Monthly Archives: June 2019

TLA grows team with seven new hires

We have strengthened our TLA team with seven new arrivals in the last few weeks.

Joining our Liverpool-headquartered company’s digital team is senior product manager Steve Timmis, performance analyst Miki Parr, project manager Emily Abbey, graduate PPC executive Amara Molloy and B2B marketing intern Gabby Dixon.

Meanwhile, Alicia Brady has joined the TLA surveys team with Steve Ashcroft arriving as quality control executive.

Head of talent acquisition, Michael Fitzsimmons said: “This is a genuinely exciting time for the business, with recruitment ongoing across all departments. As we grow, it’s vital that we find people who fit the culture of our business – ambitious, proactive and eager to keep developing their talent. Our latest additions certainly have those qualities, and we’re excited about what they can bring to the team.”

Steve Timmis, who joins the business from New Balance, said: “I’m excited to have the opportunity to join such a forward-thinking, consumer-focused tech business. I’m really looking forward to leading the product management of the automotive vertical and working with the cross-functional product teams as the business expands into international markets.”

If you’d like to be a part of team TLA, visit our careers page to find out more about our vacancies.

Five minutes with… TLA Head of Digital Marketing Paul Court

Next up in our Q&A series we have Paul Court, who leads digital execution strategy for our clients across all verticals.

Paul joined TLA just over 18 months ago from Time Out, where he held the position of senior digital marketing manager. Prior to that he was part of an extensive digital acquisition team at lastminute.com. 

Here, he talks about the role of digital marketing at TLA, the passions that drive him and the future of performance marketing.

What is the role of your department at TLA?

The marketing department is the voice of the customer, so we must work to understand customer pain points and connect the most relevant client with that consumer. We work across all channel activity to drive the most effective and cost-efficient results for our clients.

What have been your biggest projects from the first half of 2019?

In the first half of 2019, the biggest project I’ve been working on is a digital transformation project around our proprietary audience platform. We’re building out a best-in-class platform that can connect audiences with client campaigns to deliver performance. I’ve been setting the 5 year vision for the platform and working on a 12 month execution plan to realise that vision.

What area of your work are you most passionate about and why?

I’m most passionate about team progression and enabling all members of the team to progress in their careers. Digital Marketing is a vast landscape and there’s lots of opportunities to find the role that suits you best so working with the team to help identify and pursue that role means that they’re working in the most effective way, which in turn delivers results for the business and for our clients.

What are your predictions for your profession and/or industry?

Digital marketing is constantly evolving, always at a rapid pace so any prediction is difficult. A few things that stick out are:

  • The continuous move to ‘performance’. Marketeers are becoming savvier about where to put their money. With the rise of big platforms in FB, Google etc. performance accountability and execution has never been easier. Traditional display, through programmatic means has operated in an opaque manner for too long and transparency on what any given activity is delivering will continue to be key.
  • The rise of the big platforms has led to data silos and a war around data ownership. Walled Gardens in Google/FB/Amazon etc. mean that cross channel measurement becomes ever more challenging and there’s even more financial pressure on publishers who don’t always have the scale of a big corporate to compete.

How will they impact the way we do things at TLA?

Platform X will be our attempt to solve this industry’s wide problem, bringing performance and accountability whilst appropriately rewarding publisher contribution. It’s an exciting time for the digital marketing ecosystem as people continue to get more au fait with data and the impact it can have on digital execution effectiveness.

Where do you get your inspiration? Are there any books, blogs or websites you would recommend?

I tend to listen to several podcasts to keep up with the latest goings on in marketing – we tend to listen to Ad Age Ad Lib, AdExchanger Talks, The MadTech Podcast by ExchangeWire on a regular basis as well as consuming the latest content from Medium, the Drum and Digiday.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone just starting out in the digital marketing industry?

I have no regrets about getting involved in digital marketing, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest brands and clients across several interesting projects. The piece of advice I’d give to aspiring digital marketeers is to try and get involved in as much as possible. Understanding the whole marketing and data ecosystem gives you a fantastic grounding in wider business performance and will set you up for a fantastic career.

If you’ve got a question for the TLA team or want to know more about what makes us tick, why not get in touch?

