Manchester-based Financial Services advisor OpenMoney has appointed creative and media agency, Jaywing, following a competitive pitch process, facilitated via The GO! Network. As lead agency partner for the brand, Jaywing will work across both creative and media to transform OpenMoney’s strategy through insight-driven content and media activation supporting its key goals to spearhead fast growth in 2022. Jaywing will partner with OpenMoney to unlock audience insights aligned to a robust brand proposition, curating a channel strategy and content framework that reaches and engages audiences to support the brand. OpenMoney and Jaywing will kick off the first phase of work immediately, with an initial focus on strategy before moving into activation.
Outbrain, a recommendation platform for the open web, has confirmed a multi-year renewal of its global strategic partnership with Foundry, formerly IDG Communications, the world’s leading technology publisher. Since 2014, the partnership has seen Foundry leverage Outbrain’s Solution tools across its German publishing titles, before expanding in 2018 across its portfolio of digital publications in the US and UK, and select titles in France and Spain, including PCWorld, Macworld, Tech Advisor, Computerworld, Network World, and TechHive. Historically, Foundry has used Outbrain’s proprietary technologies, including Smartfeed, Native in-content, Zemanta and Audience Campaigns to drive audience growth, engagement and increase revenue by delivering high-quality organic and sponsored content to audiences. With this renewed partnership, Outbrain will also support Foundry’s global affiliate and e-commerce business. Outbrain’s Bid Strategy and Post-click Engagement technologies will be optimised towards lead generation and conversion objectives to enable Foundry to increase revenue opportunities across all media platforms.
AdvantageSolutions has launched Advantage Unified Commerce, a 500-person-strong agency that brings together a powerful combination of talent and technology focused on seamless, end-to-end commerce marketing. The agency provides consumer goods brands a holistic, connected commerce strategy and solutions across e-commerce and brick-and-mortar, including audience identification; in-store and digital media; and multichannel activation, attribution and analytics, all driven by a one-of-a-kind technology and data platform and award-winning creative teams. Advantage Unified Commerce combines the expertise of Amazon specialists Beekeeper Marketing and eShopportunity, e-commerce solution provider Sage Tree and shopper agencies IN Connected and Edge Agency. The agency is led by President of Advantage Unified Commerce Victor Lee, who most recently served as chief marketing officer for Kin Insurance and previously led marketing for RX Bar and Hasbro and held senior roles at Digitas.
Harvest Snaps, the original better-for-you (BFY) snack and flagship brand of Calbee America, Inc., has appointed creative and media agency Cutwater, with offices in San Francisco and New York City, as their digital creative agency of record after a comprehensive review. Under this relationship, Cutwater will spearhead communications efforts, including creative, digital, brand, and social strategy. The agency will work across Harvest Snaps’ Baked Snacks and Crunchy Loops products.
Virgin Media releases ‘Hyped’ a multi-million pound integrated brand campaign to celebrate Virgin Media’s new entertainment service, Stream. Running throughout the UK for 8 weeks across multiple touchpoints, the bold and attention-grabbing campaign further demonstrates Virgin Media’s commitment to being ‘Better, connected’ by giving customers more flexibility, control and great value on their entertainment. Stream, the latest offering in Virgin Media’s TV line-up, seamlessly combines the most-loved TV channels with on-demand apps, popular streaming subscriptions and must-watch movies, offering customers a new way to enjoy their favourite entertainment all in one place, and at great value, via a small plug-and-play box powered entirely by Virgin Media’s superior broadband. Centred around the real experts of entertainment – TVs – Virgin Media and VCCP London worked with partners Electric Theatre Collective, Jungle, Soho Music and Duffy Sound, as well as celebrated director Rollo Jackson from Somesuch to bring the disruptive and attention-grabbing creative to life. Virgin Media also partnered with MC Neat to co-create the bespoke rap, with the Garage artist directly inspiring the mouth which was then created using CGI.
