News from Tonic

News from Tonic

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Blogs, Company, News from Tonic

Why Big Businesses Are Using Micro Agencies

It’s fairly logical to think that it’s the big-name marketing agencies that secure all the big contracts with the famous big brands. With offices around the country, if not around the world, procurement teams ready to impress household name clients, and a portfolio of global marketing, surely they’re the go-to for big brands and businesses?

However, all is not as cut and dry as it may seem, as more and more brands are taking their business to smaller, micro-agencies, less bloated by bureaucracy and huge departments.

Some brands have been actively searching for these leaner micro agencies, small collectives of marketing experts and creatives, and disparate and diverse remote-working colleagues who are looking to disrupt the normal order of things by providing something quite different.

Small, But Scrappy!

These micro agencies are unconventional in their organisational hierarchy and how they operate, which gives them the freedom to seek out new ways of working, explore different approaches and processes, and with a smaller core team, faster and more efficiently.

A micro-agency is typically a small group of leaders, veterans of the larger national/multinational agencies, with all the right connections to freelancers and contractors of all the necessary disciplines – a little black book of the go-to people with the right skills and experience to get the job done fast.

Whatever it is you need – copy, graphic design, photography, marketing strategies and campaigns, advertising, digital or print – they’ll know the right person for the job, someone they trust to get it done right, on time and budget. Most of the time, these contacts would not be available via the larger agencies; it’s about making the right connections for the job in hand, not keeping everything in-house.

There’s little complacency in a small agency, not only do they want your work, they’ll fight hard for it, they’ll stake their reputation on it, and they know you’ll be back for their services again.

Pandemic Positives

Pre-pandemic, brands wanted to see the big agencies, with their football and pool tables, beers on a Friday afternoon in the open plan, brightly coloured office, with bean bags, quiz nights, and the trendy office ‘culture’ fostered by all the big name agencies, eager to stand apart from the rest while doing just the same as the next big agency down the road.

In the post-Covid landscape, the industry has changed and adapted. Clients are not as impressed by all the fancy office culture culture, or even the need to have to travel for meetings when it could be easily done on Zoom, and there is far less importance on how or where you work.

This became a huge levelling-up moment for the smaller brands, placing them on the same playing field as the big names.

The micro-agencies are still happy to see global brands go to the full-service big global agencies, with an army of corporate copywriters and campaign planners. Many of the smaller agencies provide a scaled-back service, narrowing down their specialisms and positioning themselves as experts in their particular niche, giving themselves an edge over the bigger firms.

Work With The People Who DO The Work

With a smaller agency, brands find they are working directly with the people who do the work, not a senior partner in the firm who essentially acts as a go-between. It makes it easier for micro-agencies to become involved deeper with the brand, with enhanced access and agility.
While many big agencies are still trying to navigate the post-pandemic world and remote and hybrid work, micro-agencies are already up to speed, already conjuring ideas and strategies on the fly, their inherent stripped-down hierarchy giving them speed and agility while some big brands are still trying to find their place in the ‘new normal’.

It all leads to a greater level of collaboration between brands and micro-agencies, more meaningful communication, and stronger relationships, instead of confusion and lack of context as the message gets passed from the client to client services to managers to the drones that do the work.

The brand gains access to the senior leadership of the agency and the people who perform the job at hand in one swoop; they’re not simply talking to the senior team who gets the credit for the hard work done by unseen juniors, and it’s this transparency that can be highly appealing to big brands.

An agency could have 200+ people working for it, and the brand communicates with up to 10 directors, sales personnel, and client services, but there’s only a small handful of unseen people who are actually working on the project.

With a micro-agency, there might be a core leadership of three or four people, but they’re also the ones with their hands on the controls. A simple project could take weeks with a large agency, as the gears of bureaucracy grind ever slowly, whereas your project is given directly to those who will get on the job ASAP with a micro-agency.

More Committed To Their Clients

A micro-agency will above and beyond with their clients, regardless of their size, while big agencies can often concentrate on their bigger clients, sometimes unfairly treating small to medium businesses as mere options.

Micro-agencies are always passionate about helping their clients succeed and providing a level of dedication and immediacy that can be lacking from larger agencies which are handling hundreds of accounts, all fighting for attention.

A micro may have as little as four or five clients that they work with consistently to produce fantastic results. Your success actually matters to a micro-agency on a personal level, not just on a business level.

Reasonable Costs

A big agency has more staff, more payroll, overheads, resources, and office costs, which inevitably leads to charging higher prices for everything. But there’s little, if any, added value to that; you’re not getting any additional focus, any more specialised expertise, if anything, you’re paying for the prestige of working with a named, branded agency.

With a micro-agency, you know who is working on your project, and they will be more upfront and transparent about their pricing. This transparency and familiarity can provide confidence about the work being done and the knowledge you’re not simply paying over the odds for a fancy office and the ‘culture’ employee perks.

