36
CATEGORY 21:
Sponsored by
Best marketing communications agency
WINNER: IAS B2B MARKETING
I
t’s been a busy couple of years for
marketing communications agency IAS.
Not only has it overhauled its
management team, it has also made a
massive investment in training, doubled its
profits and gained coveted awards. Its
ambitions don’t stop there; it wants to
become the world’s best B2B marketing
agency.
When the account handler-led board of
IAS was replaced with a leaner team of new
MD Robert Morrice, CD Reuben Webb and
FD Alan Brandwood, its stakeholders were
forced to sit up and take notice.
Maurice and Webb had already unveiled
IAS’ business targets, which were clearly
only achievable with a high growth and high
visibility programme. The agency planned
to become number one in B2B Marketing’s
League Table within five years.
To help it achieve this an immediate
massive investment was made in marketing
and training, the focal point being an
initiative combining both. A book and
training manual, the result of a wide ranging
study implemented by Maurice and called
Pitching – Guidelines for a Winner,
marked the launch of a company concept of
three ‘P’s – profiling, pitching and people.
It is this fresh approach to the business
that has in the past couple of years seen
IAS win 16 out of 19 pitches, gain a
coveted Investors in People award and be
named North West Advertising Agency of has a new motto – ‘Our most important business strategy at IAS. The agency has
the Year. On top of all of that, revenue in account is our own’. It recently published invested considerably in its people to
the past year has grown by 11 per cent and the 101 Clichés: B2B’s most notorious improve its standing too – it calls it
profits doubled – not bad against the creative faux pas, which has since won ‘branding inside out’.
backdrop of an economic downturn. six awards. The agency has also produced
three new websites – for IAS, IAS PR and Internal focus
Creative clichés one devoted to the book. And it runs two A training plan encourages the
To help achieve all of this, IAS has blogs – one for IAS and one for ‘B2B guru’ development of three core cultural
increased its marketing budget six-fold and Tim Hazelhurst. company values – learning, courage and
courtesy. Quarterly staff information
Awards wins boost expansion afternoons are held, where employee
IAS is expanding fast, having branched out awards are distributed, an online social
to target four new areas: the public sector; network is used to promote learning in
oil and gas; environmental care; and the digital marketing and the staff-manager
financial and commercial industries. Its review process has been overhauled.
own PR machine meanwhile sees it churn As part of its Investor in People
out at least two press releases a month, programme, IAS has also hired an HR
whilst several of its staff are now development manager to manage its 50
established industry commentators. strong-staff and introduced a new bonus
IAS works on the principle that award and incentive scheme and flexible working.
winning agencies get more business. And to top it all off, every Friday has a
Clients have, it believes, little recall of happy hour with a free bar – and some
which awards are won, just whether an ‘structured interaction’ related to current
agency is award-winning or not. Since workflow of course.
2007, the agency has won 21 awards. Pitches won include Lloyds TSB
But its not just external business that Autolease, Corus, Interbuild, L&N Scotland
The agency invested in staff to improve its standing has been the focus of a revamped and Recycle Bank.
B2B Marketing Awards 2009 -
www.b2bmarketingawards.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40