Earlier this year, we unveiled a new agency structure to enable us to create ideas that earn brands a greater share of people’s lives. One of the key launches was XMP – our brand-new cross-channel team that delivers truly audience-centric media planning.
We recently sat down with Vicky Fox, Head of XMP, who talks about the team, how they work and the brilliant output OMD UK’s clients are already seeing.
So Vicky…you’ve worked in media for a number of years now. What is it about XMP that is so different?
Thanks for reminding me how long I’ve been in media! Really appreciate that…
Firstly, it’s important to say that the art of finding and influencing audiences is becoming increasingly complex. People have infinite means of accessing content, across multiple media and platforms, all of the time so we need to work around that.
What ultimately helps the XMP team address this and sets us apart from the rest is that we’re not just paying lip service to digital integration. We’re challenged to deliver in-channel expertise alongside cross-channel rigour, in all media channels.
It’s really exciting and a new challenge because we’re trying to unify offline and online planning techniques, conventions and even definitions. This makes our plans more relevant and helps cement a larger share of people’s lives for our clients.
Compared to previous experience, is there a clear distinction in how clients work with you?
We’ve noticed that clients are really engaged with the output of the XMP team. This is because we use a wide range of research techniques to ground the media plans in audience behaviour, which gives clients the confidence when making media decisions that evolve their plans year-on-year.
We also try to make media plans easier to digest by bringing the old ‘excel plan’ to life using data visualisation and infographics. In short, we’re making information beautiful.
Are there any examples of this new way of working being put into practice?
The obvious one that springs to mind is constantly evolving AV planning. Every single piece of new learning and research goes back into our planning framework so that we never stand still.
For example:
- We’re looking beyond incremental 1+ coverage and focusing on the best channels to re-balance frequency distribution
- We’re identifying the most effective blend of Long Form VOD and Short Form VOD depending on Linear TVs ability to drive coverage across different months
- And we are constantly evaluating what a ‘view’ is. At what point does an impression turn into a view and how do these definitions impact on coverage and frequency measures?
And finally…where do you see the media industry in five years’ time?
Who knows what the future will look like – our industry is evolving at such a rapid pace. But I have no doubt that well executed media ideas will transcend technological development.
For example, we recently worked on the brilliant McCafé Moments campaign with McDonald’s, delivering hyper contextual TV advertising that talks about iconic TV moments as they happen. This was a simple idea that was incredibly effective and got people talking about McCafé.
I’d also like to see more single-source research. I’m sure by 2020, BARB’s Project Dovetail will be helping to shape the new future of TV viewing.