iProspect is the world's leading digital performance marketing agency, exceeding in helping brands to understand consumers' intent before harnessing the best digital platforms and systems to engage and convert potential customers.
As one of Manchester’s most iconic agencies we thought we’d catch up with them, speaking with the organisation’s Group Performance Director, Vic McKevitt-Smith, an iProspecter with over sixteen years’ experience in the sector and twelve within the company.
Could you please tell us a little bit more about iProspect as an organisation and your goals as a business?
iProspect was born out of a desire to drive business performance for our clients. We always look to create personalised experiences and drive truly transformational results. Rather than just delivering what client’s asked for, we always try and really make an additional impact.
Our teams are focused on converting people's intent into action – we do this through the integration of all of our experts, from data analysts through to digital channel activation specialists. All of our work is underpinned by client insights and the strategic guidance of the client leadership teams within iProspect.
Our size and scale also means that we can really leverage our world-class media partnerships. That not only gives us and our clients unrivalled access to industry alphas and betas, but also the opportunity to work as a partner, and a true partner I'd say as well, with the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon to advise and shape the products that they offer.
At iProspect, we’re performance focused, of course, but our real goal is really to drive those transformational results for our clients.
And what is your role within the organisation?
I've really grown up at iProspect; joining back in 2008 as an SEO Exec. I'd already had several client and agency roles under my belt by then but I wanted to join the organisation as it was so well renowned within Manchester as a leading agency in Search.
I’d heard that it was setting up its SEO department. That was something I really wanted to be part of. The business has always really invested in young talent and I've always got a buzz out of moving the dial for clients, so the culture really appealed to me.
I eventually got promoted to Head of SEO back in 2010 and that was fantastic, going from being the second person in the team to eventually heading it up and growing it into a big channel. That’s something I’m really proud to have been part of. But my role then, from being Head of SEO, continued to weave into search. When paid social came in, it was branching into these different channels.
As the specialist channels have continued to converge and integrate in recent years, so too has my role, leading to my promotion to Group Performance Director in 2017. The development of the role is really testament to iProspect’s dedication to driving transformational performance for clients.
In the team that I'm in, we primarily work with clients at moments of change. So, if there's a new brief or a new product launch or new year planning or a global pandemic, we really get under the bonnet of how digital channels are working for them; advising on the right mix for the objectives in play. Being positioned between the investment channels and the client leadership team means that we can be truly channel agnostic; recommending the right mix for the client’s end goal.
As Group Performance Director, you must be aware of new innovation in search and display. What things on the horizon that businesses should be aware of?
I think automation, personalisation and integration are three big areas that have been big for a while now, but will continue to grow in importance.
Automation in terms of data mining, bid management, optimisation are already saving our teams loads of time; driving hugely important improvements, efficiencies and campaign performance.
Automation and AI are areas seeing heavy investment and development from the likes of Facebook and Google. At the same time, iProspect focus on innovation of tools to support these areas such as iActivate, an inventory management tool for SA360, Core, a smart bidding tool built on AI and Architect, a keyword mapping tool for SEO.
Interestingly, some people in the industry talk about fearing the development of these kinds of technologies. That they are going to eliminate jobs at a lower level. And I think yes, they are reducing some tasks that were carried out by activation teams but I think rather than it being a negative, it's leaving us time to do what we do best. Contextualising numbers, strategising, empathising with the users and using our imaginations to develop new solutions and opportunities for our clients. I see that as a real positive and it's really making us step up in terms of the people that we need to be hiring as well. It's a really exciting time for recruitment.
And then, in terms of personalisation, we should, in theory, have the tools to personalise this brand experience perfectly. But obviously the recent rise in regulatory and technical challenges have led to concerns about how we're going to do this and leverage data in the future. But I think there's still real areas where we can personalise communication.
From a strategic perspective, I think contextual targeting is going to make a real resurgence.
Looking at where users are in the journey based on what keywords they're using, I think that's going to really come back into play. I think the importance of first-party data is just going to continue to increase, so brands need to ensure that they've got the technical infrastructure to capture this and analyse it as well. We’ve seen a lot of clients who have a wealth of data but they don't know how to use it or analyse it. This, I think, will mean technical partnerships are going to grow, and increase in importance too.
And likewise, as first-party data is going to be increasingly valuable. I think Google, Facebook, Amazon are all going to win out of this. They’ve got so much logged in data at scale. So I think, unfortunately, their dominance in this sector is going to continue for a while.
In terms of integration, we’ll continue to see a convergence of digital channels which really reflects how the users interact with touchpoints across the purchase journey. Our data and analytics teams are already uniting activation in this way, allowing for user first, rather than channel first strategies.
Advances in Dynamic Creative are connecting the dots across Paid Social, Display, VOD and Native, allowing seamless integration in messaging, as well as the ability to update that message as required.
Overall, increased investment and capability in automation, AI and channel integration will become increasingly important.
What can a client expect when they take iProspect on as a partner?
It sounds utterly cliché but I genuinely believe we are a true extension of our client’s teams. That’s never been more visible than how we’re supporting and working together with clients through the current pandemic.
With access to our digital channel experts, data and insight, strategists and client teams as and when they need it, our clients are supported by absolute experts in each area, guiding them through every challenge and opportunity they face.
