Emma Kirk joins the organisation with a wealth of experience across marketing and events, working within major brands and agencies. Emma has previously held the role of Head of Marketing for Sheffield United Football Club establishing the club’s marketing strategy within the Championship and during their return to the Premier League. She also has valuable experience having worked within various marketing agencies including an IPM member agency.

Board member Peter Kerr commented, “Emma, has a very strong marketing background across both brands and agencies which will align perfectly with our members. Our organisation will benefit from Emma’s drive, enthusiasm and extensive marketing expertise and we hope you will join us in welcoming Emma on board.”

Emma commented on joining the IPM by saying, “I am delighted to be joining the IPM having admired the organisation throughout my career. This is a really exciting time to be coming on board. I am passionate about unifying our members and evolving our services and benefits to align with the industry today.”

Next year the IPM will celebrate its 90^th birthday and our members continue to be the lifeblood of our organisation. For more information on membership and upcoming activities email info@theipm.org.uk.

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Creative agency ELVIS has made a raft of new hires and boosted its creative firepower following a period of significant growth, which has seen it pick up five pieces of new business in the last year, including ODEON Cinemas Group’s pan-European creative account. 

In a move to further strengthen its award-winning creative output, the agency has appointed Tom Gudgeon to the newly created role of Head of Design. Gudgeon joins ELVIS having previously worked at agencies including AnalogFolk, McCann Enterprise and The Playground.

In his new role at ELVIS, Gudgeon will lead the charge on building the agency’s design credentials, aiming to inspire and mentor the growing design team and continuing its success as a Yellow D&AD pencil-winning studio.

ELVIS has also hired Akanksha Oberoi to the position of Senior Creative. With significant experience of delivering high-quality brand-first ideas with an emotional impact, Oberoi was previously Creative Group Head at Grey and VCCP Singapore, before moving over to VCCP London.

In her new position, Oberoi will take a leading role on projects working across the agency’s client portfolio, supporting its Creative Directors in identifying award-winning creative opportunities. 

The agency’s other key new hires include George Walters and Bernard Burton, who join as a midweight creative team from MullenLowe London, where they spent just over six years.

At ELVIS, Walters and Burton will work closely with the agency’s Creative Directors as they push to make career-defining work.

Adding to its growing motion team, ELVIS has also appointed Rhys Clarke and Pui Yi Peri Chiu as Motion Designers. Clarke joins having previously held roles at McCann Worldgroup and Joint London, while Chiu joins from RD Content, where her work included motion graphics, graphic design, illustration and video editing.

Clarke and Chiu’s primary focus at ELVIS will be creating video content, encompassing 2D and 3D design, video production, VFX and motion graphics.

In addition to the six creative hires, the agency has also appointed Robyn Lyness as Account Director. Lyness was most recently in a similar role at Field Day London, and has experience of working both client- and agency-side, having held positions at Tesco and Paperchase as well as agency Haygarth, where she spent four years delivering a wide range of strategic and activation-led shopper marketing projects across a variety of FMCG and drinks accounts.

In her new role, Lyness will work on the agency’s Mondelez and PepsiCo accounts, leading on key European campaigns.

ELVIS grew its headcount by nearly ten percent in 2021, following growth from new business and existing clients.

Tom Gudgeon, new Head of Design, ELVIS, said: “What appealed to me most about ELVIS first and foremost was the people, closely followed by the role itself. I jumped at the chance to work with such an amazing team, in a space where I could make a real difference to work that really mattered. It really was a no-brainer.”

Neale Horrigan, Executive Creative Director, ELVIS, added: “These exciting new appointments reflect our growing client portfolio as well as our commitment to further boosting our creative output by hiring the industry’s best talent.”

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Experience12, the entertainment experiential specialist, has created a new operational board, promoting George Bateman and Nick Parker into new board roles.

The op-board will be focused on continuing the record growth delivered in 2021. The company’s revenue grew 76%, the highest revenue in its nine-year history.

Bateman, Business Director, and Parker, Head of Production, are joined on the board by Founder and Managing Director, Chris Whittle, and Marc Berry Reid, from agency advisory group Tenth Avenue, in a non-executive position.

Experience12’s current clients include Amazon Prime Video, Bauer Media, UKTV, The Walt Disney Company, 2K and Netflix.

