The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from LONDON Advertising is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.
LONDON Advertising
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
22 | RIZKMCCAY
and become part of their teams to
deliver successful projects. Secondly,
the meticulous planning of our work
and our pipeline on a weekly, monthly
and quarterly basis provides us with
the foresight and knowledge to pre-
empt any issues.
The diversity of our clients and sectors,
and the regional spread in which we
operate, also ensured our market
position at a time of great uncertainty
and allowed us to maintain and grow
our business operations in an arena
where some of our competitors have
significantly reduced or collapsed.
Nurturing creative teams
We believe creativity is at the heart of
any successful business, and it needs
to be nurtured. We have a core team
of designers and marketers, who are
incredibly creative; many have been
with us for over ten years. We also
bring in interns throughout the year,
and trusted freelance designers to
assist with the workload. A cross-
fertilisation of creativity always helps to
generate fresh ideas.
We know that hierarchies can
cause problems in creative teams
– particularly in bureaucratic
organisations. Team members can look
to their superiors for approval and this
tends to result in generating ideas to
please superiors rather than generating
ideas that are truly creative.
At RizkMcCay, we work hard to
establish basic team rules that
encourage trust and openness.
Creative thought, no matter how
well it’s articulated, is crucial, and
each person, no matter their rank,
needs to trust that they will not be
ridiculed or judged for ideas that on
first assessment could appear random
or irrelevant.Creative thought is at its
best when it’s spontaneous and free of
anynegativity or judgment.
Looking to the future
The world has embraced the digital
revolution, and we are living in a
time when the methods for reaching
customers have become more
fragmented and more technical. This is
no bad thing.
There is, however, equity in the
traditional forms of marketing, and
agencies like us understand that
these methods can complement the
ever-changing and engaging digital
developments. No matter how it’s
delivered, marketing and design are
about providing a personal experience,
and in keeping with this, we ensure
that people remain at the heart of all
our work.
A cross-
fertilisation of
creativity
always helps
to generate
fresh ideas
“
“
The RizkMcCay team
23LONDON ADVERTISING |
DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA & SPORT
CEO Michael Moszynski
Our Fans
by Peter Blake
In 2008, Michael Moszynski and Alan Jarvie, two founding
partners of M&C Saatchi, risked secure, well-paid jobs to
launch a new type of global advertising agency, in the eye
of the global financial storm. Their vision was to disrupt the
industry by delivering London-quality creative anywhere in
the world from one office, so they called the agency LONDON
Advertising. They tell
The Parliamentary Review
more.
We recognised that clients across the globe believed the best advertising came
out of London and that by using the internet to develop and distribute work, we
did not need the overhead of local offices like a traditional network agency. Our
mission is to create “One Brilliant Idea” for each client that works in any media, in
any language and in any market.
Bold vision, boldly delivered
In the ten years since launch we have:
»Created work that has run in more markets than WPP has offices
»Generated the highest advertising ROI for our clients in their categories
»Been appointed by global businesses on every continent, beating the likes of
McCann, Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi, JWT, BBH and M&C Saatchi
»Become the only agency to have been awarded Agency of the Year by Europe’s
largest marketing publication four years in a row
»Developed our building, LONDON House, to win the RIBA Award for the Best
Office in the UK
FACTS ABOUT
LONDON ADVERTISING
»CEO: Michael Moszynski
»Established in 2008
»Based in London
»Services: Global advertising
agency
»No. of employees: 22
»The Drum, Europe’s largest
marketing publication, has
awarded us Agency of the
Year for the last four years
LONDON Advertising
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
24 | LONDON ADVERTISING
»Run a competition with a £100,000
prize to find the best digital talent,
incubated the winner and secured
£4 million investment, making it the
most funded tech start-up in Europe
»Achieved an average margin over
ten years four times higher than the
industry average.
In the past 12 months we have won
a global Silicon Valley Tech brand, a
pan-European mobile operator and
are currently running the Nigerian
Presidential campaign.
At a time when the UK needs to
demonstrate its ability to innovate,
build its creative industries and
compete globally, we show what is
possible. With the uncertainties of
Brexit, the fact that 92 per cent of
our revenue is ex-UK, or EU, is, we
hope, a cause for confidence for
other businesses. Our work, created in
London by our team of 22 people, has
been executed in 36 languages and
135 countries.
