Twelve of the UK’s largest brands and agencies in the marketing industry have signed on as partners to an ad tech accelerator initiative called Collider.
Bauer Media, BBC Worldwide, Camelot, Diageo, Engine Group, Ex terion Media, Havas Media, Haymarket. Ogilvy & Mather Group UK, Reevoo, Unruly Media, and Unilever are taking part in a year-long programme aimed to give brands and agencies competitive advantage.
The initiative will see brands and start-ups share technology and ideas through an intensive 17 week programme to’accelerate’ each businesses to market.
The plan throughout the rest of the year includes formal and informal scheduled events with the latest intake of startups: Class of 2015. This includes workshops; ‘speed-dating ‘sessions; hackathons; mentoring meetings and demo days.
Each partner has a bespoke programme to respond to their business needs.
Marc Mathieu, SVP of Unilever said; “We are very proud to be one of Collider’s founding partners. It has enabled us to gain deep exposure to new technologies and pilot those technologies with our brands. Collider continues to accelerate very high quality startups with a strong relevance to our brands. Five Col lider companies are currently piloting their technology with Unilever and we are looking forward to seeing what 2015 brings.”
Paul Frampton, CEO of Havas Media, added; “Being a modern agile agency requires constant access to the latest technologies and thinking, which Collider start-ups always have in spades. Smart marketers don’t just take new products off the shelf, they work in partnership with tech providers to evolve their solutions.
We’re looking forward to collaborating with the cohort of 2015 to deliver long-term innovative solutions for each of our clients.”
Sarah Wood, CEO of Unruly Media commented: “To stay in this competitive market, brands must take a proactive stance on adapting new technol ogies. Collider facilitates this. 2015 will be a big year for social content- especially social”
Rose Lewis. Co-Founder of Collider notes; “These brands play a pivotal role in our accelerator programme each year Without their dedication and enthusiasm, our startups would not have access to such constructive and critical customer feedback as early on. This leads to a faster market launch of a product responding to brands’ actual needs.”
This is the third accelerator programme for Collider. After seven months on the programme. last year’s alumni signed 23 deals with Collider brands and had a 1.9 times increase in valuation.