Global brand communications agency Manifest Group is growing its leadership by appointing Lauren Preece as its Brand Services Director.
Joining longstanding Chief Design Officer Martin Farrar-Smith, the pair will lead the agency's global branding team of designers, strategists, and researchers.
Farrar-Smith believes Preece's critical eye for branding and holistic mindset was a driving force behind the agency's evolution.
Additionally, Manifest has announced that it will be doubling the size of its design team to accommodate the agency's record growth over the past year.
A Unified Approach
Farrar-Smith cited the agency's unified approach, which enables brands to consolidate agency support under one roof, as crucial to its growth.
"The era of Purpose is over. It’s not longer enough to simply stand for something, we need to stand up for it.
Having built a global agency, with a unified structure and proposition, we are embarking on a new mission for the next three years to inspire an era of ‘progress-driven marketing’ and the expansion of our brand team is just the start," Farrar-Smith told DesignRush.
Farrar-Smith adds that unified agencies are less linear and more symbiotic, which leads to more cohesive content.
Preece, meanwhile, discussed the increasing demand for conscious brand work that accounts for how the brand will be used in practice, emphasizing Manifest's twofold responsibility.
“As an agency not just responsible for building the brand but, in most cases, also taking it to market, our proprietary approach goes further than the usual brand creation process to consider communications and marketing efficacy at quite a detailed level,” she explained.
Preece, who originally did a stint at Manifest between 2012 and 2015, previously held in-house roles at Virgin and BrewDog.
Branding has become recognized as crucial for businesses to grow and stand out among competitors. Manifest's move to expand its leadership team to cope with the significant increase in the demand for its services is proof of this.
“Brand strategy and development has always been at the heart of our proposition, and over the past two years, we have seen this aspect of our work experience explosive growth," Manifest Founder and CEO Alex Myers said in a press release.
Say hello to one of our newest clients, @jellycatlondon 🎉 Mark your calendars for the Jellycat Diner experience at @FAOSchwarz - coming Sept. 10! Jellycat will be unveiling a fresh look & new menu, serving its exclusive foodie friends. Stay tuned for all the delicious details! pic.twitter.com/2BPEKuWx4n
— Manifest Group (@ManifestGRP) September 5, 2024
The agency's current list of global clients includes Diageo, Logitech, Reckitt, and Universal Music Group, with premium plush toy company Jellycat being the most recent addition to its roster.
Aside from its work tripling in the past year, the B-Corp certified agency was recently the recipient of a major industry award.
Aiming to "build brands that change the world," Manifest has established studios in London, New York, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Manchester, and Melbourne.
Editing by Katherine 'Makkie' Maclang