A new approach to
international expansion
As a result of disrupting the approach
of our industry, we have bucked the
trend of its long decline in profitability
by posting financial results with a
profit margin four times higher than
the average UK advertising agency.
We achieve this not by marking up
production costs – in fact, we offer
our clients 100 per cent transparency
in pricing – but by stripping out
the outdated overheads of local
offices. Our business development
strategy is to establish “embassies”
in key regional hubs, staffed by our
“ambassadors”, acting as a local
point of contact through which clients
can access our core proposition of
“London-quality creative”.
Our ambassador to the Middle East
has helped secure a number of new
client wins including Saudi Telecom,
Muscat Insurance and Piramal, one of
India’s largest conglomerates valued
at $10 billion. Our ambassador to
Africa has helped secure a number
of new client wins including Harrods,
UBS, Nigerian National Lottery, the
Nigerian Presidential election and
Invest Africa.
An exemplar of our model in
action: Mandarin Oriental
Luxury hotel advertising usually focuses
on the product: beautiful hotel rooms,
doormen and lobbies. The result was
that all the ads looked the same, so
no one could remember the brand
advertising. It also seemed obvious to
us that a guest who would be willing
to spend over £1,000 per night on
a room expects these aspects, so to
advertise them would be a waste
ofmoney.
Leading Chinese
photographer Chen
Man
At a time when
the UK needs
to demonstrate
its ability to
innovate, build
its creative
industries and
compete
globally, we
show what is
possible
“
“
25LONDON ADVERTISING |
DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA & SPORT
We asked our client, Mandarin
Oriental, to provide us with a list of
their VIP guests and they gave us a
veritable who’s who of the world’s
movers and shakers.
This led to our strategy: the rich and
famous – who can afford to stay
anywhere – choose to stay at Mandarin
Oriental. This led naturally to a
testimonial-style campaign. However, the
problem is that people often remember
the celebrity, not the brand. Our creative
leap was to link the client’s iconic fan
logo with the line “He’s a fan”.
The next challenge was how to get
top talent which typically would cost
more than the client’s total advertising
budget? We said, somewhat unusually,
that we would not pay them. We
wanted them to be genuine fans, so
instead we would offer a $10,000
charity donation and ten room nights
for each year we use their images and
videos that we shoot with them.
Remarkably, we have managed to
sign 45 leaders in their fields including
Morgan Freeman, Lucy Liu, Dame
Darcey Bussell, Christian Louboutin and
the world’s most followed man Chen
Kun, who has 90 million followers on
social media.
By using the cache and credibility of
new fans to reach new guests in new
markets rather than focusing on the
product, the campaign has always
remained relevant and spearheads all
the brand’s marketing communications.
Our fan campaign has helped Mandarin
Oriental to grow by over 700 per cent,
from a small Asian hotel group with
just seven properties, to a leading
luxury brand with over 50 properties
across theglobe.
The LONDON culture
We have created a strong culture
across the agency by adopting
Churchill’s mantra of “Never give
up. Never give up. Never give up.”
Our client wanted to hide the ugly
scaffolding on the front of Mandarin
Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge during
its renovation, but Westminster
Council does not allow any advertising
on buildings in central London.
Our team spent 18 months negotiating
with Westminster Council to secure
planning permission for a poster
which we described as civic art. We
commissioned Sir Peter Blake to create
a collage based on our fan advertising
campaign, which was the size of 38
double decker buses. We then got 100
of the hotel’s celebrity fans to appear
on it for free. By not giving up our
team was able to get a poster up in a
location where advertising is banned
that generated £8 million in media,
social and PR value for our client from
a £30,000 spend.
We have
created a
strong culture
by adopting
Churchill’s
mantra of
‘Never give up.
Never give up.
Never give up.’
“
“
Oscar winner Rami
Malek
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
24 | LONDON ADVERTISING
»Run a competition with a £100,000
prize to find the best digital talent,
incubated the winner and secured
£4 million investment, making it the
most funded tech start-up in Europe
»Achieved an average margin over
ten years four times higher than the
industry average.
In the past 12 months we have won
a global Silicon Valley Tech brand, a
pan-European mobile operator and
are currently running the Nigerian
Presidential campaign.
