Agency round-up: Contract secured with car leasing firm; Agency hired by food business; EdTech company recruits Leeds-based specialist; and more

Leeds-based agency, Punch Creative has won a contract with personal car leasing company, ZenAuto

ZenAuto, part of Zenith a UK fleet management business, first launched in February 2018 to meet increasing demand from drivers for personal leasing options. The business operates direct to consumers, not via brokers, and is designed to make it easier for drivers to find and lease their next car.

Punch Creative has been appointed to develop an engaging content marketing strategy which will support the business as they continue to expand.

The Yorkshire agency first came on board to assist with an internal launch.

However, since then its brief has grown to support ZenAuto across a range of cross-channel marketing campaigns. Punch has been responsible for establishing the company’s unique tone of voice and creating a range of content which portrays key USPs, brand personality and company philosophy.

This account win comes after a period of growth for the agency, which has welcomed a number of new clients over the past couple of months, including: PerfectHome, Whitby Seafoods, Rosemont Pharmaceuticals and Heckmondwike FB.

Louise Wright, commercial director at Punch Creative, said: “We’re extremely excited to be working alongside the ZenAuto team to deliver a refreshed marketing strategy.

“It’s great to welcome such a dynamic client, who gives us creative freedom to produce some real top-notch content, which resonates with their target market.

“We have a lot of exciting stuff in the pipeline for 2020 so just watch this space.”

Vicky Kerridge, head of consumer experience and brand at ZenAuto, said: “We don’t sound like your average car leasing company, so it was important to find a partner that understood that and could use it to develop a broad range of campaign activity to help us reach our commercial goals.

“We’ve seen significant growth on social after only a few weeks so we’re really looking forward to keeping that momentum going. Plus, they’re a cracking bunch to work with, which really makes a difference. Roll on 2020.”

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Following its recent acquisition of fish and seafood business Young’s, the Eight Fifty Food Group has appointed Leeds-based PR, social media and brand communications agency Aberfield to manage its corporate and trade communications.

The Eight Fifty Food Group was formed following the Young’s acquisition to unite the brand under a new parent organisation with Karro Food Group, one of the UK’s leading pork processors.

This has resulted in the combined sales for both firms being valued at around £1.2bn.

Aberfield will deliver ongoing trade and corporate PR through proactive media relations, content development and corporate profiling for Karro and Young’s.

This includes managing the trade relations around some of the UK’s favourite fish products, including Young’s Gastro and Chip Shop ranges.

Aberfield will also manage corporate communications for the Eight Fifty Food Group, and crisis and issues management across the group.

Tim Downs, director at Aberfield, said: “The creation of the Eight Fifty Food Group has united two of the UK’s leading food producers, creating a powerhouse in the UK produce market. As a result, the Eight Fifty has now become a lynchpin of the UK meat and fish industries.

“This is a major win for the agency, and one of many since the start of 2019. The Eight Fifty Group fits in well with our existing client roster of British brands and businesses with global reach, including the BBC and CPP Group Plc.”

Di Walker, chief executive at the Eight Fifty Food Group, added: “Aberfield very quickly grasped both sides of the business and showed a depth of knowledge around the market which stood out from the crowd. We really felt their enthusiasm and passion for working with the Eight Fifty Food Group.

“The team has quickly begun to start adding real value and we’re really looking forward to working together in 2020.”

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Learnlight, a global EdTech platform for languages, intercultural and soft skills training has appointed integrated B2B marketing specialist Fox Agency to support its international growth.

Learnlight combines award-winning technology to deliver training online and in person through a blended approach in more than 150 countries, offering solutions to global organisations including IBM, Siemens, Microsoft and Toyota.

Leeds-based Fox Agency will be responsible for building brand awareness and online visibility in key global markets and driving lead generation through integrated activity across multiple channels including content marketing and digital PR.

In addition, it will lead a large-scale digital migration project integrating websites for recently acquired language, soft skills and intercultural skills training providers in the UK, Spain, France and Germany.

Fox Agency won the pitch against several other agencies to be appointed as Learnlight’s lead agency across its global offices.

John Hebden, business development manager at Fox Agency, said: “Learnlight is part of a generation of businesses that have truly harnessed technology to revolutionise the delivery of services to its customers and we are delighted to bring such a forward-thinking global company into our expanding tech portfolio.

“Learnlight chose Fox Agency because of our full-service capability, previous experience of working with a leading language provider Berlitz, and our expertise in integrating marketing communications activity within sales function solutions.”

Emma Buckby, marketing and enablement coordinator at Learnlight, said: “Learnlight has ambitious growth plans to become the world’s leading EdTech provider for language learning and soft skills.

“We’re confident we’ve found the right partners in Fox Agency to help us do this by increasing brand awareness among key decision makers and communicating the intrinsic benefits of our innovative training proposition.”

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Yorkshire-based digital agency Dark Cherry Creative has entered into a partnership with UK marketing automation platform Force24, as the young business gears up for growth in 2020.

Only 18 months into the company’s existence, Dark Cherry Creative has delivered more than 43 marketing, design and web development projects, for clients large and small.

But with all eyes now on the next year, co-founder Richard Mansfield sought a technology-driven solution to further improve the performance of customer communications moving forward.

Now, the award-winning automation platform – pioneered by Leeds-headquartered Force24 – will power the majority of Dark Cherry Creative’s e-mail communications for clients.

Packed with data-rich functionality, Force24 fuels thousands of ultra-personalised communications in only a handful of clicks.

The collaboration will enable the agency’s clients to send exactly the right message, via the right channel, at the right time, to multiple recipients at once, with a managed solution also available should clients need both strategic and creative support.

With vast experience in e-mail marketing, Mansfield was no stranger to Force24. “When we came to invest in next-generation digital marketing performance for our clients, we knew exactly the platform we wanted to partner with and resell,” he said.

“We’ve each utilised various solutions over the years and none are as easy to use or ROI-focused, with the added benefit of being GDPR-compliant, plus UK built and managed.”

Now a five-strong team, Dark Cherry Creative has ambitious aspirations to almost double headcount and boost turnover by 15% within the next three years.

Mansfield added: “Clients come to us needing anything from logo design to a bolt-on marketing department.

“But whatever the budget, the brief is usually the same – clever use of time and creative expertise to drive return on investment. The more business we can help generate for our customers – with the help of Force24 – the greater that ROI soon becomes.”

Force24’s senior account manager Liv Smith and its head automation consultant Graham Davidson will be leading on the Dark Cherry account.

Born and bred in Leeds and now taking on marketing technology giants from Silicon Valley, Force24 is an almost 60-strong team whose clients include household brand names including Worldpay, JML and Hitachi.