Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

NDA Agency News: ROAST, Organic, VCCP London and more

The longest-running Crypto Exchange worldwide, Bitstamp, has chosen to award their global online media account to Digital Agency, ROAST. ROAST, who are owned by Independent Network, TIPi Group, currently handle the media planning and buying across 26 European markets for the Cryptocurrency exchange, but has now increased its remit to include US and APAC. Following a competitive pitch earlier this year, ROAST was the first agency to be appointed to run all online media planning and buying activity to grow Bitstamp’s EU market share and broaden audience demographics. The global partnership between ROAST and the world’s longest-running crypto exchange launches this month. 

Digital agency Organic has announced Honestly Tasty has appointed the team to help plan and run the brands’ Christmas and Veganuary paid campaigns. The agency has been tasked with raising awareness of the plant-based cheese brand as well as increasing sales over the festive period and Veganuary. Organic will achieve this by creating a direct to digital consumer sales funnel, elevating the award-winning cheese to a market-leading online presence. Intelligent use of digital and search channels will also help to efficiently reach the target audience at their most likely point of purchase. At the busiest time of year for FMCG brands – the festive period – Honestly Tasty wants to debunk stereotypes about vegan cheese being ‘free from’ substitutes, and instead focus on the ingredients and how good it tastes. Organic will help instil this messaging by running a range of rich media assets that highlights the brand’s core values, energy and quality.  

TfL, has launched ‘See their side’, a new culture change campaign to mark Road Safety Week. TfL worked with UK agency of record, VCCP London to create the integrated campaign which will contribute to the Mayor of London’s Vision Zero objective of having zero deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads by 2041. In the new campaign, TfL targets all road users, encouraging them to ‘See their side’ and be more considerate of each other. The campaign launches with a 60” hero film which is designed to highlight the lack of empathy and understanding that road users often have for each other, and reminds road users that everyone else on the road is a human being just like them. The integrated campaign ‘See their side’ is live from the 17th of November 2021 and will run in London for a number of years, as part of the longer term goal to have zero people killed or seriously injured on London’s streets by 2041. The film will be aired on TV and in the Cinema and the creative will also roll out in OOH format. Media has been planned and executed by Wavemaker.

Amplify, the global creative agency, is further extending its B2B experiences offering by partnering with Wonder, the award-winning B2B and B2E (business-to-employee) events innovator whose clients span Adobe, Android, Klarna and Google for Education. The partnership sees Amplify back Wonder by becoming majority shareholders, re-enforcing both agencies’ ongoing commitment to the B2B experience, supporting and boosting Wonder’s leadership and innovation as B2B experiences continue to evolve post-pandemic. Although the two agencies will operate as distinct independent businesses, they will collaborate when opportunities arise. The partnership will help both agencies broaden their offerings while nurturing global growth, by uniting Amplify’s reputation for insightful, strategic and creative thinking with Wonder’s outstanding design credentials and proven track record in delivering large scale B2B and B2E events, experiences, conferences and launches.

Independent digital PR agency, Bottle, are excited to announce their tasty new client, recipe box company Gousto. The high-quality link-building strategy for the recipe box company, brings together a delicious pairing of editorial coverage in quality, relevant, media titles with Gousto’s tasty on-site content. The goal is to grow their backlink profile, improve search rankings and influence their target keyword positions, for both current priorities and a sprinkling of new ones too. Bottle will work alongside Gousto’s creative comms agency Manifest, to deliver an always on Digital PR strategy with Manifest continuing to lead bold PR-led integrated campaigns for the brand.

Imagination, an experience design company, has created LG OLED X Forza Horizon 5 Unleashed, an integrated campaign including a once-in-a-lifetime gaming experience for Forza Horizon fanatics and influencer-led paid media content. Held over 6 – 7th November at Dunsfold Park in Surrey, better known as the filming location for Top Gear, Imagination designed the ultimate gamers’ test drive of LG’s next-generation OLED screen technology with an immersive Forza Horizon 5 superfan experience. Working in collaboration with LG’s strategic partners, fans were taken under the hood, unveiling the new game in all its glory. The campaign was strategically targeted at Forza Horizon fans, as LG’s OLED TV technology is able to truly bring to life the stunning landscapes of Mexico which feature in the game, delivering an immersive experience to the delight of players. Lucky winners of an online ballot attended the exclusive two-day experience, which celebrated some of the fan favourite elements of the popular game in an authentic way, with playful nods to iconic moments in the franchise such as ‘barn finds’. The high-octane finale of the Unleashed campaign saw four influencers (Benny Central, Aarav, James Buckley and Vikkstar) put their real-life driving skills to the test on the Dunsfold Park track, before battling it out on Forza Horizon 5 in the LG OLED Dream Gaming Setup. A film of the finale, produced by Imagination, was broadcast to the wider gaming audience online, forming part of a broader post-event influencer and paid media campaign for maximum exposure and reach.

Independent games publisher Modern Wolf has appointed Havas Entertainment, part of Havas Media Group, to launch its new game Mechajammer. The agency was selected without a pitch. Leveraging its indie gaming sector experience, Havas Entertainment will now partner with Modern Wolf to develop and execute a media strategy for the launch of the new CRPG, which is set in a grimy cyberpunk future. Based on extensive audience research, the launch strategy for Mechajammer will harness social channels, video discovery and programmatic activity to engage with RPG fans and other gamers.

Pizza company, Domino’s, has launched the follow up to its hugely successful DOMIN-OH-HOO-HOO campaign with a bold new attention-grabbing creative. A milestone moment for the brand, the spot represents its first ever Christmas advert, and in true Domino’s style, is a campaign that captures the festive spirit with a twist. The integrated campaign drives home the joy of sharing a Domino’s slice amongst friends, family and colleagues, reunions of which many missed out on last Christmas. Domino’s invites customers to put a yodel call out to loved ones for a rollover Christmas, and introduces ‘The Festive One’ – Domino’s first foray into a festive menu. Following the first DOMIN-OH-HOO-HOO campaign which was a huge success and reached 95% of the UK population, the latest campaign will help to supercharge this Christmas, positioning Domino’s as the ultimate crowd-pleaser for get-togethers happening across the nation as families, friends and colleagues meet up this Christmas for what could be the first time in two years. Created by VCCP, VCCP CX and Girl&Bear the film was directed by celebrated Somesuch’s director, Sam Hibbard. The integrated campaign will run for the festive period in the UK and Republic of Ireland and will roll out across multiple channels including TV, video, display, radio, OOH, social, retail & CRM. Havas Media are responsible for the media planning and buying. The hero spot will run on TV and video, with cut downs in the digital space. A PR campaign will accompany the media strategy, developed and executed by One Green Bean.