Holly Martin, the founder of Newcastle-based agency The Marketing GP, has decided against selling to a holding company.
Instead she has appointed her second in command, Alyssa Brault, a co-owner.
Martin told AdNews that clients now want to know how to market themselves to potential employees.
“Because post covid shifted to an employee market, they're not just marketing what they do, but they're marketing it to potential employees as well,” Martin said.
“Also working in the space of businesses who have sales teams and having realised that they don't have the necessary systems and structures in place.
“Maybe they've been really successful, but they can't get to that next growth stage. We’re one of the few marketing agencies that looks at that sales enablement.”
The Marketing GP began with Martin running a solo consultancy from her laptop in 2012, which has now evolved into a firm delivering everything from C-suite advisory services to hands-on campaign execution for Australian businesses.
“Alyssa has been instrumental in shaping The Marketing GP, and together we’ve built a team and culture that we’re incredibly proud of," Martin said.
"Making the partnership official means our clients benefit from even greater depth of expertise and shared leadership.
"The typical agency story is either grow and sell, or stay small. We're doing neither.
"Alyssa and I have been operating as partners in everything but paperwork for years. This just makes official what our clients and team already knew."
Brault said the focus remains on the agency's integrated service model - a counterpoint to the industry's increasing specialisation.
"We're seeing clients frustrated by having to coordinate multiple agencies and freelancers," Brault said.
"Our pitch is simple: one team, full accountability, long-term partnership.
“What excites me most about this new chapter is that we’re doubling down on what makes us different - our approach towards providing all marketing services from one team, commitment to long-term partnerships and to being the team businesses can truly rely on."
Martin said the biggest change in clients requests in the last twelve months is the growing knowledge and implementation of AI.
“Clients want to understand how they can work smarter, not harder. They’re still going to want that strategic help and an agency who can do some of the things they can't do themselves," she said.
“But also wanting to understand how they can be leveraging AI.”
While AI becomes part of the growth sphere, Martin said the next focus plan is to enhance the companies CMO services.
“It’s something that we've been doing for years, but never as a separate service offering,” she said.
“This means supporting CMOS who might need to bounce ideas off an external expert, or have an external strategist coming to realign their team, provide training or mentorship.
“This service offering is something that will form part of our growth plans.
“CMOs aren't doing everything, but they need to have that foundational understanding of such a broader range of things.”
"So that's where we've seen ourselves coming in. We've got a whole bunch of specialists, but where we're talking to other industries, we're finding out about new tools and approaches across the industry."
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