NatWest Business has launched its first campaign via TikTok aimed specifically at budding entrepreneurs. Four independent business owners are at the heart of the campaign and demonstrate NatWest’s Business Builder online toolkit on the platform, using it to solve real-world challenges. The Business Builder online toolkit has been created in response to the growing number of people starting their own businesses. It offers digital and event-based learning as well as an opportunity for users to join a community of like-minded individuals. Each module covers a range of topics, including Climate and Sustainability, Business Strategy & Risk Management and Mindset. It is free of charge and does not require users to be NatWest customers. This is the latest work in a partnership between NatWest and VaynerMedia London, following the launch of The Business Show podcast earlier this year and the UK’s first carbon neutral podcast, Green Business Builders, in 2021.
Pascoe + Tew, the recruitment agency with a psychology methodology focus, has been working with creative branding and communications agency Curious, to refresh its brand and stand out in the world of Executive Search. Curious has worked with the agency to develop its brand strategy and identity with creative assets that will be used across all media channels, advertising and social media. Curious aimed to bring to life Pascoe + Tew’s core purpose, in humanising the process of Executive Search. In a stripped-back format, Curious created a series of clean photography with tongue-in-cheek illustrations to remove the complexity and corporate language in the recruitment world. The creative showcases Pascoe + Tew’s personality, as well as its ethos of “doing things differently”, lending it to stand out from traditional recruitment companies.
Humanitarian charity British Red Cross has appointed Havas Media UK to its UK media planning and buying account, following a competitive pitch. Havas Media UK will now partner with British Red Cross to develop and execute media planning and buying, in order to increase brand relevance and consideration and to expand the charity’s supporter base. The partnership will support British Red Cross’s ambitious ten-year strategy, which focuses on three prevailing humanitarian crises: disasters & emergencies, health inequalities, and displacement & migration. The new strategy will harness paid, owned, shared and earned channels, with initial activity including digital volunteer recruitment and legacy campaigns, to be followed by an integrated brand and fundraising push later this year. Medialab Group will continue to plan offline media activity for Emergency appeals.
The Audience Collective, an innovative, insight-driven collection of specialist agencies has announced its latest expansion into The Middle East. Teaming talent with technology, The Audience Collective is a global communications group which employs over 220 specialists in twelve offices across all aspects of the marketing mix. From branding, research, strategy, data analytics and profiling through to PR, social media, events, search, digital media buying, web design and development. Creating momentum for some of the world’s biggest brands, existing clients in the portfolio include Amazon, BMW, BP, Debenhams, Kodak, Nestle, Rolls Royce, Bahrain FinTech Institute, Bateel, Vodafone and Waitrose. The opening of a new Dubai-based division further bolsters The Audience Collective’s global ambitions, giving the company new opportunities to showcase its unrivalled expertise in a new market. Jess Hickman is leading the group’s entry into market, working closely with the local team which is spearheaded with Marija Al Raisi, Marketing & Sales Director for the United Arab Emirates.
A clutch of new client wins and a surge in demand for full digital marketing services following lockdown has paved the way for a new Birmingham home for M3.Agency. The full-service advertising agency, which also has bases in Albrighton and London, has invested more than £750,000 into a two-year blueprint that will see it grow its revenue in the second city to £2m and complete a recruitment drive that will increase staff numbers by more than a third. First stage of the expansion plan is now complete, with the move into the impressive Cubo Work buildings in Birmingham giving it a 30-seater office and access to the latest meeting
rooms, shared collaboration spaces and entertainment facilities, including bars and
panoramic views over Chamberlain Square. It marks a successful first three years for the firm in the city that has seen it grow from a standing start in 2019 to an eighteen-strong workforce, with positions currently available in SEO, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and social media.
Customer experience marketing agency Gekko has partnered with behavioural insight experts CloudArmy to offer a neuroscience research service for brands to identify what their customers really think. Powered by specialist research agency CloudArmy, the rollout of the offering comes after a successful trial with one of the UK’s leading tech brands. Gekko are experts in the customer journey and experience and the partnership with CloudArmy sees cutting-edge neuroscience techniques aimed at uncovering unconscious and conscious reactions to test a range of attributes. This includes brand recognition, responses to brand assets and associations and shifts in brand perception.
