Agency Profile: Murmur

I had been living with my girlfriend/now wife (Marija) in London, and she had started a small consultative agency in the early years of our working in Europe and tentatively called it Lollipop Marketing. Outside of my corporate role as a marketer, in evenings I would help her out in her agency, and increasingly became more and more interested in working for ourselves and going out alone, but the name Lollipop Marketing, always struck me as a little odd - it sounded like a marketing agency for child care centres or something... So we were on holiday in Split, sailing down the Croatian coast, and after a week of total relaxation, like all great ideas - I was asleep one night, and woke at 3am to a startling thought that just popped in my head. I woke Marija and said: "Murmur. We're going to call the agency Murmur." She grumbled nonchalantly, grunted something under her breath and went back to sleep. Clearly a lot less impressed than I. I enjoyed 2 x things about the name. Firstly, 'murmur', as a verb, is a verb of communication - which is what we, as marketers do. We communicate, and the murmur of something is generally preceding a louder, much more rapturous noise - and as an agency built for challenger brands, this really resonated with me. Secondly, as a student of creative, I loved the way the word had a repetitive, almost symmetrical name. The 'mur', repeating through the name has always stuck with me.

We are an agency for 'challenger brands'. We don't work with, or want to work with market leaders. We work with brands that want to compete, innovate, and try new methods. None of our clients are #1 in their space, and once we get them to #1 in their space, our work is done.

Dave Levett - Managing Director, Corey Middleton - Client Service Director.

There are only 2 x things that seperate us from any other agency. Anywhere. 1. Our staff. No other agency has the staff that we have, and can give the service that we provide. I'm incredibly proud of the work my staff produce, and we make no apologies for having the high standards of work that we do. 2. Our process. We are an 'insights-led- agency. Unlike many agencies I worked with in London and here in Australia, we always start with research. We spend a lot of time becoming category experts, doing research, gathering data, understanding insight, and then working with our clients to fine tune their "Campaign Objectives" - based off the research that we've done. Then, and only then, do we start working out what strategies we need to employ. We're truly, an insights-led agency.

We're a strategic marketing agency for Challenger Brands. We help our clients with:

1. Strategy - Market-oriented segmentation, targeting & positioning, with clear objectives for the brand through the customer funnel. Facilitating qualitative and quantitative research to smash hypotheses and develop compelling marketing strategy.

2. Media - A truly independent media agency, we build campaigns across all media platforms, publishers, and people to deliver campaigns that hit our clients objectives. Nothing is out of the question, everything that has a touchpoint to a consumer has a place, and a role.

3. Creative - What you're saying to your customer, and how you say it, is far more important than where you say it. Creative trumps media every time, and twice on Sunday's. You can have the best media plan in the world, but if the creative is sh*t and doesn't turn anyone on, your campaign is not going to do a thing.

Giving our clients an honest opinion of their brand, their category, their opportunity, and not being a 'yes' agency. Our favourite client testimonial we've ever received was "No bullshit. Personal service". Just about sums us up.

Western Sydney Wanderers, Capital Brewing Co, Vegeta.

Nothing you would have heard of. We were the exclusive Media agency for the Wanderers for their 2021/22 season, we managed the membership and season ticketing campaigns for Melbourne City FC and Sydney FC. Anything you see in market for Capital Brewing Co, has come through our desks. Vegeta Winter Campaign. Launching the Opel Mobile SafetyPendant in market (due to launch their SmartKids Phone in April. Suprima Bakeries - have you heard of Frozen Dough? It's actually a thing. We manage all their media in AU. Club Connect season launches to get local community clubs purchasing from a centrally controlled distributor.

Vegeta Winter campaign, and the Wanderers 2022 campaign. Both of them have been completely run the way campaigns should be run. Insight led, with consumer research, fuelling a creative idea, and a bespoke media plan, delivering over and above the clients expectations and results.

The close relationship that we have with our clients. Many of our clients are now personal friends, and that's a testament to the way that we've worked with them.

Challenge: Huge lack of skilled staffing shortage. Open the borders, every agency I talk to, is trying to find people, there aren't enough people with the skills required, to service clients demands.

Opportunity: Knowing that digital is not the only answer. Consumers have many touch points with your brand, and funnelling all your budget into digital channels is going to drive your Brand Equity downward.