I’ve recently come back from a couple of days in the north,
where I had breakfast, lunch and dinner with most of our agency partners in
that part of the world.
As ever, leaving the London
smog and arriving in Manchester, I get a real
buzz from the sense of community you get when talking to media agencies in the
creative hubs of Leeds and Manchester
- it offers something you don’t get in the capital. The industry really seems
to pull together to present the north as a region of fantastic creativity and
world-leading service in digital, while still retaining their competitive
spirit. Perhaps it’s not fashionable to segment regions these days as the
Internet has few geographical boundaries, but it’s something I’ve definitely
observed.
Because of the heritage of direct response
advertising, the North has adapted to the science of search marketing very well.
Agencies there have taken ideas of best practice and shared goals and are often
ahead of the game when it comes to their southern counterparts – a bit like
their football team (and that’s coming from a Chelsea supporter). For
example, many agencies in the north, such as Brilliant Media, Latitude and
Mediavest, have set up teams to monitor user click paths and site usability, an
area we see as integral to the success of search.
The challenge for the northern agencies, as I see it,
is to take the great reputation they’ve built through search and apply that
experience to the fast developing online video and interest based display
market, keeping the London
agencies on their toes. I’m looking forward to being invited back to the
Manchester office this summer for a swift round of golf and to learn of more
progress in this vibrant digital region so I can take the learnings back with
me to London and spread the word.
