Category Archives: People

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

Accenture Interactive signs up as lead sponsor for NABS cycle from London to Brighton

We are delighted to confirm that Accenture Interactive has signed up as lead sponsor for the inaugural Sea Change for Mental Health cycle from London to Brighton in aid of NABS.

The deal will see Accenture Interactive feature on the official cycling jerseys being worn by all riders and have a strong presence on key promotional materials throughout the event. The global business will also be represented by a team of cyclists taking part in the 63-mile journey.

Sea Change, which takes place on Friday 7 June, is being organised by The Lead Agency (TLA) and aims to raise £25,000 for NABS – the charity that helps people who work in the media and advertising industry to thrive.

100 media professionals representing some of the UK’s biggest media agencies, ad agencies and publishers will be taking part in the NABS cycle. Joining Accenture Interactive and TLA on the route will be riders from PHD, Mediacom, Blue449, Jungle Creations, Mail Metro Media, Dennis Publishing and Haymarket.

Anton Hanley, founder at TLA, said: “For an organisation of Accenture Interactive’s size and stature to sign up as lead sponsor is a great indication of what we’re hoping to achieve with the Sea Change event. As well as being a fun and memorable experience for the 100 riders, the funds raised for NABS will have a genuine impact for people who work in the media and advertising industry.”

To claim one of the last remaining places on the ride and join the likes of Accenture Interactive, PHD and Mediacom, visit the Sea Change Website.

TLA staff, clients and friends experienced the opportunity of a lifetime yesterday by playing in a football match at Anfield, home of Liverpool FC.

The opportunity, which came about thanks to a kind gesture by a friend of the business, was organised as a thank you to staff and clients with the additional aim of raising money for NABS – the media industry charity that helps people to overcome challenges associated with mental health and wellbeing.

39 players from the likes of TLA, Octaive, Convertr, Performics, PHD and Wavemaker entered the field to You’ll Never Walk Alone before taking part in a competitive, yet friendly 11-a-side match that ended in a 4-5 scoreline. The away team, TLA Athletic, took a 4-1 lead into the half-time break before sealing the victory mid-way through the second period despite an impressive late fightback from the home side, TLA FC.

As well as it being an amazing experience for all, our day at Anfield raised £700 in donations from the players – a great contribution towards our fundraising push. Through this and a series of other events, we’re aiming to raise in excess of £25,000 for NABS in 2019.

Next up as part of our charity events will be the London to Brighton Cycle, which will see 100 media industry professionals take part in a 63-mile. For more information on that event, please visit our charity page.

Media industry cycle from London to Brighton aims to raise £25,000 for NABS

Would you like to be part of a 63-mile cycle from London to Brighton in aid of media and advertising charity NABS?

On Friday 7 June, 100 representatives from the UK’s biggest media agencies and publishers will line up side-by-side to support and promote good mental health and wellbeing within our industry.

Sea Change for Mental Health is a shared mission, led by TLA, to raise more than £25,000 for NABS in 2019 through fundraising activity. Mental health affects 1 in 4 people, so we wanted to create an event whereby people can have a positive impact on the people they work closely to.

The London to Brighton cycle, which will be led by a professional support team, is open to teams and individuals of all fitness and ability levels. TLA will fund all riders taking part, so that 100% of the proceeds from their entry fees go directly to NABS.

Upon arrival in Brighton, there will also be medals for everyone and an exclusive after-party with music, food and a free-bar!

We’ve already received team sign-ups from Mail Metro, PHD, Haymarket, NABS and, of course, TLA. If you’d like to join us in making this a special event, head over to the charity microsite today and register your interest.

Paul Earnden joins TLA to head up property business

Paul Earnden, the former director and board member of digital agency Prodo, has joined us to take on the newly-created position of strategy director for our growing property business.

Having expanded into the property market two years ago, following a decade and half in automotive, we welcome Paul at an exciting time for the business, with new technology soon to be launched.

Paul is tasked with developing and driving forward the company’s proposition across a number of property markets, including estate agencies and mortgage providers, helping our clients to acquire new clients in meaningful volumes.

“Paul brings a deep understanding of digital, marketing and product development,” commented TLA CEO Anton Hanley. “His experience of working with external service providers off-shore and on- to deliver technical solutions make him a great fit for where TLA is heading as a business.

“Paul will be responsible for researching and setting the strategy for the property vertical, leveraging our proprietary advertising technology to provide clients the highest quality of in-market leads available.”

Paul joins us after five years with Chester-based Prodo, where he led on strategy and sat on the agency’s board of directors. His remit there was to set the strategic direction for all clients from a customer acquisition and digital transformation perspective. These included the New York Times, RBS, Emirates Old Trafford and several clients in property and financial services markets.

Speaking of his new challenge, Paul said: “In the current era of digital disruption, I’m incredibly excited to be joining TLA. I am highly impressed with the technology offering and how TLA’s platform can be leveraged by brands looking to acquire customers in the property space.

“I’m looking forward to joining a well-established, 17-year-old tech company and growing the property business into a major part of TLA.”

Five minutes with… TLA PPC Manager Dan Potter

Ever wondered who are the people behind the technology and campaigns TLA produces? In a new series, we’re grabbing five minutes with members of the team to shine more light on who they are and what inspires them.

First up is Dan Potter, who joined the business in 2015 and manages our paid media campaigns. Here’s what we learned in our five-minute catch-up.

Hi Dan. Let’s start with an important one. Which sports teams do you follow?

Unfortunately, I’m a lifelong-suffering Evertonian (thanks Dad). I’ve also got into American football over the last couple of years and follow the New Orleans Saints (the least Everton-esque team I could find).

What TV series or film should we be watching?

I feel like it’d be too obvious to say Game of Thrones here, but… Game of Thrones.

If you had two weeks off, where would you go?

Japan. Absolutely no doubt. I’ve always been fascinated by the unique cocktail of ultra-modern technology, rich culture and traditions, and crazily beautiful natural landscapes. Plus the sushi, obviously.

Want to join Dan in the PPC team? Why not get in touch and apply today!

Which TED talks (or equivalent) have you seen that you recommend we watch?

I’m going to cheat here because it’s not a TED talk, but I’d highly recommend giving ‘Cambridge Analytica – The Power of Big Data and Psychographics’ from the 2016 Concordia summit a watch. It’s a fascinating yet terrifying insight into how big data was leveraged alongside laser-targeted ad messaging to influence the Trump US election. It’ll make you never want to use the internet again.

Which websites do you visit daily?

I can’t remember the last time I went 24 hours without going on Instagram or YouTube. Workwise, PPC Hero post a lot of useful content and industry news daily. I’m also a big fan of Copyhackers, they teach you how to use the power of words to influence our highly susceptible human brains and drive action.

Which entrepreneurs do you admire and why?

I’m a big fan of Elon Musk. He’s not your typical entrepreneur that spotted a gap in the market or found a way to monetise their passion. He’s someone that’s driven by a genuine desire to change the world. He’s totally self-made, a massive risk taker and relentless in chasing his goals to an obsessive degree. Pretty much the poster boy for innovation and pushing boundaries.

And finally, what aspect of your work are you most passionate about?

I love the opportunity to be creative – and with digital marketing you’re able to actually see the direct tangible results of what you do. It’s super satisfying when some outside of the box thinking comes off.