AAR bolsters social, content and influencer practices in response to explosion of briefs

Off the back of unprecedented demand from clients, leading marketing consultancy AAR has extended its social, content and influencer offering. In order to reflect the modern marketing landscape, and the expansive nature of social, content and influencer, the offering will be delivered by Andrew Bloch and Rebecca Nunneley. The team will work closely with Hannah Astill, who oversees performance marketing. 

AAR has consulted on pitches for brands for more than four decades and recently handled PR briefs for Holland & Barrett, Vision Express and TalkTalk. As the marketing landscape shifts continuously, CMOs have turned their focus to their social, content and influencer agency support. AAR has seen an explosion in the number of these briefs in recent months, including pitches for Nintendo and Comparethemarket, as brands look to make sure they have the best partners in place to drive best-in-class strategy and approach. 

AAR began working with PR industry leader Andrew Bloch in late 2020, when he took the helm of their PR consultancy practice. Beyond managing all PR pitches at AAR, Andrew is now responsible for social, content and influencer pitches. Alongside this, Andrew takes on a broader remit encompassing the development of new approaches and offerings to support both brands and consultancies. AAR is increasingly helping clients adapt their marketing models to ensure that their marketing operations and ecosystems are future proofed. Andrew is a key member of the brains trust within AAR to help brands design the right solutions to deliver against their evolving marketing needs.

Andrew Bloch said:

“The marketing world is evolving at a rapid pace and trying to find the right agencies for the job in hand is tougher than ever. Clients are increasingly overwhelmed by the service offerings of various agencies and the fact that traditional siloes are fast becoming a thing of the past. This, combined with specific and specialist requirements, has driven an unprecedented level of demand for AAR to help select the right agencies for their specific requirements. Having participated in hundreds of pitches over the years, it’s great to be able to put my experience to good use on the other side of the table and help clients find the right partners.”

Rebecca Nunneley, Lead Consultant for AAR’s creative pitch practice, which includes advertising, social and content, commented:

“A few years ago, social media appeared to be a bit of an afterthought for a lot of brands, but today it is beginning to move front and centre. Most CMOs I talk to are questioning whether they could be making more of their social investment and, if so, whether they have the right partners in place to support them. For example, who in their agency roster should own social? Should this sit with their advertising agency, or do they need a specialist social partner? How can they build a tone of voice and body language so that their brand can show up consistently in social? Who in their roster is offering a neutral point of view on how they should spend their marketing budget, and what they should be investing in social versus more traditional channels. Expanding our social, content and influencer practice will allow us to help more clients answer these sorts of questions and ensure that they are set up for success in a world with such fragmented, hard to reach audiences.”

Victoria Fox, CEO of AAR, said:

“In the time Andrew and Rebecca have been with AAR they have bought energy, passion, and a fresh perspective to pitching in the PR and Advertising space. I’m excited to see them expand their remits in order to meet the demands and challenges that we are seeing our clients face. As well as working together to develop new ways to support clients and agencies in this rapidly evolving landscape, their breadth of experience and lateral thinking will also support us in the broader consultancy offerings we have been building across AAR over the last few years. More than ever, clients need trusted neutral advice as they re-shape their marketing functions and partners.”

AAR has worked with marketing organisations and their external partners for more than four decades, witnessing first-hand how the landscape has evolved. The huge number of conversations they have with senior marketers, agency leaders, consultants, innovators and technology specialists gives them a rare perspective. They hear more and know more than any other advisor. AAR has strong and well-informed views on what brands need to do to face down the challenges of the 2020’s, to better connect their businesses to their customers, and to drive growth. And they know how to turn these views into action: They have deep experience in helping organisations Design, Build and Drive adaptive marketing ecosystems.