We're all in it together, working to a collective goal. And it’s not just the strategy team that has been coming up with ways to work around Covid based issues for our clients, we've had some game-changing tactics raised by channel teams that mean clients are generating leads or maintaining demand in lockdown. It’s great to see everyone pulling together.
Aside from current challenges, I think for brands to win, they must leverage the right data to understand people’s intentions and harness the best platforms and systems to engage them with positive experiences designed to convert them. This is where we really excel; finding the bespoke mix for each client.
In terms of talent attraction, why do you think people want to work for iProspect? And can you describe the culture?
Yes, so this is something that I'm really passionate about because I love the place. The reason I've been here for years is because I’ve always thought that our culture is built on a real team ethos. People support each other. We all want the same thing after all; the best for our clients. But Lockdown has taken this to a new level. Teams are interacting and coming together in a war-like effort to support each other. Agency radio shows, talent contests, quizzes and all hands sessions are keeping us connected like never before. I really hope this is one positive we can take from this.
But I mean, in terms of why you want to work here, I think we've got something for everyone. If you're a bit of a geek and an early adopter of tech, you're going to love it that we're at the forefront of digital, our relationships with Google and Facebook means that we're testing industry-first applications on an almost daily basis. If you're a true marketer, and this is one thing that attracted me, then we’ve got mega brands on our portfolio, it's really exciting to be part of that. And, if you're a marketer with a heart then you'll be pleased to hear that we have loads of connections and support with local charities and also initiatives that give back to the community.
If you're ambitious, our investment in people would be a real attraction too. We've got initiatives like iProspect University, which ensures that you get to grips with every area of specialism. Even if you come in, in PPC or SEO, you would get to grips with absolutely everything that we do. And we've got courses like Women in Leadership and Route 500 both of which I've been lucky enough to benefit from – they're really career shaping. Both of those courses have made me really reflect how I behave as a manager, a colleague and how I work with my superiors, especially the Women in Leadership programme. I think it's really helped me be more assertive and be clear about what I want from my career. It's phenomenal that it’s an internal course that's offered when it forces the participants to really challenge the status quo.
But overall, the biggest draw I think, and main reason why I'm still here, is the talent you get to work with on a daily basis. Even after twelve years, I'm still regularly blown away by someone in a meeting. And it's not just the superstars with twenty years’ experience, I'm talking about a relative newcomer who's got a great, fresh idea, loads of enthusiasm and ambition. I just think the people that we are amongst are phenomenal.
The agency as well, I think is a meritocracy. I've grown up through the agency, Operations Director Matt Wright started off as a grad and many other Directors have progressed through the business too. DAN has built the career of many digital heroes who've gone on to different agencies or even started up their own. It's great to be part of a business that recognises and promotes talent.
Would you say it's important for iProspect to be a part of Greater Manchester's tech and digital community and if so, why is that?
Definitely. We take the responsibility of being one of the biggest industry employers, outside of London, really seriously and we want to continue to attract and retain the best talent. This means that we need to play an active role, not just in promoting ourselves and the great work we do, but also an active part in the wider community. We run a number of events, the most recent was 2019’s Make Disruption Pay which was attended by over 200 different leading marketers and industry experts, all coming together to share thought-leadership and insight. We don't just run our own events though, we also take part in some as well. We were part of Digital City Festival and Manchester SEO as well.
And we're committed to nurturing talent for the future, we think it’s really important that we inform people at high school, college, university level about the careers that are open to them in our industry. That’s why we do a lot of work with Manchester Digital’s talent schemes Digital Futures and Digital Her. There will be careers available to young people that don’t even exist yet, it's just getting them to have that appetite for digital that is really important, I think.
What do you think the technology sector will look like in Manchester in 10 years time? And what role will iProspect be playing in the ecosystem?
I think certainly ten years ago, going to industry events in London, I did feel like Manchester was perceived as second rate and like we were a satellite city with smaller clients and were delayed in taking up new products. But now we've got so many of the world's leading businesses coming up here, I mean the BBC's been up here for a while, Facebook and Amazon are looking to establish a presence here. At iProspect as well, we've had a real migration of talent up from London and we've won a number of clients from the south when pitted against leading London agencies.
So, I think Manchester is now a really respected contender in the digital arena. I think this shift is going to really continue, not just in Manchester but in other Northern region’s too, across network and boutique agencies alike.
I think at iProspect, we're in a really good position as thought leaders in the industry, focused on data and tech which can only be positive. That’s because clients are going to have to continue to invest in technical partnerships because data is going to be even more important. They're going to need support in that area, so we're probably going to see a lot of new newcomers to the industry in coming years.
I also think the COVID crisis is going to accelerate the adoption of flexible working remotely, working for our industry especially, because people have proven that they can work from home and people enjoy time with their families. With overheads increasing, I can imagine in the next ten years we're going to see the rise of complete remote workforces. There might be agencies that just meet up quarterly, but they actually work remote the whole time. Less face-to-face meetings with clients and concentrating on what matters the most, like results.
Want to raise your profile?
If you would like your business to feature on our website, across our social media and newsletter, contact thom@manchesterdigital.com to arrange a chat.