The agency headcount has grown 57% in the last 6 months and they have a number of open positions. 

Whittle, Founder and Managing Director, commented: “We could not have asked for a better bounce back from the pandemic. The agency is going from strength to strength and I am delighted to be taking the business into its next phase of growth with George, Nick and Marc. The business would not be where it is today without George and Nick and look forward to working even more closely with them on our domestic and international growth plans.”

Bateman, Business Director, added: “It’s a really exciting time for Experience12. The appetite for live events and shared experiences is bigger than ever. We’ve started 2022 in one of our strongest positions to date, with some great creative campaigns and new client wins under our belt already – and more to be announced in the coming months.”

Parker, Head of Production, said: “George and I have been with the business for a number of years now and our compatibility and trust in each other’s skillset has been crucial to the delivery of projects and the company’s growth. With client confidence in events returning, this promises to be another big year for the company”

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Award-winning creative brand experience agency, N2O, is working with Superdrug to deliver a Platinum Jubilee celebration in the capital, onboard a London bus with Corgis, crowns and cosmetics.

On day one (Monday 30^th May), the instantly-recognisable Superdrug-pink bus will transport a Queen Elizabeth lookalike to do her Superdrug shopping at the Strand store, where the Superdrug Beauty Studio will give her a royal manicure. Passing key Great British landmarks including Big Ben and The London Eye, fans will be able to take selfies with the Queen (as one would expect).

On Tuesday 31st May N2O Ltd and Superdrug will be showcasing Corgis, manicures and a throne fit for royal selfies when the bus parks up at Kings Cross Station.

The Insta-worthy Superdrug experience is set to be delivered to help health and beauty lovers celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

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The UK’s most effective brand activation agency, zeal creative, has appointed Tim Solano as Managing Director in London. Tim will support zeal’s mission to be the world’s most recommended agency with a remit to deliver with excellence for clients and to triple the size of the agency’s London operation.

Coming from a multidisciplinary background, Tim connects campaign delivery, brand activation and the growing need for digital engagement – all of which is sought out by forward-looking brands in the FMCG, lifestyle and drinks space. He will support zeal to build on its proven effectiveness and reputation in brand activation. Tim will also work alongside the team to build digital activation into all consumer and brand engagement.

Tim brings 20 years of client and agency experience across brand activation, campaign and agency leadership. He joins zeal from Because, a Global BTL agency where he was MD for three years. Prior to that he was MD at A Little Bird.

Tim’s proven track record growing agencies and brands is part of zeal’s continued investment in people, growing the business across the UK and internationally while maintaining a clear focus on effectiveness and excellence for clients. 

zeal creative’s founder and Creative Director Stewart Hilton comments:

“We have taken a long time to find the right candidate for this important role and in Tim we feel we have someone that our existing clients will love to work with.  He is passionate about building high performing teams and relentless in helping his clients to consistently improve their results. He is a perfect fit for our agency’s focus on effectiveness and we are sure he will be able to hit our ambitious growth targets and help zeal become a big name in the capital.”

Tim Solano, MD for zeal creative London, says:

“Joining at such an exciting part of zeal’s growth journey is a career defining opportunity. The agency’s consistent performance for delivering client success combined with the passion shown by the founders was an incredible draw for me. I look forward to continuing the stellar growth achieved by the London team as we expand the business and our service offering across the UK and wider global markets.”

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Mast-Jägermeister UK has launched a multi-million-pound national campaign, The Secret is Ice Cold, which reinforces Jägermeister’s perfect serve — an ice cold shot chilled to -18C, poured into a branded green frosted shot glass.

The Secret is Ice Cold is initially being supported with out-of-home activity, across core social and digital platforms and a number of experiential events. The campaign will support Mast-Jägermeister UK’s best-selling products, Jägermeister and Jägermeister Cold Brew Coffee, in the run up to the crucial Christmas and New Year trading period.

In the new year, off-trade consumers will have the chance to win prizes via high-profile on-pack promotions across multiple pack sizes. This activity is not only designed to drive footfall in store, but also to incentivise consumers to keep Jägermeister in their freezers at home for informal celebrations and get-togethers with friends and family.