Is It Time You Looked At A Micro-Agency?

Looking for a fresh approach to your marketing needs? A micro-agency could prove to be a leaner, meaner, and more efficient way of handling your projects and campaigns, with increased collaboration, and a personal and bespoke approach designed to meet any business’s needs.

If you’d like to know more about how a smaller agency could be of greater benefit than becoming tangled in the machinations of a large agency, then come and talk to us at Tonic today!

Company, News from Tonic

Reasons to use a media buying Agency/Consultancy like Tonic.

Paid media is used as a key marketing channel by many companies who understand the huge ROI it can provide (when done correctly, of course!) There are so many benefits of media from the opportunity to target the right audience at the right time in the right place to the endless ways to deliver your key marketing messages. We appreciate that clients have and can go direct and straight to the suppliers to manage their media buying in-house – and the questions we often get asked from new clients are about the benefits of using a media agency like Tonic. Hopefully, this blog will explain to clients new (and maybe remind the existing ones) a few of the reasons why it pays off to use a media buying agency or consultant.

Some of the common reasons that companies are reluctant at the start are usually down to the following:

  • The belief is that by controlling things in-house – campaigns will be more streamlined.
  • The belief is that they will get a better deal going directly to the source rather than use a media buying agency/consultant. 
  • They are not really sure what a media planner & buyer actually does and how they can help.

The honest truth is there are huge benefits to working with a media buying agency & consultancy like Tonic. You may be thinking, well of course we would say that – but keep reading to really understand why. 

We deal with all media relations on your behalf

This alone can save you hours! How many calls/emails a day do you get from sales staff/suppliers wanting your whole budget, trying to sell you something that may actually not fit with your overall marketing plan and strategy and only covers one area of the media mix? Admittedly, some of the direct sales staff are great salespeople – and the deals they have can seem enticing.  But it’s worth remembering that all direct salespeople have targets to hit each month. At Tonic we are not governed by targets or sales figures, we work with what works for our clients to achieve the right results. We provide an honest and independent approach to not only one part of your marketing – but the whole mix. . As a business owner, shareholder, or marketing lead you have far more important things to do during your day than to deal with media sales calls, negotiation, media/market research, planning, buying, as well as measuring effectiveness and reporting. Working with us will free up your time so you can focus on the high priority tasks, allowing you to see the bigger picture, scale your business and increase your revenue.

No direct cost to you for using our services

This is something most people are shocked by! We are compensated directly by the media suppliers we work with. We do not charge service or retainer fees for our media buying or tie our clients into long term contracts. We regularly work on a project by project basis as we are confident that you will be happy with our services and want to use us again – after all, we are only as good as our last campaign. We are here to make life easier, save money, provide unbiased advice and provide greater ROI for our clients.

Negotiation skills

As a media buying agency we deal with media sales representatives daily and for numerous clients, so we generally have greater buying power and discounts only available to us that your company won’t be able to benefit from by going direct. As an agency, we can leverage the collective budgets of all of our clients to benefit each individual client. This buying power can help your campaigns have better cost and ad positioning. Any savings we make, we can pass on to our clients.

Experience 

We have established long-standing relationships with different media suppliers and can work this influence on your behalf. As professional media planners and buyers, we understand the market, pricing, and cost per impression. We can recognise what is ‘really a great deal and what is actually just ‘overpriced’. We can also monitor voidage deals or keep an eye on the market for some last-minute bargains. We have worked on the supplier and client-side so know a thing or two about how to buy smarter. 

We understand how to track our campaigns

Many mediums offer a guaranteed cost per thousand impressions, reach or impacts. We know how to track these and further negotiate additional ads or added value benefits through filler spots, additional impressions and also overshow where possible. We work and speak with suppliers on a daily basis and love a spreadsheet as well as quantifying your campaign through post-campaign analysis. 

Unbiased Perspective

We can offer a fresh and unbiased perspective for your marketing objectives. We have absolutely no bias towards one medium or another, which allows us to offer advice based solely on your marketing objectives and what is truly best for your business. Being constantly in the market and being updated across all supplier products and services means a greater understanding of the media landscape.

We have access to specialist tools and data and we love to crunch the numbers 

One of the biggest weaknesses with in-house media buying is usually on the planning side. In-house buyers can lack the tools necessary to identify and engage key audiences at scale. 

Working with us will allow you to leverage our advanced tools and systems. Meaning your media buys will be methodically and insightfully planned to help you reduce ad wastage and improve response.

So why is Tonic different from any other media buying agency/Consultancy? 

We work across all areas of Marketing 

We pride ourselves on working with the best team and being able to offer you online and offline solutions. We bring in the right partners to deliver across the full media mix and can integrate and speak to/work with your existing agencies/teams to ensure that all channels speak to each other and maximise any revenue spent. 

