The Ingenuity Group Introduces Ingenuity+

The Ingenuity Group, the UK’s biggest connector of brands  with agencies and agencies with brands, today announces the rebrand of its  intermediary service; now known as Ingenuity+.  

Richard Robinson and Gill Huber are joining Duncan Wood, Dominic Glenn and the rest of Ingenuity+ team in what marks a significant development for The  Ingenuity Group. 

Ingenuity has been a market leader in Intermediary services for some time, and  now seeks to consolidate this position and significantly grow the service, utilising  its strategically appointed senior team. Robinson and Huber join Ingenuity+ from  Future Factory, part of The Ingenuity Group, where they’ve been working since  leaving Oystercatchers earlier this year.  

Ingenuity+ forms a key pillar within the fast-growing Ingenuity Group, with a  mission to radically improve the process of connecting brands with agencies,  regardless of size, discipline or location.  

It was devised following research commissioned by Ingenuity into the future plans of 500 senior brand-side marketers, which showed the need for a radical reset of  how brands and agencies connect. Despite nine in 10 respondents saying they want  to work with an intermediary when searching for an agency, these marketers also  said they were currently faced with an inflexible model based on a rigid ‘search and  selection’ approach.  

The findings were clear that CMOs want Intermediary services to do three things:  be an expert voice; provide a bespoke solution; and offer trusted guidance. Ingenuity+ will focus on delivering all three. 

Ingenuity+ is the latest addition to the rapidly growing Ingenuity Group, founded  by Chris Kemp, which also includes Future Factory, Reg & Co, MAD//FEST and  MAD//Masters. Robinson joins the Exco of the group and will be reporting into  Kemp. 

Richard Robinson, executive director, Ingenuity+ said, “Ingenuity has conducted the largest study into what CMOs want from the  Intermediary market, concluding a new model is needed to deliver against the real  needs of brands, and not just their needs from a decade ago. 

Through the research gathered it has become apparent there is a disconnect  between what senior, brand-side marketers and agencies mean by a ‘pitch’. While  most agencies think pitches still mean a fully comprehensive process, brands are 

in fact looking for greater flexibility in terms of the processes available to find and  select their agency partners. The development of Ingenuity+ allows us to plug this  gap and make sure that brands and agencies are talking to each other in the right  way, at the right time, and always coming together through the right process to  grow value for all”. 

Gill Huber, managing director, Ingenuity+, added, “Ingenuity’s research clearly showed that 69% of marketers will ‘definitely’ be  pitching in the next 12 months and another 29% will probably be. There is an urgent  need for an agile, expert and experienced intermediary solution. Enter Ingenuity+; with decades of combined and broad experience we are able to offer expert and  bespoke solutions to help guide brands and agencies through the right pitch  process.” 

Duncan Wood, managing director - Growth, commented, "I'm delighted Gill and Richard are joining the team and am looking forward to  working closely with them to grow our Intermediary business and continue the  great work we do to connect brands with agencies across the whole country. There  are great opportunities ahead for brands and agencies alike to come together and  grow together".