Our regular update on client wins, new tech integrations, company launches, M+A activity and platform activations. We love to share good news in these challenging times so please keep sending them through.
London based specialist online performance marketing agency, performance-io, has sold a 25% stake to ex-AstraZeneca Director and the founder of STEM, Rob Wood, in a multi-million-pound deal. The brainchild of ex-pharma marketer, Matt Lowe, performance-io was the first online performance marketing agency dedicated to the pharma sector. Lowe believes this investment reflects a more general transition away from the traditional agency mix or big media groups throwing in some performance marketing, towards a more progressive, consumer-style approach to engaging customers, driving sales and winning the organic search space.
UK-based, Field Service Management Software (FSM) company Totalmobile has announced it has completed the acquisition of GeoPal, a Dublin-based provider of mobile workforce management technology, to strengthen its offering in key infrastructure and utilities markets. The acquisition also adds a specialised software as a service (SaaS) solution to Totalmobile’s end-to-end suite of Field Service Management software. This will enable Totalmobile to cater to the unique requirements of the construction, environmental and facilities management sectors. The highly capable technology provided by GeoPal will be rebranded and launched as Totalmobile’s new ‘Utilise’ product. Utilise provides a flexible SaaS based solution that can be configured to the specific customer requirements within the infrastructure and utility sectors.
Nottingham based fast-growth food and drink brand, The Skinny Food Co® have appointed PR agency, The PHA Group with a UK press office brief that spans product placement, feature placement and business profiling as they continue to grow exponentially. The PHA Group will be raising awareness of exciting new products launching across The Skinny Food Co® range including their new Fakeaway, healthy ready meals, and most recently launched high protein, low sugar Skinny Bars.
The PHA Group have also announced they’ve been appointed by Cruelty Free International to manage its PR strategy. They are tasked with supporting Cruelty Free International’s mission to champion progressive, humane scientific research and achieve a meaningful shift in how animal testing is perceived through widespread national media engagement. The PHA Group’s Third Sector, Strategic Communications and Public Affairs teams were appointed to implement and manage Cruelty Free International’s UK communications strategy.
Nonvoice Agency has added mobile AR combat game Reality Clash to its 5G apps portfolio after entering a global partnership with publisher Reality Gaming Group. Reality Clash is an action-packed and innovative multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) game that combines mobile AR and in-game digital asset trading using blockchain technology. The game is now available to an expanded global audience thanks to the power of the Nonvoice distribution network, spanning North America, South America, Asia, India, Africa, Middle East and Europe. Nonvoice Agency is the world’s first 5G app agency dedicated to representing the world’s very best enterprise and consumer 5G app and advanced non-5G application developers.
AzerionOne has announced a collaboration with Oracle Moat and Oracle Contextual Intelligence. With this collaboration, AzerionOne takes a new important step in bringing high-quality advertising experiences, trustworthy and real performances across its global inventory. Through its integration with Oracle Contextual Intelligence, AzerionOne ensures advertisers that their ads are delivered in a safe and brand-suitable environment. Oracle Contextual Intelligence is a technology that does not rely on personal identifiers to improve marketing results by ensuring that advertisements get displayed on brand-suitable advertising spaces with appropriate contextual content. Thanks to Oracle Moat’s verification capabilities, AzerionOne makes it easier to measure ad viewability performance and provides better transparency across its inventory.
The Exclaimer Group has announced the acquisition of Customer Thermometer, the survey platform focused on real-time, actionable feedback from customers and employees. Instead of using long, irregular surveys to capture a snapshot in time from a small number of customers, this exclusive integration will allow organizations of any size to capture a real-time pulse of customer feedback from every corporate email sent, for every customer interaction. This in turn enables companies to respond immediately to resolve problems for unhappy customers and improve those interactions for other customers. With Customer Thermometer, businesses can improve customer relationships by identifying problems quickly and in real-time, increasing customer retention. The new feature also allows companies to gain insight into their own employee engagement via Exclaimer Cloud’s ability to target intra-company messages.
Optimizely has announced the expansion of its B2B digital commerce platform, B2B Commerce Cloud to customers in the UK & Ireland, giving manufacturers and distributors access to a solution previously available primarily in North America. Optimizely’s B2B Commerce Cloud enables manufacturers and distributors to uncover efficiencies, deliver customer-centric digital experiences and increase revenue with powerful capabilities for cart and checkout, catalogue management, personalisation, workflows, integration and more. The product is currently available in Continental Europe, the UK and Ireland and will become available across APAC, DACH and the Nordics in 2021.
Brand Advance, the first global diversity media network, has seen a surging demand for its services following agencies and brands pledge to tackle inequality within the industry. In line with this momentum, Brand Advance have announced the launch of Brand Advance Creative – a new division focused on being an integral partner and specialist to creative agencies. Led by Daisy Rogers, Head of Content and Creative, the new arm will help creative agencies develop innovative content that is created by the community and demographic they are looking to target, making every campaign uniquely representative of its target audience. The new arm has already attracted projects with GSK, Dial Summit 3 and Brixton Finishing School. Brand Advance Creative will be added to the network’s full suite of offerings, including DECA, its diversity media consultancy, Sentiment, its propriety media monitoring tool and Cultural Intelligence, a tool available to clients to inform their media planning and buying decisions.
The UK subsidiary of Fedrigoni, the Italian paper manufacturer, has appointed specialist communications consultancy TDC PR to drive its public relations and social media programme in the UK. The agency aims to develop a strategy that will increase exposure of the Fedrigoni brand and product portfolio and enable the company to reach new audiences. TDC has been appointed by Fedrigoni’s UK team to communicate the brand’s expertise in high-quality paper manufacturing and distribution to the creative industries.
To help facilitate Fedrigoni UK’s further expansion into new markets, TDC will also generate wider understanding and recognition of the brand’s extensive product portfolio through an integrated communications strategy. This includes raising awareness around Fedrigoni UK’s latest ‘19 Artists versus COVID-19’ project, a limited-edition poster campaign aimed at raising money for the NHS while the health service is under more pressure than ever before. In partnership with Fedrigoni’s UK team, TDC will also look towards generating interest in the Fedrigoni London Studio, a space designed to bring paper closer to the design and print community through seminars, exhibitions and workshops. When social distancing measures allow, TDC will develop a strategy that amplifies this creative hub to showcase Fedrigoni UK’s ongoing facilitation of creative collaboration and innovation.
43 Clicks North have gone live with a campaign for Discount Supplements which reveals the fittest region in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Compiling and collecting 6 different data metrics for a 100,000 population for each region, 43 clicks north discovered that the North West is officially the UK’s fittest region of 2020.
VANGUARD, one of the world’s largest investment companies, has taken over Europe’s biggest advertising canvas, London’s IMAX, with its ‘V for Value’ campaign created by AML Group. Launched in February 2020 across TV, digital, OOH, radio and print the campaign is designed to bring value to investors. The 120-metre long, 14 metre-high IMAX site is London’s ultimate outdoor advertising spot – and has provided a platform for some of the World’s biggest brands including Mercedes; O2; Costa and McDonald’s.
The Cybersmile Foundation, with the support of Area 23 – an FCB Health Network Company (New York, NY), have released its latest multichannel campaign to raise awareness of how online comments and conversations, even when using humour, can have unexpected real-life impact. The global ‘Think Twice Before You Type’ initiative is being launched to coincide with Safer Internet Day. The campaign is encouraging people to be mindful of how their comments can be interpreted or misinterpreted online without visual or audible indicators as to how a person is really feeling.
