Boutique creative, content and PR business Men At Work Communications (MAW) has announced it has transformed into a digital full-service agency following new business growth.
The agency’s core focus will remain around creative, content marketing and PR. However, MAW managing director and founder Adam Mumford (pictured above), said PR has changed so significantly in recent years that competitive PR and content agencies need to develop more holistic digital capabilities to properly service clients and leverage content in the digital space.
“Traditional PR paints a picture of pumping out stories to the masses, and merely getting a media run or mention is seen as a win,” he said.
“Those days are long gone. Nowadays, we need to target specific audiences or consumers and get them to take a desired action. We have to be far more outcome-oriented.
“If we get a mass media run, that’s great, but what is the outcome the client actually wants? We need to be thinking about search rankings, paid optimisation, creative amplification, owned content – anything that will leverage the client’s message and influence our target individual.
“Of course, if you can have a bit of fun with it as well, then that’s what we’re all about.”
In recent months, the agency has been beefing up its abilities in SEO, performance media (including paid search and social), UX, creative and digital production, design, consumer insights, influencer engagement and, more broadly, business consulting.
These capabilities have been chosen to complement MAW’s core strengths in content marketing, creative, PR, social media, events, and experiential.
“We don’t like to think of PR as ‘public relations’ anymore because that harks back to the PR of old,” Mumford said.
“Instead, we’ve positioned ourselves as the ‘personal relations agency’. We are creating one-to-one relationships using a full service digital approach that combines paid, owned, shared and of course, earned.
“Does that mean we are going to become a media agency and start buying TV spots, or that we will start producing large scale TVCs? Well, never say never, but that’s certainly not our intention here. Instead, we’re developing skillsets that fully leverage our clients’ content, particularly in the digital space.”
According to Mumford, the most important part of MAW’s evolution is that it won’t change the agency’s underlying culture.
“We know why clients keep coming back to us,” he said.
“We’re enthusiastic as hell and just a little bit crazy. We throw ourselves into every bit of work and that shows in the strength of our client relationships. We’re not afraid to try something that’s a bit ‘out there’ or controversial. None of this is going to change.”
The new direction for the business comes as it has boosted billings by 25 per cent, adding a range of new clients, including Cub Cadet, Wealth Within and Harcourts.
Cub Cadet, an American outdoor power equipment supplier, has employed MAW to handle full-service digital strategy and execution, including video production, media relations and paid performance.
Financial education firm Wealth Within appointed MAW to raise its profile through PR, SEO and social media.
Harcourts Proactive Results, an arm of the Harcourts Real Estate Group, has enlisted MAW’s services to relaunch the brand into the Brisbane market through activations and social media.
