This week, The Ingenuity Group, , the UK’s biggest connector of brands and agencies, announced the rebrand of its intermediary service to Ingenuity+. This will be led by Richard Robinson + Gill Huber. 

Richard Robinson and Gill Huber are joining Duncan Wood, Dominic Glenn and the rest of Ingenuity+ team in what marks a significant development for The Ingenuity Group.

Ingenuity has been a market leader in Intermediary services for some time, and now seeks to consolidate this position and significantly grow the service, utilising its strategically appointed senior team. Robinson and Huber join Ingenuity+ from Future Factory, part of The Ingenuity Group, where they’ve been working since leaving Oystercatchers earlier this year.

Ingenuity+ forms a key pillar within the fast-growing Ingenuity Group, with amission to radically improve the process of connecting brands with agencies, regardless of size, discipline or location.

It was devised following research commissioned by Ingenuity into the future plans of 500 senior brand-side marketers, which showed the need for a radical reset of how brands and agencies connect. Despite 9 in 10 respondents saying they want to work with an intermediary when searching for an agency, these marketers also said they were currently faced with an inflexible model based on a rigid ‘search and selection’ approach.

The findings were clear that CMOs wantIntermediary services to do three things:be an expert voice; provide a bespoke solution; and offer trusted guidance. Ingenuity+ will focus on delivering all three.

Ingenuity+ is the latest addition to the rapidly growing Ingenuity Group, founded by Chris Kemp, which also includes Future Factory, Reg & Co, MAD//Fest and MAD//Masters. Robinson joins the Exco of the group and will be reporting into Kemp.

Richard Robinson, Executive Director, Ingenuity+ said: “Ingenuity has conducted the largest study into what CMOs want from the Intermediary market, concluding a new model is needed to deliver against the real needs of brands, and not just their needs from a decade ago.Through the research gathered it has become apparent there is a disconnect between what senior, brand-side marketers and agencies mean by a ‘pitch’. While most agencies think pitches still mean a fully comprehensive process, brands are in fact looking for greater flexibility in terms of the processes available to find and select their agency partners. The development of Ingenuity+ allows us to plug this gap and make sure that brands and agencies are talking to each other in the right way, at the right time, and always coming together through the right process to grow value for all”.

Gill Huber, Managing Director, Ingenuity+, added: “Ingenuity’s research clearly showed that 69% of marketers will ‘definitely’ be pitching in the next 12 months and another 29% will probably be. There is an urgent need for an agile, expert and experienced intermediary solution. Enter Ingenuity+. With decades of combined and broad experience we are able to offer expert and bespoke solutions to help guide brands and agencies through the right pitch process.”

Duncan Wood, Managing Director - Growth, comments: "I'm delighted Gill and Richard are joining the team and am looking forward to working closely with them to grow our Intermediary business and continue the great work we do to connect brands with agencies across the whole country. There are great opportunities ahead for brands and agencies alike to come together and grow together".