At a time when the UK needs to
demonstrate its ability to innovate,
build its creative industries and
compete globally, we show what is
possible. With the uncertainties of
Brexit, the fact that 92 per cent of
our revenue is ex-UK, or EU, is, we
hope, a cause for confidence for
other businesses. Our work, created in
London by our team of 22 people, has
been executed in 36 languages and
135 countries.
A new approach to
international expansion
As a result of disrupting the approach
of our industry, we have bucked the
trend of its long decline in profitability
by posting financial results with a
profit margin four times higher than
the average UK advertising agency.
We achieve this not by marking up
production costs – in fact, we offer
our clients 100 per cent transparency
in pricing – but by stripping out
the outdated overheads of local
offices. Our business development
strategy is to establish “embassies”
in key regional hubs, staffed by our
“ambassadors”, acting as a local
point of contact through which clients
can access our core proposition of
“London-quality creative”.
Our ambassador to the Middle East
has helped secure a number of new
client wins including Saudi Telecom,
Muscat Insurance and Piramal, one of
India’s largest conglomerates valued
at $10 billion. Our ambassador to
Africa has helped secure a number
of new client wins including Harrods,
UBS, Nigerian National Lottery, the
Nigerian Presidential election and
Invest Africa.
An exemplar of our model in
action: Mandarin Oriental
Luxury hotel advertising usually focuses
on the product: beautiful hotel rooms,
doormen and lobbies. The result was
that all the ads looked the same, so
no one could remember the brand
advertising. It also seemed obvious to
us that a guest who would be willing
to spend over £1,000 per night on
a room expects these aspects, so to
advertise them would be a waste
ofmoney.
Leading Chinese
photographer Chen
Man
At a time when
the UK needs
to demonstrate
its ability to
innovate, build
its creative
industries and
compete
globally, we
show what is
possible
“
“
25LONDON ADVERTISING |
DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA & SPORT
We asked our client, Mandarin
Oriental, to provide us with a list of
their VIP guests and they gave us a
veritable who’s who of the world’s
movers and shakers.
This led to our strategy: the rich and
famous – who can afford to stay
anywhere – choose to stay at Mandarin
Oriental. This led naturally to a
testimonial-style campaign. However, the
problem is that people often remember
the celebrity, not the brand. Our creative
leap was to link the client’s iconic fan
logo with the line “He’s a fan”.
The next challenge was how to get
top talent which typically would cost
more than the client’s total advertising
budget? We said, somewhat unusually,
that we would not pay them. We
wanted them to be genuine fans, so
instead we would offer a $10,000
charity donation and ten room nights
for each year we use their images and
videos that we shoot with them.
Remarkably, we have managed to
sign 45 leaders in their fields including
Morgan Freeman, Lucy Liu, Dame
Darcey Bussell, Christian Louboutin and
the world’s most followed man Chen
Kun, who has 90 million followers on
social media.
By using the cache and credibility of
new fans to reach new guests in new
markets rather than focusing on the
product, the campaign has always
remained relevant and spearheads all
the brand’s marketing communications.
Our fan campaign has helped Mandarin
Oriental to grow by over 700 per cent,
from a small Asian hotel group with
just seven properties, to a leading
luxury brand with over 50 properties
across theglobe.
The LONDON culture
We have created a strong culture
across the agency by adopting
Churchill’s mantra of “Never give
up. Never give up. Never give up.”
Our client wanted to hide the ugly
scaffolding on the front of Mandarin
Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge during
its renovation, but Westminster
Council does not allow any advertising
on buildings in central London.
Our team spent 18 months negotiating
with Westminster Council to secure
planning permission for a poster
which we described as civic art. We
commissioned Sir Peter Blake to create
a collage based on our fan advertising
campaign, which was the size of 38
double decker buses. We then got 100
of the hotel’s celebrity fans to appear
on it for free. By not giving up our
team was able to get a poster up in a
location where advertising is banned
that generated £8 million in media,
social and PR value for our client from
a £30,000 spend.
We have
created a
strong culture
by adopting
Churchill’s
mantra of
‘Never give up.
Never give up.
Never give up.’
“
“
Oscar winner Rami
Malek