Somethin' Else Restructures

Somethin’ Else, the BAFTA-winning content agency, has announced a major restructure with the lead creative and strategic team from Omnicom’s Drum, Ben Kerr and Mark Rivers, joining as equity partners. 

The duo join in a strategic move that will enable Somethin' Else to blend top-class ad agency brand strategy and creativity with its established, multi-platform production skills to become one of the UK’s largest independent branded content agencies. Somethin’ Else will continue to work with advertising agency partners but their focus will now be to extend their remit and become the retained content agency for brands.

Somethin’ Else currently reaches over 7 million people in the UK every week with its award-winning multi-platform work across the BBC (radio, TV and online), Channel 4, YouTube, the App Store and beyond. Its work includes Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review, interactive and social media content for The BRIT Awards, The Ronnie Wood Show on Sky, the management of YouTube sensations Dan & Phil, specialist music shows for Radio 1, the mobile game Papa Sangre, Gardeners’ Question Time and online video content for Red Bull, Virgin and Foxy Bingo. In the past two years, awards for its content have included Interactive BAFTAs, Cannes Lions, SONY Radio Awards and D&ADs. At the end of 2013 it won the Children’s BAFTA for Company of the Year for its games, online and TV work.

Currently Creative Director and Deputy Creative Director respectively at Drum, Kerr will be Executive Creative Director and Rivers Head of Content for Brands at Somethin' Else. Their brief is to create long-term content strategies for brands, using their strategic and creative expertise to capitalise on the storytelling, programme-making and format creation talent at Somethin’ Else, offering clients a new type of agency able to offer complete content solutions from strategy to delivery.

Both Kerr and Rivers spent six years at Drum leading the agency’s creative output for brands such as O2, PlayStation, Boots, Sainsbury’s and Cadbury. During this period the pair won over 30 awards for their cutting edge work including Cannes Lions Branded Content Awards, Campaign, Media Week Grand Prix and Marketing Week Engage awards.

Jez Nelson, CEO and Founder of Somethin’ Else said of the appointment: "This is such an exciting partnership because Ben and Mark are undoubtedly two of content marketing’s most experienced strategists and creatives.

Together we recognised an opportunity to create a new kind of offering, one that better serves advertisers by offering them an agency that truly understands audiences. By combining Ben and Mark’s knowledge of creating content strategy for brands and Somethin’ Else’s ability to create on-going loved content formats, we believe we have created a truly different proposition. Content marketing needs to stand out against all content, not just that created by other brands. We are a business that understands audiences across a wide range of demographics and interests and we will be giving advertisers the opportunity to work with over 50 multi-platform producers whose work is engaged with and loved by over 7 million people each week.”

Ben Kerr said: “Somethin’ Else is an audience business rather than an advertising business. It’s hugely exciting to be able to offer their alternative experience to brands. Across multiple subjects and platforms they know how to create content that attracts an audience and sustain it, because it’s what they do week after week. One of the hardest things for a brand to do with content is to maintain an audience once the media budget has run out. Using their experience of working with brands such as the BBC and The BRIT Awards, Somethin’ Else are experts in creating content and using social media to go with it as a means of nurturing a large and loyal community of users. Mark and I can’t wait to join and add our strategy knowledge for brands to the team’s 20 years experience of creating content and managing audiences.” 

Kerr joins Somethin’ Else on 10th February, with Rivers joining in March 2014. Ben Kerr will become a director of the company alongside Chairman Tom Barnicoat, CEO Jez Nelson, MD Steve Ackerman and Chief Creative Officer Paul Bennun, whilst Rivers will join the senior management team.