The Ninety-Niners were selected following a competitive process to develop a new global creative platform

BSI, the business improvement and standards company, has appointed a new global creative and media agency to develop a new digital brand campaign to redefine and reevaluate the awareness of the BSI brand, following a major transformation of the organisation’s strategy, culture and brand. 

The Ninety-Niners were selected following a competitive process to develop a new global creative platform and advertising campaign to raise awareness of BSI's strategic services and purpose to accelerate progress towards a fair society and a sustainable world.  The campaign will launch in the UK initially in 2024, followed by other key international markets, such as the US, in 2025.

The objective is to develop and deploy a cut-through campaign to change perceptions of BSI, from being seen as a technically specialist organisation, known for quality assurance and the BSI Kitemark, to becoming a strategic business partner providing organizations with the confidence to grow as they help them to tackle society’s critical issues.  

The partnership comes as BSI launches its new future-facing brand positioning and creative expression in the UK, with a global roll-out to follow. The new brand focuses on how BSI partners with clients and stakeholders to build trust and accelerate progress for the long-term benefit of all. It highlights how, by shaping thinking on important issues and creating the environment and solutions to address them, BSI can be an agent for positive change towards a sustainable world.

The new visual identity includes a nod to BSI’s over a century of history, with an 'opportunity lens' drawing on the shape of the BSI Kitemark. 

The Ninety-Niners, whose clients include prominent brands such as Lloyds Banking Group and Diageo, are an independent agency with a full service, collective-based model. They have selected December19 as their media planning and buying partner for the task. 

David Brannigan, chief marketing officer, BSI said, “We are delighted to be partnering with The Ninety-Niners to showcase our future ready brand globally and make a positive impact together on the world. Our unique purpose provides us with the opportunity to take on society’s greatest challenges and make a measurable impact. The expertise and skill The Ninety-Niners can bring to the table will help us achieve this.”

Ant Hopper, co-founder, The Ninety-Niners, said, “We are delighted to be working with the BSI team to help reintroduce their incredible organisation to progressive business leaders all over the world. We’re also pleased to prove again that we can be an attractive alternative to the traditional agency networks, as our 99Collective enables us to assemble bespoke teams of world-class talent, across disciplines and geographies around clients’ needs.”

Tuffon Hall Consultancy supported BSI with the process. There is no incumbent agency.

Original article posted by LittleBlackBook on 9th April 2024 can be viewed here.

The Ninety-Niners creates fun A-Z style wall chart containing 26 foods and flavours

Organic baby and toddler food brand Organix has revealed a fully integrated campaign to launch the ‘The Organix A-Z of Great Food’; a new content programme that gives parents a fun way to introduce their little ones to a wide range of nutritiously delicious flavours and textures. The campaign was created by The Ninety-Niners, with PR and influencer activation by The Fourth Angel and media planning and buying by VCCP Media.

At the heart of the programme is a fun A-Z style wall chart containing 26 foods and flavours, carefully chosen by nutritionists, for parents to introduce to their little ones. To help them, Organix has also developed a range of helpful content, including age-appropriate recipes and serving suggestions, which can be found on their website hub.

Following specially commissioned YouGov research, which showed that fewer than 25% of under 5’s eat more than 3 types of fruit and veg each day, the expert nutritionists at Organix were tasked with developing an A-Z of healthy, nutritious and sustainable foods from 6 months onwards. From favourite fruits to challenging vegetables, bitter tastes to unusual textures, the foods and flavours that make up the Organix A-Z of Great Food were carefully selected to spark babies’, toddlers’ and kids’ love of great food.

Mandy Bobrowski, Marketing Director at Organix, said “Early experiences have a big impact on children’s future relationship with food. In fact, there is a ‘flavour window’ between 6 months and 18 months when little ones are most open to discovering new things to eat, after which they may develop an aversion to unfamiliar foods. So, it’s really important to introduce a wide variety of healthy foods, with different flavours and textures, from the start.”

The integrated campaign launching the A-Z includes a range of digital advertising and content across Meta, TikTok and YouTube, featuring the foods from the A-Z in Rube Goldberg style stopframe animations. The animation style builds on the distinctive new brand campaign created by The Ninety-Niners last year, bringing more joy to the category and extending Organix’s appeal to all parents of kids from 6 months to 6 years.

PR will lead with a targeted influencer programme, working with six leading parent influencers including ‘Mealtime with Mummy’ and ‘Healthy Living James’ as well as a series of small media briefing events with Organix’s leading expert nutritionists.

