McCann Manchester Launches New Capability to Help Challenger Brands Shine Brighter

Image from left to right, Sara Prowse CEO at UA92, Tim Ainsworth from McCann Manchester and Professor Gary Pritchard, chief academic officer 

McCann Manchester has launched McCann Experience a brand new proposition, planning approach and suite of products to accelerate marketing effectiveness.

Led by executive director, Tim Ainsworth, McCann Experience will help brands to “shine bright and grow faster” by optimising the total brand experience.

Tim, who joined the agency (recognised for its global effectiveness credentials) in 2022, said, “Our mission with McCann Experience is to help the challenger brands of today to become the brand icons of tomorrow and that commands a fresh approach to take us to 2030 and beyond.”

He continued, “As the digital landscape matured, the playing field levelled off and we now find ourselves chasing after marginal gains. That’s a big problem for challenger brands that thrive through distinctiveness and whose investments are already being squeezed by market forces.”

According to WARC brands with a strongly integrated brand experience command 79% higher purchase intent and an average of 45 more Net Promoter Score points than those with a lesser experience.

McCann Experience is comprised of three key platforms. Brand Vibrancy Score (BVS) is a live platform that enables the team to audit the quality of the existing total brand experience and predict accelerators of performance. Audience Vibrancy Score (AVS) is a real-time audience intelligence platform that uses live data to match people and disposable income to brands and its products. Finally, these are powered by Constellation Planning, an approach that defines how a brand’s experience should spark, influence and interact with each other to accelerate growth.

McCann launched the proposition last week at UA92’s Business School in Manchester’s city centre. McCann has a three-year partnership with the disruptor university, set up by the Class of 92 and Lancaster University.

The agency has extended this partnership with the co-creation and co-delivery of a new Digital Marketing degree – launching in September – to be championed by McCann and its Experience team.

Sara Prowse, UA92 CEO commented, “We are thrilled to be working at the cutting edge of digital marketing with the experts at McCann Manchester; this very unique and innovative degree will fuel the regional digital talent pipeline with a stream of work ready graduates. The combination of character and personal development from our 92 Programme and future-proofed curriculum content devised and delivered by our academic experts and McCann Experience team will deliver a hugely valuable cohort of digital marketing graduates.

“Our founding principles are accessibility, social mobility and inclusivity; we’re committed to making higher education accessible to all no matter the background and offer support and financial packages to underpin these commitments, making the career of dreams attainable to many.”

Tim added, “At a time when the digital skills shortage is widely reported, we are thrilled to be able to share our practical knowledge with the next generation of marketing superstars.”

McCann Manchester has recently opened a new office at Annex, Quay St, Manchester.