Our overheads are low

Our business model is a slightly different approach – we are a collaborative of media experts. Most of our team work remotely meaning that we don’t have massive overheads or offices filled with beanbags, pool tables and bars! It simply means that you get our experience and time and don’t have to pay a fee on top to compensate for our expenses. 

We are passionate and provide the best customer experience 

We literally love what we do and our clients describe us as ‘an extension of their team’. We always go the extra mile and our USP is the service that we provide. 

If we can help you with any of your media buying or planning, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We would love to help, and of course, show the value in using our expert services. If you have any questions when it comes to partnering with a media agency like Tonic, we would love to hear from you!

News from Tonic, Out of home, Recent projects

Recent Projects…

We ended 2020 and started 2021 with an out of home campaign for Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria’s suicide prevention. The “Let’s keep talking” creative was displayed on billboards, bus shelters, and phone kiosks throughout December and January driving maximum impact in local areas at a time when people were struggling in silence. Through the campaign – Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria encouraged people to discuss the challenging issues they are faced due to the lockdown.

The campaign has been shortlisted for a prestigious award at this year’s NHS in the North Excellence in Supply Awards. These awards celebrate inspirational examples of businesses, third sector organisations and the NHS working together to improve patient care and support health and care staff during COVID-19.

The background to the campaign was the huge risks associated with Isolation and lockdown and the effect that this could have on vulnerable people. Through insight gathered, the campaign was quickly mobilised to reach out and share support to those most at risk groups, through (amongst other formats) – a targeted digital and out of home campaign.

Hot spots were prioritised for a complete marketing and engagement programme and a strong relevant creative was developed. Through the delivery channels a narrative was adapted across the region dependent on the audience demographic and within specific locations.

The out of home campaign was planned strategically by cross referencing priority areas with audience data as well as utilising budgets effectively to deliver maximum exposure. The phone kiosk format fit effortlessly with the ‘let’s keep talking’ creative and provided large audiences across prime locations. We peppered the campaign with high impact 48 sheets on commuter routes, as well as a host of 6 sheets to repeat the message in similar locations. The overall out of home campaign delivered close to 4 million impacts across 8 weeks.

The impact in specific areas has resulted in a huge awareness of the support available for those who are vulnerable during this period and therefore has a huge impact on the health system, specifically in the management of the number of suicides in Lancashire and South Cumbria. The campaign will continue to progress and support people and services across the region with more stages of the campaign as we start to open from lockdown measures and risks are further identified due to other reasons (furlough ending, meaning redundancy etc).

News from Tonic

Storytelling – and the story of Tonic Consultancy

Humans are intrinsic story-tellers; it’s how we learn, how we communicate, how we connect. We have been telling stories since we evolved; stories to share, stories to document our history, stories to inspire. 

Storytelling is an essential part of any good marketing campaign. But you’re not just interested in any old story. A good story needs to be authentic. Your audience needs to feel the emotional connection, to understand the purpose – they don’t just want to be sold to. 

If you want to build your business, you will need to learn how to craft a compelling story that your audience can relate to. You need to know your message, your story plot; you need to know how you want your reader to feel. You need to be creative, emotive, concise and clear – you need a story with purpose. 

Let Lisa Byrne, our founder, tell you the story of how Tonic Consultancy began. 

“17 years ago, I sat next to a guy on a plane. I was studying at Leeds University at the time and, after a brief conversation, I discovered he was the sales director for a large radio station.

Without hesitation, I offered to work for him over the summer for free – something I would obviously never recommend anyone to do in 2020! But I turned up every day for six weeks; throwing myself into the company and into every single task. I had absolutely no expectations, I just loved working with people. Building great relationships with every member of the team and helping them in any way that I could. 

When I graduated, that same man had worked his way up into a role at a new company and offered me my first paid job as a media planner for one of the largest UK radio stations. A job that I almost certainly wouldn’t have got without that initial chance encounter. 

That first job was a springboard to a role in one of the UK’s largest radio groups and then, from there, I joined one of the leading out of home advertising companies. I loved all of my jobs. I loved working with people – colleagues and clients – using the skills and connections I had made on the way to do one thing: help them. 

Tonic Consultancy was founded shortly after the birth of my second child. It happened very organically – and quickly! – people I had worked with over the years began reaching out to me, asking for help. I knew I had the skills and the connections to make it work so I did it. I helped them, just as that man on the plane had helped me. 

Tonic Consultancy has grown from those early days. Our team has grown. Our offering has grown. We are a full-service marketing agency. We are a business that combines expertise and industry knowledge with a desire to deliver outstanding client service. 

So I guess the moral of the story is: seize every opportunity. That chance encounter on the plane set me on a career path that led to Tonic Consultancy. And don’t forget to help people.”

If you need help writing a story with a purpose, then get in touch. <Add link to contact page>