Check out the official video from the London to Brighton cycle in aid of NABS

Fun. Adventure. Scenery. Camaraderie. The London to Brighton charity cycle in aid of NABS had it all – and thanks to our event partner Jungle Creations, it’s been captured for you all to enjoy and share.

The award-winning Jungle team, which were also among the cyclists, shot footage throughout the day to create a special video showcasing what the experience was all about.

We’re thrilled with the result. Watch below to see riders from Accenture, Mail Metro Media, Haymarket Media Group, IPA Group, Blue 449, PHD, MediaCom and more come together to raise valuable funds for NABS in helping people thrive.

This special event was organised by TLA as part of the Sea Change for Mental Health campaign, which aims to raise £25,000 before the end of the year. We would like to take this opportunity once again to thank everyone involved for making it a successful and rewarding experience.

If you’d like to contribute to the fundraising effort, please visit the official Just Giving page.

TLA Book Club: How Non-Conformists Change The World by Adam Grant

Welcome back to The Lead Agency’s Book Club! As part of our series of five-minute book reviews, our head of data insights Antony Neill looks at one of the most original books on from the TLA library.

Our growing collection of titles on business, leadership, tech, marketing and more has been introduced to help people learn and grow both in and outside of their roles.

1. What did you read?

Originals: How Non-Conformists Change the World by Adam Grant.

2. In less than 100 words, what was the book about?

The book delves deep into the concept of “original thinking” – what it is, what is isn’t, why some are better at it than others and how we can all start thinking more originally. Every chapter covers a different perspective on original thinking, including when it is best to disagree (and when it is not), why strategic procrastination often creates more and better ideas and how to nurture creativity within children. In all, a fascinating read that genuinely made me think how I should change the way I approached both work and home life.

3. What were the key takeaways for you?

That “being creative” is only half the battle if you want to change things; the other half is actual implementation of those ideas, which is difficult in the face of organisations and people that naturally oppose change. For that reason, innovators should arm themselves with the strategies in the book to effectively make their voices heard.

4. Who in the business do you think would enjoy reading it?

Anybody who has great ideas but isn’t sure how best to present or communicate them.

What have you read lately? Let us know what books have inspired you.

Five minutes with… TLA Lead UX/UI Designer Jonny Kimber

As part of this series of Q&As we have Jonny Kimber, who joined our TLA team in August last year as our Lead UX/UI Designer. Here he gives an insight into his time at The Lead Agency so far…

What is the main function of the UX & Design department at TLA?

There’s a real mix regarding the projects we get to work on as good UX can be applied to anything! My role is looking at the TLA ecosystem and ensuring our digital touch points are working as hard as possible for our users from landing page campaigns to engaging widgets.

What have been your biggest projects from the first half of 2019?

The biggest project of the first half of 2019 has definitely been the revamp of Ask A Price landing pages. We already had a great user flow, but we challenged the entire team with a bunch more requirements to the existing user flow. The results led to a large uplift in conversion, better standards across the board and a near-perfect coded experience to the original designs. It’s definitely set the bar for how we deliver large-scale briefs. Another really great project to note was our first global campaign overseas for Audi Canada, definitely an incredible achievement for us!

What area of your work are you most passionate about and why?

Throughout my career I’ve been lucky to be trained in all areas of design. I started in the branding industry gaining confidence and enhancing how I delivered creative briefs, then moved towards digital work as a UI designer. I then took the jump to UX design to ensure the digital projects I was delivering had the user at the centre of the process. This has taught me that true innovation comes from three things, desirability, feasibility and viability. As long as the user is at the heart of my decisions, I’m on the right track.

What are your predictions for your profession and/or industry?

UX in general has had a really good reception and has really been recognised as a catalyst for business success. I constantly talk about the ROI of UX design and how it benefits businesses across the board from more engaging products for the user but also less resource burden on development teams amongst a multitude of other things. I think we will see the continuation of this success and an increased split of UX facing roles such as UX writers and UX researchers. These roles are fairly standard within the world of design but not realistically adopted by small/medium-sized businesses.

How will they impact the way we do things at TLA?

A lot more work around the entire journey of a customer, enhanced touch points across the board (digital and non-digital) and a greater emphasis on adding colour and context to the data we ascertain.

Where do you get your inspiration? Are there any books, blogs or websites you would recommend?

