Late last year after joining independent agency Paykel Media, new MD Sarah Keith promised, “I don’t intend to make massive changes. What Paykel Media has always done well, work closely with clients with a relatively small team, will continue.”
The business today reveals a name change after 22 years. Now branded Involved Media, Keith said it is much more than just a name change, with the new branding better reflecting the DNA of the business.
Former owner Tony Paykel, who remains with the business as head of agency partnerships, Involved Media, said: “It’s time for a new name to highlight the exciting changes here and the great work we are doing for our clients.
“I have full trust in Sarah leading the team and our clients to new heights. Since the Active International deal, my focus has been on building Transact, a billing and processing service that brings into one place all the elements of booking and paying for advertising that I’m extremely passionate about.”
There was not a lot of debate around the potential new name, Keith told Mediaweek. “Because we already have the Involved name available in our Active International group it made it simpler. The debate was most around is there an issue if the offering was different.
“The Involved Media offering in the US is very digital specific. Once we had resolved that it was pretty simple. The name works so well in terms of what we already do with our clients. We are all about trusted advice and are results driven. We make sure the clients are at the heart of everything we do. To have the two companies Active and Involved works really well together.”
Keith said the dropping of the Paykel name doesn’t signify any lesser involvement from founder Tony Paykel. “Tony hasn’t really worked on the media strategy side for quite some time. He runs a division called Transact – a really key part of how people perceive our brand and because he is very much known for Transact it helps us as we improve and amplify our strategy offering.”
When Keith first moved across after Publicis she went from a leader in a big group to a leader in a smaller business. How has she found the experience so far?
“The thing that I have enjoyed most is that our hard work and energy goes into the clients and not the machine. After working in a more investment-led role at Publicis, this change has been a fantastic opportunity to get much closer to clients. Because they are small to medium-size clients we have it is much more a personal experience.”
Keith said since arriving at what is now Involved, she has been impressed by the attention and resources offered by media owners to the smaller business. “Media companies have been talking about working harder with independents for a while, and they all walk the talk now. No one has acted suggested because I am now at an independent with smaller budgets they are not interested.”
Photo: Sarah Keith with Dan Hojnik (left – head of strategy and planning) and Tony Paykel