Mediaweek has teamed up with the IMAA to give its indie leaders a platform to talk about their work, thoughts about the industry and their interests outside of their working life.
TFM Digital, based in Sydney and Brisbane, joined the industry body in 2022. CEO and founder, Taylor Fielding told Mediaweek, he joined because he wanted to “lean into the power of a community approach that does stellar work securing network-like deals for agencies like ours.”
What sets your agency and its offering apart from others?
Our niche. I knew we needed a point of difference from the outset. Before niche marketing exploded again with automation tools. Through my experience in local area marketing (LAM), a highly ignored and poorly executed space, I felt we could make an impact and deliver value for clients.
Everyone in the B2B franchise space was using US benchmarketing data to inform decisions in Australia, which never felt right. So we committed to producing local data through the Future Franchisee Report.
Being able to leverage this information for clients has opened a number of doors, including presenting the pioneering research at the likes of Franchise Council Australia national conference along with others.
We also won the ‘Breakthrough Culture’ award at Australia’s Most Loved Companies to Work For – which is testament for our team on the amazing work that happens behind the scenes to ensure they’re given all of the tools they require to succeed.
Indie agencies are increasingly seeing success with major pitches. What differentiates your pitch approach from that of larger agencies?
I think it comes back to people and culture. When you’re in Hold Co pitches, the team entering the room is rarely the one working directly on the account. It is a legitimate fear I’ve heard from clients, which is a luxury most smaller indies don’t have, the leadership team in the room is what you get, and many value that.
We’ve seen a number of accounts grow when clients start to see the work we’re able to provide in one area (often starting in B2B), and then want to see the benefits across other areas of the business (e.g. B2C / social).
What are your latest account wins?
We’ve had a number of successes of late, including Retail Food Group, Plus Fitness and Healthia.
What’s a piece of work that makes you feel proud?
Our Future Franchisee report – it started as a way to have deeper conversations with prospective clients, and it offers a snapshot of where the market is now, what’s changing, and how to adapt to those trends.
It’s a value-add for clients, but helps position us as the voice of franchise marketing in Australia as there is no other group producing this industry data.
As a leader, how do you switch off from work and unwind after a busy week?
By prioritising fitness and recovery. Including my red-light sauna obsession. I’ve just moved to Sydney and part of my networking focus has been to get media reps to intro us to their local gym. It’s an approach to networking that may be a little different, but a very effective one.
What does success look like for you over the next 12 months?
At TFM we’re planning towards three locations by the end of 2028. We’ve strengthened the Brisbane leadership team, while I’m looking to cement the quick start we’ve had in Sydney. With aspirations for Melbourne next.
Our focus is now on the brands that have multiple locations across different markets, supporting with brand planning, and revitalising the B2B approach for growing at scale.
We’ve had our niche from day one and that won’t change.
With 77 per cent of indie agencies expecting ad spend to rise or remain stable in FY26, according to the IMAA Indie Census, how are you preparing for that growth?
We need to be planning 12+ months out to consider how best to plan for sustainable growth. So getting all clients into the 3/6/12 month planning cycles allows us to be more competitive.
Ensuring we have the right team, as well as the right tools, systems and processes in place for more campaigns in market. It allows us to scale up as required for clients and maintain that sustainable growth for us and them.
Employer branding is a conversation that’s never far from our SLT’s lips.
What can the industry expect next from TFM Digital?
In 2024 we were listed in AFR’s Fast100, one of a couple of agencies to make it in. But there’s no longevity in business if your growth comes at the cost of your culture. So building out our quarterly planning allows us to grow organically much of the time. It offers everyone within the business the chance to contribute and take accountability for their roles in our collective growth.
We ask the team to take a holistic look and feedback on trends, opportunities, strengths and growth areas, for example the role AI can offer to supercharge our team. We’re not looking to replace anyone, but 10x their output where possible. And we will be building out our capabilities over the next six months.
We need our media and marketing to connect, and for that we need to make sure our people are first in everything we do. Our purpose is to impact people. Our work is a people journey all the way through, as our agency focus should be.
See here for past editions of IMAA Spotlight.
Top image: Taylor Fielding