Monthly Archives: October 2019

Press release: HonestJohn.co.uk and The Lead Agency form exclusive partnership

Online publisher HonestJohn.co.uk and customer acquisition specialist The Lead Agency (TLA) have formed an exclusive partnership that will allow automotive brands to reach more in-market car buyers as they research their next vehicle.

Consumers browse HonestJohn.co.uk’s range of impartial and quality reviews and guides to inform their future purchase. TLA’s custom-built, relevant and timely engagement tools will capture their interest and showcase the options available to them.

The agreement will give TLA clients access to more in-market consumers earlier in the buying funnel, while enriching the HonestJohn.co.uk visitor experience.

Research shows that 80 per cent of consumers visit a third-party website during the research phase of a purchase, with 65 per cent using them to start their journey. HonestJohn.co.uk fits that category as one UK’s most popular websites for car buyers and enthusiasts, and winner of the Newspress Website of the Year accolade for an unprecedented three consecutive years (2016, 2017 and 2018).

TLA, meanwhile, has 18 years’ experience in the automotive sector, connecting audiences with brands such as BMW, VW Group, Ford and Mercedes-Benz to provide a source of incremental sales. Its blockchain based, GDPR-compliant tech platform and FCA permissions allow the business to simplify and accelerate a consumer’s car buying journey.

‘Exciting partnership’

HonestJohn.co.uk’s Managing Editor Dan Powell said: “TLA’s industry experience and specialist tools complement our existing content to enrich the visitor experience and help consumers make the most informed decision when it comes to choosing their next car. This exciting partnership will bring significant benefits to HonestJohn.co.uk’s visitors as well as TLA and its clients.”

TLA CEO Anton Hanley added: “We’re proud to have formed this partnership with HonestJohn.co.uk. Its website is a trusted source of high-quality information for car buyers and enthusiasts throughout the country. Combining their excellent content and extensive audience with our technology and processes will allow us to create even more quality opportunities for our clients to connect with hard-to-reach consumers and increase sales.”

As part of the partnership, TLA will take responsibility for lead generation from HonestJohn.co.uk’s social channels, representing an opportunity to combine a powerful consumer-focused brand with engagement, validation and qualification technology.

For more information, contact the team.

Lessons from Silicon Valley: Where do great ideas come from?

How do Silicon Valley companies consistently produce successful, innovative ideas?

Stanford School of Business’s professor of marketing Jonathan Levav will visit Liverpool on Friday 8 November to discuss the patterns of innovation used by California’s most prolific tech companies.

Taking place at Hope Street Hotel, the event will see Jonathan discuss the findings of his extensive research based on the university’s close-working relationship Silicon Valley. He’ll reveal how it takes a structured, inside-the-box approach to consistently produce great ideas.

Having met Jonathan at a week-long event at Stanford last year, we were immediately struck by his level of insight. Along with our fellow sponsors Growth Platform, Brabners and RSM UK, we will be flying Jonathan over to share his ideas with Liverpool businesses.

If you aspire to disrupt an established market or avoid being left behind by the competition, this event is not to be missed.

With a limited number of tickets available, please visit Eventbrite to secure your place.

Silicon Valley event in Liverpool

About Jonathan

Jonathan’s research focuses on understanding the judgments and choices of consumers by using tools from experimental psychology and behavioural economics. His studies into the contextual factors that influence people’s choices and judgments was the subject of his engaging TEDx talk in 2013.

Working with the university has also seen Jonathan work closely with Silicon Valley, where he has identified the repeatable patterns that are being used by the world’s most innovative businesses to consistently produce great ideas. Contrary to the belief that it centres on outside-the-box thinking and a blank canvas, he found that consistent creativity requires a more structured, inside-the-box approach.

Jonathan received his PhD in marketing from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, and his A.B. in public and international affairs from Princeton University. He is the winner of the Hillel Einhorn Young Investigator Award, awarded biennially by the Society for Judgment and Decision-Making.

My Design Internship with TLA – Adam Hodkinson

Over the past six months, we were delighted to be joined by Adam Hodkinson on a design internship. Here’s what he had to say about his experience and learnings from TLA.

What made you apply for TLA?

After graduating from The University of Salford I struggled to break into the industry, so I decided to reach out to several businesses about potential internships. This is when I came across the opportunity here at TLA.

I was hoping for an internship which would allow me to develop my skills, knowledge and improve on my portfolio. TLA has turned out to be the best possible place for me to end up – giving me the opportunity to explore a potential career path and get a feel for what the industry is like.

What was the most interesting piece of work you had done?

Now that I’ve come to the end of my internship, I’ve gathered several portfolio pieces where I’ve really outdone myself! If I had to choose one, it would be the future leaders programme. You can find more about my work in my full Portfolio here.

Key things you have learnt in your six months here?

Over the past 6 months, I’ve gathered so much knowledge and improved on my skills around branding and identity, graphics, logo design, print, typography and illustration with additional experience in UI Design.

How have you developed personally during your internship?

My core strengths: work ethic, keen eye for detail, communication, creativity and time management have improved massively. I’ve met some amazing people, I’ve gained amazing experience and I have a top notch portfolio – I hold TLA and the design team responsible for relighting my passion for design.

So what’s next?

