Craig Hart, formerly of Omnicom in Asia, Photon Group and Blueprint Group, wants to build the largest network of independent agencies in Australia under the umbrella Assembled Group.
He has so far picked independent specialist marketing agencies -- Halo (Advertising), narrative (PR), NewsFlash Media (Media Training), Crisis Control (Crisis Management), Studio Moso (Digital), Developed (Property Marketing), Bond (Customer and Member Relationship Management) -- and started a media planning and buying agency, Assembled Media.
Assembled Group has invested in a range of capabilities including trategy development, advertising, public relations, social media, digital marketing, design, brand identity, media training, public relations and customer relationship management.
Hart couldn’t find a media agency that exactly delivered or operated in the way that he believes the market requires, so he decided to work with his partners to establish a new benchmark.
He is promising "full transparency" from his group’s media agency on the cost to the client of campaigns.
“The media landscape needs more disruption than any other marketing segment, with clients increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of transparency they are offered about their spend,” says Hart, executive chair of Assembled Group.
“Clients are tired of being blinded by science and underwhelmed by results. They don’t want to deal with larger agencies because they are not convinced they always receive full value.
“Transparency involves an open ledger commitment to clients; confirming what the agency has gained from that account and allowing clients the clarity of real financial accountability as to how their budgets have been utilised."
The executives of Assembled Media include former sportsmen and broadcasters David Schwarz and Mark Allen.
“My personal experience working within a global agency group was that the entrepreneurial spirit of agency founders was often lost when the focus became how quickly the businesses were incorporated within a network that was perhaps more interested in reporting growth than developing the solid foundations for these agencies to reach their full potential,” he says.
“Big agencies are grappling with the challenge of becoming more efficient and leaner whilst delivering value. With large corporate overheads agency groups can struggle to do what is needed for their member agencies as opposed to what they hope will deliver the fastest returns.”
Hart says Assembled Group doesn’t operate as a one-stop-shop for clients, rather it believes in the strengths of each individual agency to alone or in combination with other member agencies deliver a relevant proposition.
"The job of the group is to bring together the right group of specialists to attend to the precise issue or opportunity facing our clients
"Each client will need a different set of skills and mix of disciplines. The client gets to assemble from our group what is needed in the particular circumstances. Our clients can be assured that the commercial proposition of our agencies doesn’t have to cover the costs of a large bureaucratic group overhead."
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