Reputation media, marketing and sales agency Attain has announced a merger with Auckland design agency Brandstorm, under the Attain banner, in a move that adds strong brand design capability to Attain’s full service integrated sales, media and marketing offer.

Attain New Zealand CEO, Sharn Piper, said principal of Brandstorm, Anthony Simons, joins Attain as creative manager and partner where he will make a strong contribution to the agency’s brand and creative development team.

“Easily half of your reputation in sales and marketing is branding. Design is credibility. The addition of Brandstorm to the Attain stable — following earlier mergers this year of Attain Sales with content marketing agency Iron Road, David Brand Management and Creative Future — adds additional capability to Attain’s sales and marketing offering.

“We believe we are unique because we are sales and marketing specialists working side-by-side to deliver integrated strategies for companies that want more synergy between their sales teams and marketing teams. We believe that in 2019 onwards, sales and marketing should be one integrated team working interdependently. That’s what we help clients achieve. Brandstorm will add tremendous value to our offering.”

Brandstorm’s Simons said it has always been his ambition to create brands that stand out and are loved.

“That hasn’t changed, but after a lot of thought, I have made the decision to join with the Attain New Zealand team as a partner – a business that shares my philosophies and values. I have always believed that it takes a village to raise a business and to get the best for my clients. This opportunity will achieve that.

“What this means is that I can now offer and do far more for my clients’ businesses than previously. As a complete agency service, Attain New Zealand means there will be a bigger scope in what we can provide to both existing clients and other businesses in the future,” he said.

MEDIA RELEASE
Attain New Zealand | 27 August 2019

New marketing agency marries media, marketing and sales into one department

The launch of New Zealand’s newest full-service marketing agency brings together a collaboration of sales, marketing and media experts with the aim of fully integrating the sales and marketing campaigns, teams and functions into one seamless revenue generating department.

Attain New Zealand’s elected CEO Sharn Piper said that the new sales and marketing agency is targeting companies that have their own sales teams (or distribution partners) who want to leverage their expertise and reputation in the media and across digital channels, while optimising the performance of their face-to-face sales.

“It’s past the time that New Zealand businesses not only think about closing the divide between sales and marketing but actually combines them into one unit that finds customers online and takes them offline into a sales conversation.

“Our process includes thought leadership, public relations, digital, automation and social media as well as sales training, systems and support. As part of that we train and coach sales teams, or activate our own telemarketers, to close the sale. We’re positioning as the revenue growth agency for companies where a sales team is involved.”

 

The five founding partners are:

• Sharn Piper, high performance sales consultant, coach and trainer.
• Bill James, professional speaker, sales trainer and consultant (multiple winner of New Zealand’s best speaker award).
• Alexandra Donaghy, marketing and creative director.
• Colin Kennedy, professional speaker, content marketing, reputation and media strategist.
• Eugene Moreau, business communication, presentations and strategy.

Piper said the launch of Attain New Zealand is a response to market demand for better results from marketing.

“CEOs want to see more than a sheet of qualified leads coming from marketing. They want to see sales conversions that generate real bottom line revenue, but that will be a challenge so long as marketing and sales continue to operate in silos.

“Achieving revenue results is more than combining the sales and marketing team. It’s about integrating marketing campaigns, automation technology, CRMs and sales processes and procedures into a single revenue generating department.”

Piper said that the philosophy of the business is to take a ‘value first’ approach to sales and marketing.

“Rather than helping clients to talk about how good they are, we help them engage customers by putting the needs, questions and problems of their customers at the forefront of their marketing and sales.

“We help clients establish a favourable reputation that is trusted, expert and caring. It’s the kind of marketing that prepares the way for the sales conversation.”

 

ABOUT

Attain New Zealand takes a thought leadership and reputation building approach to marketing. The agency utilises the expertise of leaders in a client’s business to spearhead their sales and marketing effort with high value, thought provoking content across multiple channels — including digital, social media and face-to-face.

The agency is based in Commerce Street downtown Auckland but works with clients in New Zealand and globally. The new company serves a range of business-to-business and business-to-consumer businesses where the client prides themselves on their expertise and employs sales teams or distribution channel partners in the customer experience journey.