Radio activity with Bauer and Global includes a partnership with brand new podcast ‘The Overshare’ with Gemma Atkinson, as well a competition and advertising on Heart FM. Media partnerships with baby and toddler magazines such as Emma’s Diary, Mums & Tots, and Baby Magazine together with sampling at baby shows, festivals and toddler activity classes have also been arranged to put over 300,000 printed wallcharts into parents’ hands.

Ant Hopper, Founder of The Ninety-Niners, said “This is the next expression of our new brand idea for Organix, Spark Their Love of Great Food. We want every child to be inspired to try more flavours and textures and grow up loving great food, and this campaign helps parents through the sometimes difficult journey of introducing new foods.”

Tania Littlehales, head of consultancy at The Fourth Angel commented: “Organix is such an incredible brand to work with and the A-Z of Great Food is a wonderful way to really celebrate the work of their expert team of nutritionists. This is a genuinely fully integrated initiative that will reach consumers at all levels and help spark the love of great food from the earliest age.”

Jo Tyrell, client partner at VCCP Media said: ‘'We have loved working with Organix on the fantastic A-Z campaign. The integrated, multi-channel media plan has social at its core, focusing on engaging parents with genuinely useful (and fun!) content, supporting their journey through weaning and beyond."

Original article posted by LittleBlackBook on 12th September 2023 can be viewed here.

Dole Sunshine Company has announced the appointment of The Ninety-Niners as lead activation and media agency partner for UK and other European markets following a competitive pitch.

This follows initial campaign work by The Ninety-Niners in the UK last year and will see the agency deliver integrated communications and media across Dole’s packaged food portfolio.

The Ninety-Niners will lead the strategy and creative via their core team in London, with media and local market activation delivered through the 99Collective; their community of world-class creative, media and production talent. Media planning will be led by Mark Jackson at JKO and digital media buying handled through Crossover. 

Anna Kovaleva, Senior Marketing Manager at Dole Sunshine Company In Europe, said “Through the pitch, The Ninety-Niners demonstrated they can deliver across Europe in both highly targeted media and activation. The focus they place on putting the consumers and customers at the core of the thinking to help us be more relevant to real people is key to us unlocking growth across our markets. We are looking forward to continuing our journey with them as we continue to grow our portfolio.”

“We’re excited to help further build the category of healthy packed fruit within the UK and across other European markets” said Si Goodall, Founder at The Ninety-Niners. “Working as a single team across creative, activation and media means the thinking is really joined up. We are delighted to continue the partnership with JKO and Crossover as part of the 99Collective, another great example of how we are able to assemble bespoke teams of world-class talent, across disciplines and geographies around clients’ needs.”

Original article posted by LittleBlackBook on 18th July 2023 can be viewed here.

Lloyds Bank has revealed an integrated campaign for the launch of its new service that offers over 1000 UK small business owners a series of free therapeutic coaching sessions, in partnership with Mental Health UK (MHUK).

The ‘Stronger Mind, Stronger Business’ campaign, created by adam&eveDDB, Zenith and The Ninety-Niners aims to highlight how a strong mindset can contribute to business success, whilst challenging the narrative that mental health must be sacrificed for success.

The work features real small business owners who have benefited from the free therapeutic coaching sessions to maintain their mental resilience and build successful businesses, showing how Lloyds Bank is by the side of British businesses in tough economic times, not just from a financial perspective but a wellness one too.

The campaign includes a partnership with Global, brokered by Zenith, where well-known radio hosts including Anna Whitehouse on Heart and Natasha Devon on LBC plus talent across Radio X and Classic will speak to small business owners, who have benefited from the therapeutic coaching sessions from Lloyds Bank and MHUK, about the importance of looking after your mental health and how this can lead to outstanding business results. The campaign also includes podcast sponsorship across popular shows including The News Agents, Full Disclosure with James O’Brien and The Week Unwrapped, and the creation of bespoke micro-shows that feature a Mental Health UK therapeutic coach alongside a small business owner who has used the service.

The campaign was inspired by research showing that 80 per cent of small business owners have experienced poor mental health, and almost a quarter don’t know that help is available.

Lloyds Bank is determined to make it easier for businesses to access this crucial support.

The free therapeutic coaching sessions are open to both Lloyds Bank customers and non-customers and can be booked via a dedicated online hub developed by The Ninety-Niners in conjunction with MHUK. The hub also houses additional resources, case studies and articles to support business leaders with their mental health.