I’m a member of the IDF (The Interaction Design Foundation) which is a great place to up-skill UX skills, meet up with the fellow UX community and share my opinions on current projects in the digital industry across the world. It truly is an incredible site that can benefit any designer or company in general. I also read design blogs (Invision Blog, design related content on Medium) and I have a Dribbble profile to showcase some of my more visual work. I also mentor a designer in New York called Dongwei, he’s a really great guy so it’s awesome hearing about the projects he has on and talking UX processes with him.

What do you enjoy most about working at TLA?

The projects for sure – they keep me busy, challenge me and allow me to learn with every single project produced. There’s a huge focus on testing and gaining learnings from those tests so a project is never really complete. Second to this, the team I work with are a pretty inspiring bunch! Whether it’s the marketing department or the development teams, I’m constantly learning new ways to execute projects, deliver better briefs and afterwards share a drink with a good group of people. I can honestly say we all reach the finish line at the same time, it’s one of the best teams I’ve ever worked for.

How would you summarise TLA’s culture in three words?

Fast-paced, Talented, Opportunity.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone just starting out in the UX or design industry?

Never stop learning, always be accountable for a project you’re a part of, always strive for innovation and don’t worry about having different ideas to bring to the table.

If you’ve got a question for the TLA team or want to know more about what makes us tick, why not get in touch?

Media industry completes London to Brighton cycle for mental health

Riders from some of the UK’s biggest media agencies and publishers joined forces on Friday for an epic, 63-mile cycling adventure in aid of NABS.

The event saw teams and individuals from the likes of Accenture, Mail Metro Media, PHD, Dennis Publishing, Mediacom, Haymarket the IPA, NABS, Jungle Creations and TLA enjoy a brilliant day of cycling from London’s Marble Arch to Brighton’s Marine Parade, where they reunited for a memorable after-party and celebration.

Sea Change for Mental Health was organised and funded by The Lead Agency as part of a series of events for 2019 that aim to raise £25,000 for NABS, which empowers people in the media and advertising industry to thrive.

It was a fantastic day for everyone involved but we couldn’t have done it without the backing of the NABS team that helped us to promote the event; European Cycling Tours for ensuring a safe and fun passage for every rider into Brighton; the media industry for taking part and raising the money that makes all the difference; Jungle Creations, our award-winning video partner; and Accenture and Captify for sponsoring the event.

On behalf of everyone at The Lead Agency, thank you for making it a memorable day and experience. We are immensely grateful for all of your support and hope to welcome you back for future charity events in 2020.

We’re now starting the process of collecting and totaling sponsorships – if you’d like to support our fundraising push, please visit the Sea Change for Mental Health JustGiving page.

Captify supports London to Brighton NABS cycle as sponsor

We are pleased to reveal that Captify, the award-winning search intelligence specialist, has joined this Friday’s London to Brighton cycle in aid of NABS as one of our main sponsors.

The Sea Change for Mental Health cycle is one of a series of events being funded and organised by TLA this year with the aim of raising more than £25,000 for NABS – a charity that promotes positive wellbeing for professionals in the media and advertising industry to help them thrive.

Thanks to Captify’s commitment, every rider taking part in this inaugural event will receive a medal to mark the achievement of completing the 63-mile cycle from Marble Arch to Brighton’s Marine Parade. The medals will be presented at the after-party at the nearby Patterns bar, where everyone involved can celebrate with a free-bar, BBQ (weather permitting) and entertainment.

Thanks to its rich consumer data and technology, Captify is best known for helping brands to make informed decisions through consumer behaviour analysis, brand trends, product and market analysis. Its clients include the likes of Adidas, American Express, Apple, Disney and Microsoft.

Commenting on the support provided by Captify, TLA founder Anton Hanley said: “We’re thrilled that Captify has chosen to support the Sea Change for Mental Health cycle. It is genuinely one of the most innovative businesses operating in the tech and media industry today and a partner we are proud to be working with to make this a memorable experience for every rider.”

The event will feature riders from companies such as Mail Metro Media, Haymarket, Dennis Publishing, PHD, Mediacom and the IPA.

For more information, visit our official charity page.

Award-winning Jungle Creations confirmed as media partner for London to Brighton cycle

We are delighted to announce that the international and award-winning Jungle Creations has signed on as our media partner for this Friday’s Sea Change for Mental Health cycle from London to Brighton.

