Four Communications Group, the 370-strong UK and Middle East integrated marketing and communications agency, has restructured to push forward its digital, data and innovation-led strategy.
The restructure sees the agency reorganised from 17 practices to seven core business units offering integrated services: corporate & financial; health; lifestyle; property; MENA; PACE; and social purpose. PACE (performance, activation, creative and engagement) brings together teams in paid media, digital, creative and social analytics and engagement.
The reorganisation builds on Four’s ‘power of together’ philosophy launched in 2018, which has seen it transform from a communications-led agency to a truly integrated agency where 61 per cent of work is now digitally, data- or creatively led, said Four in a statement.
A newly created executive committee of the board has been created to take forward the vision and growth strategy of the agency. Joining the agency founders – group chief executive Nan Williams and group managing directors Andrew Jack, Einir Williams and Ray Eglington – will be the newly promoted group of: Anne Clarke, chief executive, social purpose; Emma Statham, chief executive, Four Health; Kath Ludlow, chief customer officer; Paul Dalton-Borge and Tonia Savchenko, chief executives, PACE; and Rachel O’Sullivan, chief innovation officer.
This group includes two important and newly created central roles from March 2020. Chief customer officer Kath Ludlow will be responsible for developing the group-wide client offer, while chief innovation officer Rachel O’Sullivan will focus on developing new digitally and data-led services and products.
Group CEO Nan Williams said: “This is all about creating larger integrated units in our key sectors and creating a new ‘super unit’, which houses experts in paid, performance, digital, creative and social to better meet client needs in an increasingly integrated environment. We also want to offer our staff bigger and better career opportunities where digital and data skills and innovation are at the heart.
“We grew organically by around 8 per cent in 2019, our ninth consecutive year of growth. This has been fuelled by our ‘power of together’ philosophy, which combines a wide breadth of services with deep sector expertise. Massive growth in data-driven work has been driven by Four’s proprietary social analytics methodology, ‘Mapper360’, while digital performance marketing has been another key area.
“I am very excited about the new executive committee, who will help us take our vision and growth strategy forward by developing even larger and deeper sectors or creating new revenue streams through innovation and enhanced client service.”
