Sales and marketing agencies join forces
A pair of Yorkshire-founded agencies are merging to create “Matter”, which will help companies in the business-to-business sector deliver profitable business growth.
Ampli and NERVE will bring together their expertise in B2B sales and B2B marketing to create a turn-key solution for businesses looking to transform their sales growth.
Both agencies will continue to operate as individual brands, as well as working jointly on clients under parent brand Matter.
Matter, which will be headquartered in Leeds, is forecast to deliver £3m in fee income in year one, growing to £8m within five years.
It will connect sales and digital marketing efforts into a continuous loop, using machine learning and exclusive AI tech, as an accelerator for growth. The company employs 35 people but expects to double this to 70 within the next two years.
The organisation has already made several key appointments. Tosh Balding joins Matter from Leeds-based digital agency IMA Home as chief operating officer and Ben Freer joins Ampli from Golley Slater as client services director.
Other key board members include Paul Roberts (director of media + ad tech), Phill Midwinter (chief technology officer) and Rob Conway (sales director).
Michael Ward, formerly MD of Home Agency in Leeds, and Jason Horsman, formerly MD of Golley Slater, are the majority shareholders of Matter while remaining as CEO of NERVE and Ampli respectively.
The deal also sees the two agencies gain exclusivity to advanced machine learning products, notably Prospect Intelligence.io, designed by cutting edge AI tech company Third Foundation.
Horsman said: “We genuinely believe Matter will offer B2B clients something new and different in an overcrowded and siloed agency marketplace.
“So many traditional B2B marketing agencies are disconnected from the sales process and similarly many sales agencies are disconnected from the marketing effort.
“Only when you align the two and bring in next gen tech to accelerate the process will you experience rapid and sustainable B2B sales growth.”
Ward added: “There is a noticeable disconnect between B2B sales and marketing departments up and down the country which we’re on a mission to solve.
“By unifying our sales and marketing propositions, both with AI at their core, we’re removing waste and helping B2B organisations operate smarter, more efficiently and most importantly, more profitably.”
