Media & Production Partners (MPP), a full service agency with a focus on media planning, buying and production, has launched in Sydney. The independent opens its doors with billings of $10 million and foundation clients Care Pharmaceuticals and events company Color Run.
MPP has been launched by Jimmy Hyett, a former group business director at MediaCom who has also worked at Total Advertising (now PHD), ZenithOptimedia and Hyland Media.
Hyett tells AdNews he was motivated to open MPP because he sees a gap in the cluttered media market for an independent full service agency with a strong customer service focus.
“I have a big passion for media and production in terms of video and content, they go hand-in-hand, but I don’t see a lot of really strong, independent agencies of a smaller size that can really challenge the big media or creative agencies,” Hyett tells AdNews.
No 'media bullshit'
Hyett believes MPP can differentiate by positioning as a business partner rather than client/agency relationship. Or, as he succinctly puts it, cutting out the “media bullshit”.
Providing a one-stop shop is by no means new, as recently illustrated by Havas. But Hyett believes there are many advantages for clients and cites MPP’s design and media planning work with Care Pharmaceuticals as proof.
“For us to have that schedule, we know exactly what is coming up so we can then create all of their advertising and everything flows really fluidly for the client. It saves them time and makes it really efficient,” he adds.
MPP will also focus on pure production and video work, with clients including the Media Federation of Australia, GroupM, Toro Media, PharmaCare, Indeed, Lime House Creative and QMS Media.
The 31-year-old's plans are to grow the business to four full-time staff by the end of this year and up to 10 by the end of the financial year if he can attract a couple more big media clients.
Walk before run
The first positions to fill are heads of media, digital and production, but Hyett is cautious about growing too fast.
“There will be a huge focus on growth initially, but based on Bohemia’s recent experience I definitely don’t want to run before I can walk,” he says.
“Growing too quickly forces your hand to hire people that aren’t right for the culture, aren’t experienced enough. I want to ensure our product, service and quality of work remains strong and if you grow too fast you overpromise and underdeliver.
“The first six months will be focused on process, the couple of big clients we have and then we will start to bring in more people and clients.”
It's by no means unusual for media agency folk to go it alone. Last year former head of digital performance at Omnicom Media Group and ex-GM at Agency M, Gary Nissim, launched a new digital acquisition agency.
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