Mediacom repositions and appoints branded entertainment head
Mediacom has announced a repositioning of the media agency in a bid to “reconnect with consumers”, while also announcing its first major hire since the start of its restructure last month.
Gemma Newland, managing director of TBWA UK’s branded entertainment arm and former MTV Networks Europe vice president, has been appointed to head the new division MBA (Mediacom Beyond Advertising).
Focusing on branded entertainment, she will be joined by a head of innovation and technology, a new role which is yet to be filled.
Newland, who commences tomorrow, has most recently come from Stream in the UK, the branded content operation of TBWA, where she spearheaded the GT Academy. It saw Nissan Europe and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe team up to create a new racing competition.
The GT Academy, which initially launched in Europe in 2008 has now been rolled out into other countries including Australia and New Zealand.
Newland’s appointment is the first management role to be filled as part of Mediacom’s move to switch focus from media buying to strategy, led by CEO Toby Jenner.
Meanwhile, the agency has unveiled its repositioning as a “real world agency”. Mediacom chief strategy officer Mat Baxter said it reflects the new way the agency will work.
“Real world means about getting us connected back and understanding what’s going on with culture and the marketplace and how consumers react to what we produce. A lot of agencies have become very disconnected with the people they market to,” Baxter told Mumbrella.
“We’re now also relying less on syndicated tools like Roy Morgan and doing more of our own research. We’ll be doing regular bespoke research to help create solutions for clients.”
The agency launched its Real World Street research panel at the end of last year, which consists of 90 households in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
“They are available to us all the time. It’s ethnographic research that we can drop brands into and see how households react to them,” Baxter said.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Reads like an OMD press release from 5 years ago
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@Tim. Who is this new Gezza ? I am the one and only Gezza.
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I can confirm that Gezza (with a cap G) posts from a different IP from gezza with a lower case g)…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
pistols at dawn?
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a panel of 90 homes across 3 markets huh! Wonder what the relative standard error might be?
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@Network – I smell “pitchware”…. your question should should read “relative errors standard”…but sounds good on the day huh
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This is possibly the worst piece of media positioning strategy I have seen in the last decade. God help their clients if this is the best they can do for themselves.
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It’s not ethnographic research. That would involve living with the family or at least spending seveal hours with them quietly observing them. A panel is something very different
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MBA focusing on strategy? Next we’ll see more agencies getting rebranded educationally into BSC, MPHIL, MA, PHD, oh wait a minute PHD is already taken …
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Renamed to avoid shooting at dawn by Gezza
Came across this somewhere else today (not to be named )…..
BRANDED CONTENT BRANDED RISKY FOR ADVERTISERS
The high cost of producing high-quality branded TV content sees it continue to be treated like a “third cousin” by broadcasters and occupy off-peak time slots, a panel of TV experts said today.
Slotted in nicely to this thread. Seems like every aspect of the above strategy (and associated PR) is ill conceived
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