Multiplied – where creativity and effectiveness meet to unleash commercial success.
These days, creativity alone just isn’t enough. Clients need to see ideas lined up alongside a commercial strategy, but not in the way some agencies are thinking.
“Yeah, yeah,” they say, “the effectiveness guys are all over the ECD.”
That sounds like a fast-track to disunity and a lack of cohesion, maybe best avoided.
Multiplied was formed with a clear vision from day one: to be a commerce agency at which creativity works in unison with strategic effectiveness principles. They call it a ‘beautiful collision’, but this collision could be a train wreck were it not for the all- important cohesive tack they take.
It may be an uncommon approach, but it’s working for them – and it’s working for the local and international brands they partner with.
Established in 2021, Multiplied is the brainchild of three leaders formerly of the Clemenger Group, who saw the opportunity to align agency objectives and values more closely with those of clients. Troy Fuller, Tom Roydhouse and Aaron Taylor were ready to push a few boundaries and redefine the way brands could approach their marketing endeavours.
Multiplied was born and set about addressing the elephant in the agency room: how to simply and cohesively close the gap between long-term brand building and short-term activation. The groundwork they laid proved immediately relatable to a number of clients who came on board from day one to enjoy the kind of work
that unleashed their brands’ potential. Marketing and business goals were soon met, then exceeded.
Since then, Multiplied has ticked off a few sizeable accomplishments. With growth comes expansion, and a move to larger premises on Auckland’s College Hill has helped set up the agency for the continued development of their vision of better serving clients’ needs.
Early on, Fuller, Roydhouse and Taylor had a clear strategy in mind: not to explode onto the ad scene guns blazing, but to quietly build Multiplied as a core commerce agency, sitting at the heart of a larger venture strategy. This venture-based take was, and still is, a fresh direction that sets them apart from agency norms.
Rather than claiming specialist capability through a few key hires, Multiplied has opted for a more dynamic route, growing deep specialism through ventures that operate both as independent entities and integral parts of the broader agency when needed.
Aspiring entrepreneurs and experienced agency leaders have jumped at the chance to join Multiplied’s stable of commerce brands. Through fostering this talent, they’re now home to a collective that’s making a mark.
With more exciting announcements to come in 2024, two notable ventures that have emerged from this model already include Twenty4, a brand experience agency launched in September 2022 with partner Will Ravlich, and Fox, a fast, easy and affordable customer-research platform. Both arose from opportunities presented by Multiplied’s existing client base, showcasing its ability to grow capabilities and add deeper value organically.
The agency’s client roster of successful brands is growing, as the demand for truly cohesive and commercially effective work has proven in demand.
From traditional retail and shopper clients, to local and international brands and services that need to truly connect through all layers from awareness through to conversion, these client partnerships speak volumes about the agency’s ability to deliver results and provide value across diverse sectors.
NZ Marketing recently sat down with Fuller, Roydhouse and Taylor to hear their opinions on the impact their team is having.
“Marketers were saying to us that their agency was offering long-term brand-building capability with short-term tactical thinking, but the problem they had was that it felt like separate departments, operating on different floors or even in different offices,” says Fuller.
“We believe creativity is nothing without the principles of strategic effectiveness, and vice versa. Combined in a balanced way, the two become a multiplier for our clients’ commercial success.”
“The solution was obvious to the three of us: form a cohesive team with a shared knowledge of ‘effective creativity’ underpinning everything we do, so that long-term brand building and short-term activation come together as one to improve gross margin and incremental sales,” says Roydhouse.
“No silos, no separation – just a beautifully cohesive collision between creativity and our strategic principles to
produce more effective work for our clients’ brands.”
“Our ambition was to be the agency where brands and people unleash their full potential,” says Taylor.
“Like attracts like, and now we’re surrounded by talented people who bring so much to the table. I’m super proud of what we’ve achieved in such a short period of time, including recent projects of note like Wattie’s ‘Connection Tables’, an evolution of the FreshChoice grocery brand proposition [both pictured below left], and partnering closely with ANZCO Foods to connect their Angel Bay brand with a wider New Zealand audience.”
If there’s one thing you get from talking to these guys, it’s a steadfast belief they are doing what’s right for their clients. They’re practical types – not show ponies, but pragmatic perfectionists – not a bad mix for those in the marketing world who’re looking for some kind of surety that their budget is being well spent.
“It’s like this: everything we do is underpinned by a set of ‘strategic effectiveness principles’ that are designed to identify the client’s problem earlier, and make the brief stronger and the creative solution infinitely more razor sharp,” says Fuller.
“There might be a snappier, catchier title to describe them, but to be honest we’re too busy putting them into practice to worry about that.”
That just about sums up the Multiplied style. Good thinking plus great work equals an outcome that larger, more established agencies would give their eye teeth for. Right now, the ones enjoying this simple but rewarding formula are Multiplied and their list of valued clients – and that list is growing.
Going against agency norms and cohesively aligning creativity with effectiveness to put the needs of a client’s business first can indeed be a collision that reaps the most beautiful rewards.
For more information, visit multiplied.nz
This was first published in the March/April 2024 issue
