coming months.
May officially marks one year since creative content agency, Tribera, implemented its four-day working week. Based in the heart of Birmingham’s city-centre, Tribera is one of many companies across the UK leading the way to a more modern approach to working. However, despite the change being a huge success, reaping many benefits for employees and having a subsequent positive effect on client results – the move to a four-day work week has not been without its challenges. Amidst other businesses contemplating whether this working structure is feasible for them, Tribera is looking to open up an honest dialogue regarding its own experience – offering profile opportunities to discuss the highs, lows and everything in between when making the jump to a better work-life balance. Employee wellbeing is at the very core of Tribera’s culture, with a strong belief in flexible working even before the four-day work week was launched. The award-winning agency is run by people with real lives – lives that include life admin, busy family schedules and obligatory school runs. For this reason, the founders wanted to ensure their tribe were able to manage their own time and honor any non-work commitments with ease.
INvolve, the consultancy and global network for diversity, equity and inclusion in business, has announced a new partnership with YouTube to support its three global Role Model Lists: Empower, Outstanding, and Heroes. The launch of the partnership marks ten years since Involve’s first ground-breaking Role Model List featured in the Financial Times in 2013, with the aim of putting a spotlight on diverse leaders who are changing the face of business. YouTube will be the host for brand new video content from INvolve’s Role Models, with YouTube Short interviews to mark the launch of each annual List, live-streams from the annual Role Model Gala Dinners in London and New York, and longer-form videos addressing some of the big topics in diversity and inclusion. Throughout the partnership, INvolve will be working with YouTube’s global network of diverse video creators and influencers, allowing Role Models to reach and inspire the next generation of business leaders.
Lynx, the UK’s largest male fragrance brand is back and shaking things up with a brand-new ATL campaign to recruit the next generation of Lynx lovers. Part of a huge £13 million marketing investment, the highly targeted activation aims to remind guys that Lynx Africa is the greatest fragrance of all time. The campaign kicks off with a brand-new TVC from 8th May and will stream across TV, BVOD, Cinema (targeting Gen-Z relevant blockbusters), YouTube, Twitch and Spotify. For added mojo, Lynx is showing up in the top channels where Gen-Z are engaging with their passions, specifically targeting gamers, streamers, and online-goers. As a new venture for Lynx, the brand is multiplying its investment in Twitch to engage young gamers. The brand is also creating social-first assets that are shorter, sharper, and will resonate and entertain with the younger audience across Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Tik Tok. Tapping into the increasing popularity of anime, each social short video will focus on a specific passion point to target different audiences (gaming, music, sports). Lynx will also be leveraging OOH across key moments, such as the awaited half-term break. For the first time ever, the brand is going fully digital to be more dynamic and more engaging.
L’Oréal Garnier has announced the launch of its first-ever Instagram augmented reality (AR) filter as part of its #GarnierVitC campaign to promote the launch of the new Vitamin C Glow Boost Night Serum. Available today in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway, the filter can be found on Instagram @garnierrnordics. With creative direction from global influencer agency, Billion Dollar Boy, the interactive filter – designed by animation, design and visualisation studio, 099 Creative, and developed by creative technology agency, Weald Creative – is available to users via a mobile Instagram account. Upon opening the filter, a silhouette of the serum appears. When selected by the user, the serum opens a portal giving the audience the ability to enter the Vitaverse – an AR world resembling a serene and futuristic spa scene.
Sense, the global brand experience agency known for working with high-profile clients from TikTok to Haribo, has announced the launch of a new retail division, designed to help clients respond to the ever-evolving retail landscape. A highly experienced team with unique insight into consumer shopping behaviour based on decades of sector knowledge has been appointed to run the division. To help FMCG retail brands navigate an increasingly complex and pressurised environment, the new division offers a range of services covering prize promotions, shopper toolkits, key visual creation, path-to-purchase comms, category strategy, B2B campaigns and Amazon optimisation – all designed to convert sales through tried and tested tools and techniques.
Brand consultancy Thompson has been appointed by Kent County Council (KCC), following a competitive pitch, to deliver cohesive branding and content for Kent’s Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery services (D&AR). Thompson responded to the pitch with a brand strategy built around user-centred design to raise awareness, create more navigable signposting for services, while also destigmatising the experience. In collaboration with key stakeholders, Kent County Council has tasked Thompson with aligning all current services – West Kent Adult Drug and Alcohol Service, East Kent Adult Drug and Alcohol Service, Young Persons Drug and Alcohol Service, and East Kent Recover Housing – under one recognisable brand identity for service users. The project involves the creation of brand assets, written content, videos and digital content applied across a range of platforms to ensure service users are clear about the programmes available.
2023 is off to a roaring start for Bolton digital marketing agency, The Audit Lab. The digital industry is continuing to thrive, and as a result, the agency has scored six new clients in the opening months of 2023, and made two senior additions to their ever-growing team. The six acquisitions include high street photo printing specialists, Max Spielmann; online lingerie and adult toy retailer Harmony; motorbike finance specialists Superbike Loans; energy management provider Thermatic Energy; facilities management company Thermatic Technical FM; hair, beauty and aesthetics education hub RJL Education; and roller garage door manufacturer Matadoor. All six of these new clients have come on-board for a combination of paid and organic services, but each with the ultimate goal of improving their online visibility by partnering with a data-led agency.
Independent communications agency, 33Seconds, has launched 33_Zero, an in-house strategy consultancy that specialises in helping brands and technology companies thrive in a net zero culture. With the urgency for businesses to innovate to meet net zero goals, 33_Zero will assist clients in understanding and engaging with the Gen Z and Millennial audience – those who have the most influence in driving the ‘normalisation’ of sustainable practices. By refining clients’ propositions, brand positioning, and long-term communication planning, 33_Zero will help them succeed in an environment where sustainability is paramount. To mark the launch of 33_Zero, 33Seconds commissioned a new research study through its TikTok eco-brand, Earthtopia, one of the biggest eco-communities on the platform with over 287K+ followers. The qualitative and quantitative study interviewed some of its community members, and through its research partner, Untold, surveyed 1,000 UK and 1,000 US 16-40 years to ask how sustainability affects their purchasing decisions. The research, entitled ‘A Window on Net Zero Culture’ reveals that although 70 per cent of Gen Z and Millennials are engaged and making small changes to their lifestyle, they are struggling to trust brands’ claims about sustainability. 50 per cent do not believe that companies’ claims are genuine and 46 per cent find it challenging to determine which brands are genuinely sustainable, while only 35 per cent believe that brands are working hard to be more eco-friendly.
