The IMAA, the national, not for profit industry association for independent media agencies launched last year.
Since then it has continued to grow its membership base and make a series of big announcements, including its trade credit deal and a number of new media partners.
Mediaweek has been profiling members of the IMAA – previous features can be found here. This week we spoke to the managing director, media of Enigma Media, Justin Ladmore.
Can you tell us about yourself and give us a brief history of your agency?
Enigma is 30 years old next year! I guess Enigma is an appropriate name for us. We do seem to fly under the radar. Enigma was started by Lisa Sutton Gardner in Newcastle and it has grown into an 80+ strong full-service ad agency. I have been very lucky in my career to work with some amazing leaders like Linda Wong, James Warburton, Anne Parsons, Toby Jenner and Lisa is right up there. I lead the Enigma Media team and have been here almost 10 years. Before Enigma, I was in Sydney working for the big global agencies including MediaCom and Universal McCann.
You are based in Newcastle, tell us about how that affects your operations?
We have offices in Surry Hills and Brisbane but our media engine room is in Newcastle. There are 25 media specialists on one floor in a bit of a bubble in Newcastle and it’s a really great vibe. The work/life balance is great, on a good day you can get a quick surf in at lunch (for the record though I can’t surf). We are protected from the distractions of a faster paced metro market so we keep our people longer which gives us the continuity to be able to learn, grow and get better. We have the same experience and a lot of the same tools as the larger global agencies but we just have more time to use them properly here.
Who are some of your key clients? How long have they been with you?
Like all independent agencies, we pride ourselves on keeping our clients for a long time. We have worked with Landcom for the last 20 years and McDonald Jones Homes for 17 years helping them grow from a Hunter Valley builder to the 3rd largest builder in Australia which is something we are very proud of.
Any recent client wins?
We just won a pitch for ActronAir last week which we are super excited about. It is such a good Australian owned product and we can’t wait to tell the rest of Australia that!
Do you buy your own media direct – or use another agency to get their rates?
We manage all of the media buying in house. It means we have an unbiased view of the channel mix and an understanding of how all the channels work together. We also have full control which makes us quick and flexible to move money around. We are proud of the media buying product we have built. Amy Dascanio is the GM here and she is regarded as one of the best media buyers in Australia so our staff are all trained up by the best.
Any specialisation at the agency?
If you can call ‘growth’ a speciality then that’s what we are best at delivering. Our line here at Enigma is that we deliver unfair share for our clients. Our media strategies and plans work harder to deliver growth and our sweet spot is a client that plays across the full funnel from awareness to action using both traditional and digital channels.
You are a member of the IMAA, how has that been?
The IMAA has given us a louder voice in the industry but it has also kept us connected to the industry. The one thing we have been really conscious of working in a ‘bubble’ is losing the connection to the broader media world and the IMAA has helped us keep that connection. We thank the original founders for putting in all the effort to get it off the ground and we thank the current board, Sam Buchanan and his team for doing such a great job running it.