Serving Jägermeister and Jägermeister Cold Brew Coffee at -18C ensures the brand’s blend of 56 herbs, roots and botanicals is at its best. The chilling temperature accentuates the perfect balance of sweet, bitter and herbal flavours, creating a more viscous mouthfeel making for a smooth drinking experience.

Mast-Jägermeister UK Marketing Director, Christian Stindt, says: “The Secret Is Ice Cold is a campaign that wholly encompasses both our culture and brand.  As the No. 1 shot brand in the country, it is important that our customers and consumers are experiencing the very best of what Jägermeister has to offer. We are passionate about serving a quality product at the perfect temperature and this new campaign allows us to reinforce our perfect serve messaging in an engaging and interactive way that will drive customer sales across the on- and off-trade.”

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Featuring the best of TV, video games and film from the past year

We have finally made it to the end of the year, and if there is something we can all agree on – it’s that we have had some amazing entertainment to help us get through it. 

As is tradition, the team at Experience12 are back at it again with their pop culture Christmas challenge, and this year it’s bigger and better than before.

As the world opened up following the pandemic, 2021 proved itself to be a bumper year for entertainment. October alone saw 16.4 million cinema admissions – the biggest October since 2012. Consumers are watching nearly 4 hours of TV a day, which although down on 2020 during lockdown, is still 50% more than 2019. And 93% of 16-24 year-olds are playing video games which is up from 73% in 2020.

To celebrate their love of pop culture, Experience12 have created their largest pop culture Christmas challenge yet. Hidden in their IP isometric illustration is a total of 47 references across film, TV and video games – some more overt than others, but a true pop culture aficionado will spot them all.

We’ve included a taste of the full image, but head to www.experience12.com/xmas for the full experience.

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As part of the agency’s expansion and growth plan, Kate Umfreville moves to Managing Partner of award-winning creative experiences agency, The Producers. Umfreville has played a key role in the stabilisation and growth of the business over the past 18 months and will be responsible for the agency’s team, client delivery and growth plans.

The new Managing Partner role is part of a new management structure for PrettyGreen Group, an award-winning collective of Creative Communications agencies. The new Board sees Emma Grace and Jessica Hargreaves take on the roles of Co-CEO, while Mark Stringer becomes the Group’s Chairperson and Sarah Henderson moves into a Group Managing Director role.

Mark Stringer remains the majority shareholder of PrettyGreen Group and will oversee the Board, helping provide vision and direction, whilst also focussing on scaling SKOOT, the carbon negative navigation and carpool app he co-founded.

Jess Hargreaves, Co-CEO of PrettyGreen Group, says: “It’s been a tough couple of years for the experience industry and sadly some agencies haven’t survived. However, Kate’s leadership, not only stabilised The Producers, but enabled growth. She navigated the Pandemic and Brexit challenges by diversifying the agency’s services developing its digital and hybrid experience offering, bolstering health and safety counsel, and further expanding into Europe. We are excited about what the future holds on our mission to be less ordinary.”

Kate Umfreville, Managing Partner for The Producers, says: “While recent times have been a struggle for the industry, it’s also given us all the unique opportunity to think and do differently. Never before have we learnt and developed so quickly, so we can deliver meaningful and safe experiences to people whether they are at home or in real life. The experience industry isn’t back, we never went away, but we are different as we have a stronger less ordinary offering and expertise. I’m excited about this next chapter.”

The Producers is an award-winning creative experiences agency that delivers Less Ordinary experiences for Less Ordinary returns for brands wanting out of their comfort zones. Current clients include LEGO, Audible, SMARTY and White Claw.

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• Just before Bonfire night SMARTY’s ‘Date the Game’ bar will help gaming fans reignite the flame on their relationship with gaming, with a speed dating game session to get them out of their same-game rut
• Attendees will also be able to win £500 worth of gaming prizes*
• Date the Game opens on Thursday 4^th November from 1pm – 9pm at Platform, 2B Worship Street, London, EC2A 2AH
• Tickets to be booked in advance via the Universe app here.

SMARTY Mobile is inviting gamers to Date the Game (Not the Player) with its Date the Game Bar opening on the 4^th November. Encouraging fans to put the spark back in their game play, SMARTY is offering them the chance to speed-date their way through an eclectic menu of games to find their next big thing.

