OMD UK has unveiled the next step in its evolution with the launch of three ground-breaking initiatives. OMD Create, a new multi-discipline creative hub, Newsroom, a first-of-its-kind real-time insights and ideas team, and XMP, a cross-channel team designed to deliver truly audience-centric media planning, go live this morning.
These launches are part of OMD UK’s new agency structure, designed around an agency ambition to generate ideas that earn their clients a greater share of people’s lives. Building on the success of OMD UK’s Future of Britain initiative that was adopted globally in 2014, OMD UK will bring this ambition to life though a business strategy around “Staying Culturally Connected”, driving planning and ways of working in the agency.
To support the developments, OMD UK has recruited some of the UK’s finest talent, including Sarah Gale, who is joining as Head of Insight from Ipsos MediaCT, and Julian Flavin, the agency’s new Head of Data Science who joins from Channel 4, to supercharge the agency’s insight expertise.
OMD Create will deliver bigger and bolder creative ideas for its clients. Headed up by Managing Partner – Strategy Hamid Habib, the team brings together experts from a range of creative disciplines, including content creation, experiential, mobile, partnerships, technology development, SEO and social, to create multi-platform integrated marketing solutions.
This new hub will be supported by OMD UK’s creative team, run by Creative Director Ann Wixley, which will continue to drive the agency’s creative output.
OMD UK has teamed up with leading data and publishing launch partners, including Buzzfeed, The Guardian, Global Radio, Google, Facebook and Outbrain, to launch Newsroom. This industry-first service, led by Head of Innovation Toby Gunton, will identify what is capturing people’s attention as it happens and turn this into creative and culturally-relevant ideas for the agency’s clients.
XMP is OMD UK’s new cross-media planning and optimisation team. It will help clients address the flow of audiences through media brands and across media platforms, as well as the increasing use of real customer data in media planning, via programmatic. Run by Head of Planning Vicky Fox, the team combines cross-channel planners with in-channel specialists and programmatic planning expertise.
Dan Clays, Managing Director of OMD UK said: “We fundamentally believe that creativity drives growth. Our new structure and services will better enable integration across the diverse communications landscape, help us tap into real-time culture and get to bigger and better ideas for our clients.”
“We are elevating the importance of data and creativity in media planning, ensuring we are set up to drive the highest levels of planning rigour and invention, for which the opportunity has never been greater.”
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For further information please contact:
Guy Melzack, Marketing and Communications Manager, OMD UK
[email protected]
T: 020 3023 4679
