PLUS Network Launches

FOUNDED BY WE COMMUNICATIONS, THE PLUS NETWORK DELIVERS INVENTIVE, INTEGRATED AND UNRESTRICTED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES FOR GLOBAL BRANDS

LONDON – May 10, 2017 – Today, six leading independent expert agencies announced the launch of The PLUS Network, a new client-focused alternative to the increasingly bureaucratic and investor-focused holding companies and agency monoliths. 

The PLUS Network was created by WE Communications (WE) and brings together WE, The Garrigan Lyman Group (GLG), Salt Branding, YouGov, Interel and Envy Create. Working under a unified, standalone brand, they will deliver integrated capabilities that span the entire media ecosystem, including paid, owned, earned, social, experiential and search.

“To accelerate a brand story today nimbleness is critical, as is the right set of experts who can set ground-breaking ideas into motion across an ever expanding media ecosystem,” said Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO and Founder of WE Communications. “Unlike traditional agency network models, The PLUS Network is a unified proposition that puts client needs first – not leadership, whose main concern is the next quarterly profit target.”

The PLUS Network builds off three long-standing partnerships WE had in place with digital marketing firm GLG, full-service branding agency Salt Branding and international internet-based market research firm YouGov. It adds two new specialty agencies – global public affairs and government relations specialist firm, Interel, and Envy Create, an experiential marketing expert – to complete the spectrum of services for clients working across the entire media and policy ecosystem.

“Effective marketing today cannot be divorced from the policy environment no matter where a company operates,” said Fredrik Lofthagen, CEO of Interel. “Joining forces with the five PLUS Network firms creates a powerful value proposition to our clients for engaging their customers smartly with an understanding of the nuances of our issues-driven world.”

Operating across 65 markets with teams of ‘boots on the ground’ experts, Interel is known for providing strategic guidance and local impact for its clients across all industry sectors to help them protect and grow their business all over the world.

“In this highly competitive, always-on world, there are a plethora of channels and content competing for people’s attention,’ said Adrian Le Mans and Jim Wylie, co-founders and joint owners of Envy Create. “Envy Create is a boutique agency which strives to deliver event, lifestyle and entertainment-based experiences which cut through the ‘white noise’ of distraction and enable audiences to connect directly with brands in authentic and compelling ways.”

Serving clients such as Microsoft, Technicolor, Renault and Ericsson, Envy Create is known for forging a closer bond between consumers and brands through immersive and memorable experiences.

The combined billings of The PLUS Network member agencies exceed $300M globally, giving it the scale and muscle to compete with behemoths while maintaining their independent client-centric focus. All PLUS Network partners will also operate against a set of values, processes and methodologies for both solving client challenges and working together to demonstrate innovative thinking across the media ecosystem.

“We are incredibly excited about what we can do together with clients under this new revolutionary model,” said Aaron Petras, vice president of WE’s agency and partner strategy and managing director of the PLUS Network. “Our PLUS Network partnerships deliver a new way to problem solve modern day marketing, policy and communications challenges – unencumbered and with the client at the center.”

The PLUS Network members can answer the brief in any combination of agencies best suited for the opportunity, and are already working with some of the world’s largest brands including global blue-chip companies across technology, consumer and health sectors.   

About the PLUS Network

The PLUS Network represents a global consortium of specialists by uniting six independent agencies under one brand. These include partners Envy Create, YouGov, Interel, Salt Branding and The Garrigan Lyman Group (GLG), brought together and led by WE Communications (WE). Free from the bureaucratic constraints of traditional holding companies, our sole focus is offering our clients expansive thinking and innovative solutions on a global scale. Envy Create is a full service marketing and communications company with offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, London and Australia; YouGov is a leading international full-service research and consulting firm and pioneer in the use of technology to collect high quality in-depth data; Interel is an integrated global public affairs consultancy with over three decades of history and covering more than 60 markets; Salt Branding is a full-service brand consultancy that helps brands succeed in the rapidly changing, hyper-choice economy; and GLG is a strategic digital agency with offices in Seattle, Boise and New York featuring an award-winning team of strategists, storytellers and innovators. Together the PLUS Network provides clients a one-stop shop for integrated capabilities. We share a common commitment to expertise, excellence and setting ground-breaking ideas into motion. Time to move. 

For more information, press only: Jessica Lobendhan, WE Communications EMEA & APAC, +44 7835 612 607, [email protected]| Kara Kraft, WE Communications NA, +1 (503) 443 7143 x37143, [email protected]