The Works moves into messaging market with new tech start-up
The Works new start-up aims to tap into the growth of instant messaging
Sydney agency The Works has launched a tech start-up aimed at capturing the growing instant messaging market which is becoming more popular than traditional social media platforms.
The agency is launching On Message, which will tap into apps such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, Slack and Facebook messenger to give advertisers a new avenue to consumers.
On Message will launch with three staff although the agency has not revealed any clients yet.
The Works partner, Douglas Nichol, said the new division would aim to get advertisers to rethink their approach to creative in the messaging space.
“The shift in platform popularity has caught many marketers off guard and they are unaware on how to best engage their customers who are moving from being a wider audience to becoming an individual,” Nichol said.
“If we look to China and the success of WeChat you can see a future where brand engagement, customer service and e-commerce has become one seamless and open ecosystem, a shift that we can already see with consumers and their social media behaviour in Australia.”
Nichol said that the growth of messaging apps as a central part of the way people were now communicating had created an as yet untapped opportunity for brands to engage with consumers in new ways.
“This is so much more than a new version of SMS, it is a tectonic shift in how apps are developed and used,” he said.
“Chat platforms are the next great outlet where brands integrate their services and engagement into the customer’s message stream eliminating the once hard to manage, stand-alone brand apps.”
Although no clients for the new division have been announced, he said that the agency was in discussions with a number of its clients about using On Message.
The division will be headed by head of digital production, Dave Flanagan and creative technologist David Ganley. The agency is also in the midst of a recruitment drive for more staff.
Smart move..
Well done Dave G.
User ID not verified.
With a guy like Dave Ganley, they’ve made a step in the right direction.
User ID not verified.
But it’s not a tech startup it’s a digital agency service.
User ID not verified.