I hope to move onto a similar role or maybe experiment with different pathways, however UI Design is my number one priority.

If you’ve got a question for the team or want to know more about an internship here at TLA, why not get in touch?

TLA Book Club: Andreas Antonopolous – Mastering Bitcoin

The latest in our series of summaries from the TLA Book Club is in. Thank you to TLA developer and Dot Net Liverpool founder Joshua Duxbury, who has shared his thoughts on Mastering Bitcoin.

Our growing collection in the TLA Book Club has been introduced as part of our ongoing commitment to support and encourage self-improvement throughout the business. Find out Joshua’s take on ‘Mastering Bitcoin’ below.

1.What have you been reading?

Just finished Mastering Bitcoin by Andreas Antonopoulos

2.What was the book about?

An in depth look at how bitcoin works internally and how everything from encryption to consensus rules work on a decentralized network.

3. What were the key takeaways/learnings?

Understanding what elliptic curve cryptography is. How bitcoin auto manages and configures the difficulty of blocks being mined

And why the blockchain is so secure and the potential risks of attacks on the network.

4. Who would enjoy reading it?

Anyone with an interest in decentralised networks and overcoming issues. IT users who want to start mining bitcoins and want to understand where to begin. Intermediates who want that next level understanding of how the blockchain fundamentally works

And programmers who want to create DAPPS and smart contracts on an immutable network.

What have you read lately? Let us know what has inspired you and we’ll add it to the TLA library.

Stanford Professor to run Silicon Valley-inspired Masterclass for media agencies in London

In November, TLA will be hosting an exclusive Marketing Masterclass led by Stanford Business School Professor of Marketing Jonathan Levav.

Having met Jonathan at a week-long event held at Stanford earlier this year, we were immediately struck by the quality of his research and findings – particularly around his work with Silicon Valley, where he’s identified the patterns of innovation used by the most high-profile tech companies in the world.

To coincide with the launch of our brand new customer acquisition platform, we’re flying Jonathan over from California to share his insights and run a one-off idea generation workshop for media agencies and publishers on Monday 11 November (2pm-5pm) at London’s Soho House.

Once he’s unpicked the patterns of innovation used by the Valley’s best, attendees will get chance to put them into practice to generate ideas of their own. This is an event not to be missed!

A limited number of tickets are available, so please email [email protected] to express your interest in the event.

About Jonathan

Jonathan Levav is Professor of Marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His research focuses on understanding the judgments and choices of consumers by using tools from experimental psychology and behavioural economics. His studies into the contextual factors that influence people’s choices and judgments was the subject of his engaging TEDx talk.

Working with the university has also seen Jonathan work closely with Silicon Valley, where he has identified the repeatable patterns that being used world’s most innovative businesses to consistently produce great ideas. Contrary to the belief that it centres on outside-the-box thinking and a blank canvas, he found that consistent creativity requires a more structured, inside-the-box approach.

Jonathan received his PhD in marketing from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, and his A.B. in public and international affairs from Princeton University. He is the winner of the Hillel Einhorn Young Investigator Award, awarded biennially by the Society for Judgment and Decision-Making.

Media industry cycle from London to Brighton confirmed for 2020

Places are now available for Sea Change 2020, the UK advertising and media industry’s charity cycle from London to Brighton in aid of NABS.

Building on the huge success of the first event earlier this year, which raised more than £25,000 for the charity, we can confirm that the second ride will take place on 12 June 2020.

The event, which is open to teams and individuals working in the media, ad and tech industries, is funded entirely by TLA and event sponsors. As a result, 100% of entry fees and donations raised from participant will go directly to NABS.

Having welcomed more than 100 riders in June, representing the likes of Accenture, Mail Metro Media, PHD and Mediacom, we are anticipating an even bigger response for 2020 and have set an ambitious fundraising target of £30,000. For any company or individual that signs up before the end of November, an ‘early bird’ discount will be applied to their entry fee.

‘Bigger and better’

TLA CEO Anton Hanley said: “This year’s Sea Change for Mental Health brought together the biggest and brightest companies from the media, advertising and tech industries to raise a fantastic amount of money for NABS and helped the charity to continue supporting people dealing with issues relating to mental health and wellbeing. The people who took part loved the experience of riding alongside their colleagues from the same industry along one of the UK’s best cycling routes.

“We’re committed to making Sea Change 2020 even bigger and better than this year, bringing more of the industry together and setting a fundraising target that will make a huge difference for the charity and those it supports,” he added.

Charlie Parkin, fundraising director at NABS, commented on the announcement: “We are delighted that Sea Change 2020 has been announced. The Lead Agency did a brilliant job of uniting the UK media industry behind the important cause of mental health and wellbeing, and we’re excited by their plans for next year’s ride.”

Parkin was among the riders in June. Explaining her reason for taking part, she said: “As well as raising money for our fantastic team, I wanted to challenge myself. It is easy in everyday life to slip into the routine of going to the gym to do the same workouts or road run the same distance. The Sea Change London to Brighton ride offered me a chance to train in a different way, push myself towards a new goal and achieve this with people from my own industry.”

Teams and individuals can enter Sea Change 2020 for £275 per person (or £250 per person with the early bird discount).

To confirm a booking or register interest in the event, please visit the official Sea Change microsite.