Dan Stewart, Head of B2B Marketing, Lloyds Banking Group said: “Mental resilience has never been more important for small business owners against today’s challenging economic backdrop. ‘Stronger Minds, Stronger Business’ aims to champion the benefits of good mental health whilst widening access to support for customers.”

Ben Tollett, Executive Creative Director at adam&eveDDB, added: “Running a business in today’s climate is tough, which is why its so great to focus on the positive experiences of real business owners who’ve benefitted from free mental health sessions thanks to Lloyds Bank and Mental Health UK.”

Natalie Cummins, CEO at Zenith UK, said: “Bringing advocates of the therapeutic coaching sessions onto the airwaves is really powerful and will help business owners facing the same challenges everywhere.”

Ant Hopper, Founder at The Ninety-Niners, said “Although there’s much more awareness and action around mental health in general now, there’s been little to support small business owners, who often feel alone. That’s why this campaign, the therapeutic sessions and all the resources we’ve created are so important. Hopefully they’ll see they’re not alone, and Lloyds Bank is by their side with real and practical help.”

The campaign breaks on 26 February and runs for one month across press, radio and podcast sponsorship.

Original article posted by Creative Salon on 6th March 2023 can be viewed here.

The Ninety-Niners has appointed Ally Mee and Jess Parish as senior producer and account manager respectively. The pair join as the agency celebrates its second birthday and another year of strong growth.

Ally joins the agency from Claire Randall Consulting, a specialist consultancy advising clients on content production strategy and production models. Prior to that she worked at several agencies including BBH and AMV BBDO, where she previously worked with The Ninety-Niners’ executive creative director, Richard Dennison.  

Richard commented, “I’m thrilled to have Ally join the team. She’s one of the most experienced producers in the business and a joy to work with. She’ll make a huge difference to our capabilities as we continue to grow.”

Jess comes from MullenLowe, where she worked on brands such as the NHS, Primark and Unilever’s Magnum over a period of four years. Prior to that she had stints at Wieden+Kennedy and Imagination.

Ant Hopper, one of the agency’s founders, said “Si and I had the pleasure of working with Jess at MullenLowe and are thrilled that she agreed to join us at The Ninety-Niners. She’s brimming with ambition and can’t wait to get stuck in.”

The Ninety-Niners has more than doubled in size over the past year, winning a range of new clients including Avast, Dole, GMSA, Lloyds Banking Group, Ocean Holiday’s and Organix, The agency now has 12 permanent staff and works with more than 20 others through it’s ‘99Collective’ of specialist talent and partners.

Original article posted by LLB on 10th October 2022 can be viewed here.

Organix's ad supports the release of its food ranges for children aged between six months and six years old.

It shows a little girl’s journey of food discovery as she tries different snacks and experiences the flavours and textures.

As she tries the foods, a taste explosion pops around her, from a baby in a high chair having her first spoonful to a cheeky toddler nibbling on some Organix snacks.

The 30-second spot was directed by Tim Brown, art directed by Jen Smith and written by Miguel Nunes.

Original article posted by Campaign on 13th July 2022 can be viewed here.

The Ninety-Niners have appointed Richard Dennison as executive creative director; the agency’s first creative leadership role since it set up in late 2020. 

Since its inception during the first Covid lockdown, the brand and CX consultancy has already picked up clients such as Lloyds Bank, Organix, Asahi, Diageo, Jammie Dodgers, Big Motoring World and Disney. It was also a finalist for ‘New Agency of the Year’ at the Oystercatchers Awards. 

Dennison began his career in the late 80s and has worked at several leading UK creative agencies including RKCR, BBH, AMV and MullenLowe. He has created award-winning campaigns for the likes of Waitrose, Land Rover, Royal Mail, Castlemaine XXXX and Virgin Trains. 

Ant Hopper, one the founders of The Ninety-Niners, said: “It felt like the right time to bring a creative leader into the business and we’re delighted to have lured Richard. We worked successfully together at MullenLowe for a number of years and he’s already been working with us over the past 3 months or so, so it’s really a natural progression of that.” 

Si Goodall, the other founder of The Ninety-Niners, added: “Richard’s portfolio speaks for itself, but we all believe that our best work is ahead of us. We are thrilled to have him on-board and know he’ll push us on to new heights.” 

