Interviews, insight & analysis on digital media & marketing

Agency News: the7stars, Omnicom Group, dentsu and Scope3

Great British Racing, the official marketing and promotional body for British horseracing, has appointed the7stars, the UK’s largest independent media agency, to manage its media planning and buying account. This follows a competitive pitch run by The Aperto Partnership.

the7stars is tasked with raising the profile of British Horseracing and reaching new audiences to build consideration and grow the sport across all channels.

Simon Michaelides, Interim Chief Customer Officer at Great British Racing, said: “the7stars not only demonstrated a real passion for horse racing, but also a deep knowledge of the leisure audience that we are aiming to reach. They truly understood the challenges we face and promise to be a great fit for our business, aligning with our ways of working & vision for change

Speaking at an event in London, Scope3 co-founder, Anne Coghlan, has called on the media industry to accelerate their sustainability initiatives. She also warned that failure to do so is likely to see the sector ‘run out of road’ because businesses are still a long way from having sustainability-as-standard in how they operate.

In an open challenge to the sector, she stressed the need to take advantage of the final few weeks of 2024, pointing out that deferring sustainable practices is one of the main reasons the sector remains such a big emitter of carbon.

Coghlan said, “For too long sustainability has been seen as a job for tomorrow. That has to change and it has to change now. It’s why, with a little under two months left of 2024, we’re calling on businesses to fast-track their plans for next year and get them in action today – think of 2025 as a 14-month year. It might seem like an alternative approach but this is the kind of thinking needed to spur action and prevent further kicking the can down the road.”

Omnicom Media Group (OMG), has been named a “Leader” among global media management services providers in a new analysis from Forrester.

The Forrester Wave™: Media Management Services, Q4 2024 evaluated twelve  significant global media management service providers against 22 criteria specific to current offering and strategy. With the highest possible scores (5) across eight criteria Omnicom Media Group was one of only three of the 12 providers evaluated to receive designation as a “Leader”. OMG received 5/5 scores in criteria including  Martech and Adtech Implementation, Media Responsibility, Principal- Based Buying, Content Production and Broadcast Buying.  Additionally,  OMG received the highest possible scores in three out of five of the criteria within the strategy category, including Innovation, Partner Ecosystem and Pricing Flexibility and Transparency.

Dentsu was named a Leader in the Forrester report receiving  the highest score in the Strategy category and is the only vendor to receive the highest possible score in the Vision criterion. Dentsu also received the highest scores possible in the Global Delivery Strategy, and Pricing Flexibility and Transparency criteria within this category. Dentsu received the highest score possible in the Media and Advertising Operations criterion and is also the only vendor evaluated as a Leader to receive the highest possible score in the Performance Media criterion. 

Liverpool-based creative agency, Aurora, has created law firm Weightmans’ first-ever campaign championing its brand purpose. The brand campaign uses storytelling techniques and nostalgia, injecting emotion and impact by bringing to life the background stories of leaders at every level – showcasing how Weightmans is a very different type of law firm.

The campaign will be amplified by the reach and engagement of its 1500+ staff across the UK as they share the build user generated content around the film with their own personal leadership journey stories.