Creativebrief Founder & Chairman Tom Holmes talks to Sue Little, Chief Executive of McCann Manchester.
Sue Little, McCann Manchester
Sue began her career by training as a multi-lingual interpreter until a holiday spell on the advertising agency reception desk convinced her that the ‘never a dull moment’ nature of agency life was for her.
She rapidly progressed from receptionist to account manager to media planner and joined McCann-Erickson Manchester in 1985 as a Media Group Head specialising in retail and direct media planning.
Sue became Executive Media Director of McCann Manchester in 1988 and launched the first Universal McCann in the UK, which then became the largest media buying point outside London.
In 1998, Sue moved from media into agency management becoming MD and subsequently CEO of the Manchester Agency and in this role she has created the largest integrated agency in the UK.
During this period the Manchester agency has gone from strength to strength alongside its clients which includes organisations such as Aldi, Intercontinental Hotels, Sainsbury’s Bank, Shire Pharmaceuticals, Clarks, American Airlines, Cross Country Trains and the once in a lifetime opportunity to act as the official marketing services provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This unrivalled integrated offering has been further enhanced by the acquisition of Lakestar Media, a leading UK search marketing operation.
When not working, Sue’s passions are shopping, travelling, gardening and staying healthy enough to fit everything in.
TH: Sue, what does the Manchester brand stand for?
SL: Innovation meets entrepreneurial determination and on a global scale. From the Industrial Revolution to the vibrant growth of the digital media economy at MediaCity UK, Manchester has always shown these attributes and never been afraid to take on the world.
TH: Are the city’s brand values reflected in your own agency culture?
SL: Absolutely yes. Only this week we’ve shown you can never stand still with the announcement we’ve acquired Lakestar, a specialist SEO and digital agency to enhance our already strong digital offering.
TH: Does being based in Manchester influence your creative output? If so, how?
SL: Being based in Manchester doesn’t shape our creative output per se, but the people we attract do. We never forget that whatever the brief, our response ultimately has to drive measurable results be that bums on seats, goods in a shopping trolley or clicks to a site.
TH: What makes your agency offer different?
SL: We’re based on a unique campus environment which gives us the ability to deliver truly integrated marketing communication with breadth and depth that encompass all areas of digital. And importantly the talent and people you can attract to a large network agency without the corresponding premium of London pricing.
TH: Why should clients consider sourcing work from Manchester agencies?
In the global economy it doesn’t matter where agencies are based it is about the work they do for their clients as we have proven producing multi-award winning work for Aldi including creating Britain’s favourite Ad in 2011, beating off a host of megabrands in the process.
Sue Little, McCann Manchester
Manchester agencies need to stop being parochial and apologising for ourselves and adopt a bit of the can do spirit that saw Manchester become an industrial hub for the world in the 19th Century.
TH: What sort of clients do you particularly want to attract?
SL: We are looking for clients that are ambitious to grow their businesses. If they grow, so will we. Sure there are certain sectors like retail (online and offline), health and wellbeing, food and drink and business to business where we are strongly focused. But in reality our skill base is so broad we can tackle a pretty wide range of briefs and this is illustrated in our current client base.
TH: What work have you done recently makes you really proud?
SL: Right now it has to be our work for Aldi. It’s helped them grow their market share to an all time high, driven 50%+ sales growth last year and at the same time seen off all comers at awards including Epica, Marketing Week, Campaign, British Television Advertising and the Grocer. Which shows you can produce award winning work that works.
TH: What local brands do you most admire and why?
SL: In recent years we’ve seen a growing number of major players in the North West move their budgets to London agencies (either by choice or as a result of acquisition and or consolidation). As such we need to think nationally and internationally rather than locally when looking at admired brands. Clearly anyone who is growing in the current economic climate deserves universal respect from the business community at large as do brands who have the courage to do something different and try new things at a time it is all to easy to play it safe.
TH: Are there any local marketers who have inspired you?
SL: At this point in time any marketer who is running a successful large scale business in this very challenging economic environment.
TH: What business would you most like to win?
SL: Given our retail experience we’d love to work with TK Maxx. Other brands where we feel we’ve got a lot of relevant experience include Thomas Cook, Thomson/TUI and Birds Eye.
TH: Thank you Sue!
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