From brand new games, undiscovered gems, and iconic classics, SMARTY wants guests to discover an exciting new game they never knew about or rediscover an “old flame” in the form of a classic forgotten game from their past. The Date the Game Bar will have three zones, each featuring different games available on the likes of Nintendo and PlayStation.

Alongside the games on offer, gaming influencers will be on hand to guide people on their speed dates, with guests taking part in a gaming quiz upon arrival to help find their ideal gaming match. Attendees will also be offered a token where they can redeem a free pizza and drinks.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to go head-to-head with the influencers in order to win a bundle of new video games and gear worth £500.*

* The prize will be split into tiers: 1^st x £250 / 2^nd x £150 / 3^rd x £100

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1 in 10 shoppers have cancelled a planned considered purchase due to poor instore advice – Gen Z most likely to seek out experts – Gekko urging retailers and brands to implement new ‘experience-centric playbook’

Brands across some of the top retail categories potentially missed out on close to £15bn in instore revenue in the past year, due to poor in person advice. The finding comes from new research commissioned by field marketing and retail experience agency, Gekko. The study of 2,000 consumers, conducted by OnePoll, looked at what influences shoppers in making a ‘considered purchase’ – purchases that are made with significant financial or emotional thought. The research revealed 1 in 10 shoppers said they had walked out of a shop due to poor advice relating to a considered purchase they were definitely going to make. This equates to some £15bn in revenue overall over the past year.

The experiences vary across categories and age groups. Gekko surveyed experiences across several key retail categories including: Consumer electronics, homeware, baby & child, gaming, home improvement, clothing & apparel. Overall 59.8% said they had received ‘excellent or good advice in store’, highlighting the benefit of human interaction and face to face sales. However £15bn could be a drop in the ocean of additional revenues that could be accrued with better advice. 37% of shoppers in the consumer electronics category revealed they would be prepared to spend more if they received excellent and knowledgeable in store advice, indicating a golden opportunity for retailers. This compared with 30% of shoppers in the home improvement category and 27% in homeware/ home furnishings and 21% in clothing and apparel.

According to the survey, 50% of Brits made a ‘considered purchase’ in DIY during the pandemic, more than in any other category. However only 1 in 5 (21%) rated the advice they had as ‘excellent’ in making the purchase. This was compared to 32% for baby and child, 31% for gaming and 24% for consumer electronics. Meanwhile 1 in 4 DIY shoppers (25%) were so disappointed by the advice they were put off making an expensive purchase altogether, with 11% pulling the plug on the purchase and walking out of the store.

Encouragingly for the future of physical retail, Gen Z are most likely to seek out great advice in store (45%) versus an average of 38% and are more likely to find staff knowledgeable across categories. They are also the most likely out of all ages to appreciate product demos (39%) against a 29% average across all ages. 1 in 2 Gen Z’ers  (52%) and 38% of Millennials will spend more for a good experience in store across all categories – crucial for the development  of experiential retail.

Meanwhile, a conclusive  85% of shoppers are now doing online research before making a considered purchase in-store. 84% of Gen Z, 45-54 and 55-64 categories were even higher at 89% and 90% respectively. Interestingly, 69% said a well synchronized online and offline experience would make them more likely to make a considered purchase.

According to Daniel Todaro: “Our research highlights the timeless appeal of a positive engagement with an instore expert. While we have spent so much of the past year and a half shopping online – it is clear online alone is no replacement for the experience and interaction of trained advisors. They are consistently the best way to influence and convert a sale of a considered purchase item. While there is overall satisfaction, our survey clearly shows more can be done and retailers have potentially missed out of billions. Now this is not to say that all retailers are doing it wrong. In fact some with a real customer service first mentality are doing it amazingly well. Every person that walks through the door should be viewed as a potential customer, an influencer, someone who will talk about you positively through their experience and tell others in person, online or on social media and is not viewed as just another body to ‘deal’ with.”

He continued: “Belying the stereotypes, it is also clear the generations who most welcome expert advice are the younger ones – indeed as our research indicates the right advice can lead to younger customers willingly spending more. This is good news for the future of bricks and mortar retail, but it doesn’t mean retailers don’t need to adapt. Our survey also shows that a joined up and seamless experience online and offline is also now expected with older generations also more likely to research. Brands already know the need to embrace experts and adapt to survive in a changing market, it’s now about making the investment to do so and implement the new experience centric playbook.”

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