What’s your name and position within the organisation?
Hello, I’m Laura and I head up the Partnerships & Sponsorship team at m/SIX.
Tell us what your company does and what makes m/SIX unique.
As an agency, we pride ourselves in being honest, energetic and pioneering.
Everyday our specialists combine data, creativity and trading at scale to build industry-leading solutions for some of the world’s most recognisable brands. What makes m/SIX unique is that the agency is a joint venture between The&Partnership and WPP. This partnership allows the agency to be agile enough to make decisions that drive tangible results for our clients. This gives the partnerships team a real competitive edge in the market.
What are the current trends within your business area, and how are they affecting how you work and how you deliver on strategy?
Two trends are currently disrupting the traditional agency model, one being clients are in-housing services and the other is the need to bring media and creative closer together. Where some agencies may see this as a challenge, we have found an opportunity. By seamlessly joining creative and content together, m/SIX fosters a truly collaborative environment throughout the agency. We have rolled out this approach to some of our clients by embedding our experts within their businesses. This means the team spend most of their time working out of a variety of offices, allowing us to fully immerse ourselves within a client’s business. This way of working has undoubtedly allowed us to better understand the needs of our clients – ultimately resulting in great work!
In a period where budgets are continually being scrutinised and media spends in particular , sponsorship and content campaigns are being worked harder. It’s become important to prove not only effectiveness but ROI.
Working with our data analysts and audience planners we show how we’re driving performance. For example, our client, Just Eat unlocked powerful insights about delivery as a result of the sponsorship of The X Factor. Using data signals we were able to prove the effectiveness of the sponsorship for the brand in ‘owning’ Saturday nights and also show the power of the association by how many takeaway orders it delivered.
What are the current trends within your business area, and how are they affecting how you work and how you deliver on strategy?
It’s difficult to narrow down which campaigns we’re most proud of because we’ve worked on so many. m/SIX are proud of all our work, however we do have some standout campaigns…
The BIG Night in with TalkTalk TV
Now more than ever, TV is providing an unparalleled range of content for viewers.
Working in collaboration, TalkTalk, m/SIX and Bauer Media identified that audiences are constantly looking for guidance on which shows are the best to watch.
After friends and family, traditional media is the most trusted resource for informing viewing behaviour, making ‘recommendations’ extremely valuable. This piece of insight informed our idea – The BIG Night In. The campaign established TalkTalk TV as an authoritative voice for TV recommendations.
The BIG Night In campaign made full use of Bauer Media’s portfolio of influential entertainment brands. Our integrated campaign included print, digital, radio and bespoke branded content.
The results speak volumes, reaching 12 million adults with average view times of 6minute 30 seconds on YouTube (branded content). The activity provided TalkTalk with the opportunity to reach a highly engaged audience. What’s more, the campaign drove significant shifts in perception and consideration for TalkTalk TV.
Experience Amazing with Lexus Escapes
m/SIX are supporting Lexus in its journey to evolve beyond being a luxury automotive manufacturer, to becoming truly luxury lifestyle brand.
With this in mind, we set the wheels in motion, knowing that the Lexus of tomorrow will not be realised through luxury lifestyle cues alone, but by enabling customers to experience contemporary luxury living. To move customers through each touchpoint, from web, to centres and experiential events, m/SIX have worked tirelessly with Lexus to create ‘Experience Amazing’.
Using our proprietary audience tool, [m]Insights, the digital data signals we found that Lexus’ target audience show a keen interest in luxury travel. Their discerning tastes extended to how they interact with digital platforms to make the right travel choices, including luxury UK short-breaks.
Together with Secret Escapes we created a bespoke collection of road trips, featuring the very best of the UK’s stunning landscapes and world-class hotels with adventures in the Lexus RX.
Through branded content, bookable breaks, dealership support and social amplification the campaign delivered results in the form of test drives and brochure requests.
Crossing the finish line with such a strong performance, gave Lexus the confidence to roll the campaign out in more markets.
What challenges have you encountered, and how have they been overcome?
The Partnership team at m/SIX was established just over two years ago. In a short space of time we have become a challenger in a market of more established teams. With the m/SIX mentality of collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurialism, baked in at our core, we find innovative ways of approaching briefs.
It’s this pioneering spirit that allowed us to secure one of the biggest commercial sponsorship in recent years in what can only be described as a true David and Goliath moment.
The partnerships team brokered the split sponsorship of The Great British Bake Off, which brought the nation’s favourite, Lyle’s Golden Syrup, back to our television screens for the first time in a number of years. Armed with a modest budget, but the perfect brand, we were able to craft a sponsorship bid which allowed Channel 4 to split the accreditation with another brand – the first mainstream instance of approaching a broadcast sponsorship like this outside of sport and event scheduling.
As the former new kids on the block, we’re now considered an agile and mighty contender!
Selling in a new ‘channel’ can be the Achilles heel of partnerships. As getting brands engaged in the concept can have a big effect on budget allocation.
In a world of short turnarounds and increased competition, it’s all too easy for clients to say no to a partnership and stick to what’s always been done. Recognising this, we have been refreshing the way we engage with our clients, to show them the real benefit of partnerships.
One example of this is that we have introduced a Dragon’s Den style approach – complete with branded score cards. Held at the offices of our media partners, clients are invited to immerse themselves in the brand they wish to partner with.
This approach allows partners to bring their very best talent and editorial to the pitch. This way of working has driven revenue and generated further briefs and conversations.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We have been on an incredible journey so far with real successes and industry recognition, this year we were shortlisted as Sponsorship Agency of the Year by the UK Sponsorship Awards which we are immensely proud of. Being shortlisted in the same category as many large and well-established agencies has made a very positive impact to the business and this is just the start for us…