Marketing group MSQ is planning a major assault on the multi-billion pound business-to-business market with the launch of a dedicated agency, housing nearly 800 staff across 12 global offices, to challenge the likes of Merkle B2B, Iris, Gravity Global and Endelman.
MSQ B2B will bring together expertise from across the group, including agencies Freemavens, Holmes & Marchant, Stack, The Gate and Twentysix, and offer end-to-end creative, tech and data-led marketing capabilities for businesses across the globe.
It immediately becomes one of the world’s largest B2B agencies, ranking fifth globally in B2B Marketing’s 2021 B2B Marketing Agency Benchmarking Report.
The agency will be spearheaded by Tom Stein, the founder of MSQ’s global B2B agency Stein IAS, who takes on the new title of chairman of MSQ B2B. Stein launched Stein + Partners in 1985 and 30 years later it was merged with MSQ’s IAS B2B Marketing, creating Stein IAS.
Stein, who will retain his role as chairman and chief client officer at Stein IAS, is one of the most respected figures in the B2B industry, and in 2017 was inducted into Association of National Advertisers’ B2B Hall of Fame.
He will work closely with MSQ executive director Kate Howe, who prior to joining the group spent five years as the chair and CEO of Gyro UK (part of Merkle B2B), a three-time BMA Global B2B Agency of the Year.
MSQ B2B has been designed to complement MSQ’s existing agencies. Each agency, including Stein IAS, will continue to operate under its own brand and proposition, but will also work together for brands looking for a bespoke agency designed to meet their B2B marketing needs.
Stein said: “The watchwords of the past year have been empathy, agility and transformation. And having been involved in B2B for more than three decades, I’ve not experienced a period of time where B2B has undergone such a rapid evolution.
“B2B brands today are seeking a more relevant agency model. They need scale and broad capability – but they also need that capability applied in a more agile way, one that’s completely synced to their specific needs now and as they evolve. They require deep expertise in technology and data – but they also need to communicate and connect with humanity and empathy, with emotional intelligence. That’s why MSQ B2B has been born – to use the collective capabilities of multiple award-winning agencies to provide the right blend of solutions to help build brands today and over time.”
Howe added: “This is all about new ways of partnering with brands to drive business outcomes. We understand clients need flexibility and transparency and we have significant experience working with clients this way already, including joining them in-house for extended periods of time.
“By joining-up all of our B2B expertise we can deliver consistent and connected customer experiences across every touch point in the journey, helping marketers and brands behave with the empathy, coherence and integrity they need to thrive in the digital economy. Customers don’t experience your brand in a silo so why manage it that way?”
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