The Sea Change for Mental Health event, which is being run by The Lead Agency in aid of NABS, will feature riders from some of the UK’s biggest media agencies and owners – including Mediacom, Accenture and Haymarket. Thanks to Jungle Creations coming onboard as a key partner of the event, the key moments of the cycle will be captured by an award-winning team for all to see.

We grabbed 10 minutes with Hannah Watson, head of communications for Jungle, to find out more about the company that will be both behind the camera and on the road for this inaugural event.

Hi Hannah. It’s great to have Jungle Creations onboard as video and media partner. For those who don’t know about the company, what can you tell them?

Jungle Creations is best known for video, more specifically videos that generate millions of views. Together with our internal full-service creative agency, The Wild, we create award-winning campaigns for brands including The WWF, Hasbro and Yoti.Del

Who are your key clients?

Baileys, The National Lottery, Hasbro, among many others. We’ve worked with clients all over the world in almost every industry to help them reach our audiences.

How long has the business been around?

We were born in July 2014, so almost five years. We were set up by our Founder and CEO, Jamie Bolding, who was just 23 at the time. Today we’re 130 people strong with offices in London, New York, LA and Toronto and we have over 110 million followers across social media.

What have been your biggest achievements to date?

Generating the most Facebook video views and engagements for clients of any other UK publisher for two years running has been a really proud moment for us because we pride ourselves on creating content that works for brands and that our audience loves to watch. We’ve also been named Branded Content Team of the Year for two years running by The Drum alongside an array of other awards including a Cannes Lion for our work with Yoti whilst our Founder and CEO was name as the top media and marketing honouree in 2018’s Forbes 30 Under 30.

What made you decide to support the event?

As a business we really believe in the cause. We’ve done a number of campaign videos relating to mental health, working with organisations to help raise awareness of the prevalence of mental health issues whilst trying to combat the stigma surrounding it. Our team also love an outing, especially if it involves a competitive element, and they couldn’t wait to get involved. As video partner we hope to capture the highlights, and the great day it’s set to be whilst offering Sea Change the opportunity to use the footage and photos we capture to get even more people involved next year.

What are you most looking forward to about the ride?

We’re most looking forward to meeting new people and completing a famous cycle ride, it’s definitely one for the bucket list!

You can find out more about this special even by heading over to the charity microsite

Spotlight on NABS – our chosen charity for this Friday’s London to Brighton cycle

This Friday (7 June) the media industry will unite for a 63-mile cycle to raise thousands of pounds for NABS, the mental health and wellbeing charity for professionals working in the media and advertising industry.

The Sea Change for Mental Health journey will see riders from the likes of PHD, Mediacom, Accenture, Mail Metro Media and more set off from Marble Arch and head south for Brighton’s Marine Parade, experiencing in one of Britain’s most celebrated cycling routes.

Among the cycling group will be Charlie Altman, NABS’ director of fundraising, who has taken time out of her training and fundraising to tell us more about the charity and its mission.

Support cyclists like Charlie help reach the £25,000 target to raise money for NABS and make a difference for mental health! Click here to make a donation for a great cause! 

Hi Charlie. What can you tell us about NABS and its mission?

“NABS was founded in 1913 to look after the employees of the advertising profession. Its mission, as a benevolent society, was to ensure that people in the profession had somewhere to turn to if they fell on hard times. Since then, NABS has expanded and adapted its services, with a growing focus on helping to prevent people from reaching crisis point.”

Who does NABS support and what does it do to help them?

“NABS supports everybody working in the advertising and media industry, including those employed in media agencies, creative agencies, and media owners, as well as freelancers working throughout the industry. NABS’ mission is to help people in the industry to thrive; to empower them so that their wellbeing can flourish.

NABS provides a huge range of support in various forms. Its Advice Line took nearly 1000 calls in the first three months of this year alone. Its Masterclasses help people in the industry to feel confident and resilient. And its evening Talks provide a chance to hear from some of the industry’s most senior figures.

NABS also offers superb networking and learning opportunities at its hugely popular speed mentoring events, which bring together people at all levels from across the industry. Its core services are free to everyone working in the industry, ensuring that people can benefit from help and expertise whatever their situation. That’s why NABS relies on donations to fund its work, especially as demand for its services is increasing each year.”

You can also watch Charlie’s video message ahead of the cycle here.