2020 was a fruitful year for MOI, and now they’re channelling their positive learnings into MOI 2.0 – the three-year growth strategy conceptualised prior to Covid-19, which will see the agency committing to major internal changes designed to transform the agency operationally, financially and creatively.
Having already achieved the financial goals of MOI 2.0 prior to the pandemic hitting, the agency continues to adhere to its projected journey, having already increased headcount to 120. The endgame: deliver more effective, more connected customer journeys the world over—and accelerate growth in the process.
According to MOI Global MD, Matthew Stevens: “We’re reshaping the agency across our global offices. We’re building a culture where people are comfortable with continual change, as we shift towards a creative thinking-led agency with the channel capabilities to deliver across the customer journey.”
“MOI aims to become the leading independent global B2B agency in tech – and beyond.
“To achieve this, we must scale a culture built on our philosophy of Turning Heads, inspiring our people to probe, question, and think in a way that contends with and challenges clients and competitors alike – and delivers exceptional results.
“So, our focus now turns to taking our platform to the next level. That means excellence in the services we offer, but also continually striving to optimise them with data-driven, digital-first, interconnected minds.”
International director promotions
Two prominent personnel transitions were the promotions of Caroline Lotinga from business director EMEA to SVP EMEA, and Jonathan Seto from regional director APAC to regional SVP APAC.
Looking to the future, Jonathan noted: “I’m excited to see what the talented rock stars I work with can deliver with these new capabilities – especially after having already achieved so much. It’s going to be an exciting few years for the APAC office, and for MOI as a whole.”
New creative direction
In order to evolve MOI’s creative capabilities, Stuart Andrews has joined MOI’s global senior leadership team as creative strategy director, to act as the interface between the agency’s strategic, planning and creative functions. Stuart brings over 20 years’ experience as a respected brand strategist, who has worked with c-level leaders in global brands such as Shazam, Cable & Wireless, Barclays, GS1, Extreme Sports Channel, Coats Group and Jaguar Land Rover.
Joining Stuart at the helm of MOI’s creative campaigns is Pete Stephen, head of copy. Pete has over 20 years’ experience heading up creative campaigns for high-profile brands and illustrious creative agencies, and is primed to reimagine and transform MOI’s unique Turning Heads campaigns.
Revitalising the processes
On their operational front, MOI is now led by Steve Pullen, global finance director, and Paul Hadley, SVP of operations and HR. Together, they are shaping the agency as it scales markets old and new.
Steve’s extensive experience of digital agencies has already proved instrumental in developing MOI’s financial management as the agency both delivers new services and evolves existing ones, including their fast-growing digital media arm.
Paul boasts a highly successful track record of his own, having helped similar agencies achieve rapid and sustainable growth. He is designing scalable systems for MOI that enable closer, more seamless collaboration, and more effective use of global resources
Joining Paul is MOI stalwart David Haward, chief people officer and company director. David has been at the agency for over 30 years, and is now focused on building a culture that attracts, retains, and develops talent from the ground up. Initiatives such as MOI University and MOI Academy signal a clear, prolonged investment in people in order to drive success and inspire Turning Heads creativity.
2020 saw the arrival of Yvonne Torrent-Lim, creative operations director. A specialist in video production, Yvonne boasts almost 20 years of experience in creative digital roles. In fact, she already had four years under her belt with MOI, having previously impressed the agency in previous roles as video producer, senior account manager, and production director.
And leading MOI’s global team of martech and digital operations experts is 2020 hire Greg Campbell, digital director. Greg is integral to the agency bridging the gap between strategy and tech, and a key advisor on how the customer experience can be operationalised directly into tech.
Striving for excellence in ABM
MOI’s changes and arrivals were complemented by Julie Wisdom (SVP strategy), Mike Boogaard (SVP growth) and Chris Hare (head of ABM agency). The trio joined the leadership team after the agency’s recent strategic acquisition of specialist ABM agency ALIAS Partners, forming M|ALIAS.
Reflecting on the acquisition, Mike said: “The joining of forces – and the resulting global footprint of the ABM Centre of Excellence – allow us to design overarching account-based sales and marketing strategies while easily adapting and executing them regionally, be that in NAM, EMEA, or APAC. For our clients, this leads to more meaningful and high-impact outcomes and, in turn, far higher ROI.”
Chris has made a name for himself as a leader in B2B marketing and innovation. As MOI’s head of ABM agency, Chris will fuse ABM thinking into MOI’s wealth of disciplines and regions. He looks forward to empowering MOI to scale: “More clients are coming through the ABM door. It’s become one of their key strategic imperatives—so it must be MOI’s, too. Our practice must deliver and excel on these needs, as we build a best-in-class centre of excellence, accessible across our entire network.”
Aspiring to new horizons
MOI’s major restructure ensures the agency maintains the right balance of talent, skills and experience to transform every area of business. Moving forward, their reimagined leadership team is optimally positioned to meet the continually evolving and increasingly omnichannel needs of tech brands and their customers—no matter where they are in the world.