Dennison commented: “I’m incredibly excited to be reunited with Ant and Si and to be joining the rest of The Ninety-Niners team. We all share the same view that an agency should give its clients what the public think is great, not what the rest of the ad industry does.” 

Original article posted by LittleBlackBook on 18th February 2022 can be viewed here.

Organic baby and toddler food brand Organix has appointed The Ninety-Niners as its lead creative agency.

The agency, founded last year by former MullenLowe Open executives Ant Hopper and Si Goodall, will work on a new creative platform and advertising campaign for 2022, which will promote the brand and several new products.

The account was won following a competitive review. VCCP was the incumbent. Organix will continue to work with VCCP for media and The Fourth Angel for PR.

Mandy Bobrowski, marketing director of Organix, said: "We were really impressed with The Ninety-Niners' point of view on our brand and the direction we're taking. We know they'll challenge our thinking and be a great partner on our journey."

Hopper said: "We are delighted to be working with the Organix team to help them share their amazing story and foods with more people across the UK."

Last month Tribal Tribal Worldwide was appointed by Switzerland-based Hero Group as its digital agency working across brands including Baby Gourmet, Hero Jams and Organix.

By Fayola Douglas, Senior Reporter, Campaign UK.

Original article posted by Campaign on 22nd December 2022 can be viewed here.

It is called The Ninety-Niners to convey how the business will 'stand with the 99%'. 

Former MullenLowe Open executives Ant Hopper and Si Goodall have launched a new customer experience consultancy that aims to cater for everyone but the out-of-touch “1%” that pervade the ad industry.

It is called The Ninety-Niners to convey how the business will “stand with the 99%; the real customers who experience brands, not the 1% who create them”, Hopper said.

The Ninety-Niners will offer strategic consultancy and solutions for businesses that want to “unlock the value of customer-centricity”. As co-founders, Hopper and Goodall will each own a 50% stake in the business. 

“We take a scientific approach to improving the experience,” Goodall said. “We will carry out the first-party data analytics and consumer research where necessary, but more important is the process to generate and test insight-led hypotheses. That is how deep knowledge of different customers builds over time.” 

Hopper and Goodall exited MullenLowe earlier this year after the Interpublic Group agency merged Profero and Open, its digital transformation and customer engagement units. 

The duo met in 1999 (another reason for the name) and The Ninety-Niners will be their fourth company working together. They led the creation and growth of MullenLowe Open, having joined the business in 2012 when MullenLowe was known as Lowe & Partners, with Hopper as global chief executive and Goodall global chief strategy officer. Before then they worked together in leading roles Saatchi & Saatchi X, Saatchis’ shopper marketing division, for four years. 

Despite being agency veterans of two decades, Goodall and Hopper insist that they remember their own challenges of being made to feel like outsiders when entering the ad industry.

“Both of us went to comprehensive schools in the Home Counties and were from what would have been working class families,” Hopper said. “My first day at my first agency, I remember well because two of the four directors had been to Eton and the first question was 'what school did you go to?'”

Upon learning of his non-elite schooling background, Hopper recalled being taken aback when he was then asked: “So, how did you get in [to the agency] then?”

It is a lack of diverse thinking and blunt approach to analysing customer data that is holding brands back from really taking advantage of all the data that is at their disposal nowadays. The duo aim to combat this with “fresh analytics” of first-party data, and enriching it with third-party data from trusted sources or carrying out behavioural insights. 

Because they are launching the business without an office, they believe they will offer a low-cost more agile alternative to the growing number of consultancies and network agency alternatives for data-led customer engagement services. As the business grows, their plan is to create a “collective” by recruiting bespoke project teams to work on client briefs, with the help of a chief talent officer which they hope to hire soon. 

Goodall added: “Brands are leaving money on the table by failing to be relevant to different types of customers… A lot of customer experience is built on broad personas, so often our own biases affect the way we view those personas. We want to create a process that sees individuals at that level. We need to slow down to take the time and ask ‘is that right?’ instead of going with your gut instinct.”

Hopper and Goodall are upbeat about launching in the middle of a global recession. “The crisis has shown that clients can have the holy trinity of ‘faster, better, cheaper’ if we reduce overheads and embrace nimble ways of working. Clients want top-talent solving their problems,” Hopper said.

“But only want to pay for what they need, when they need it. It’s one reason so many of them are looking at  new agency models and why it’s a great time to be launching a disruptive business."

By Omar Oakes, Media and technology editor, Campaign UK.

Original article posted by Campaign on 8th October 2020 can be viewed here.