Spiro on how its thought leadership strategy made its voice heard
It's vital to have a strong point of view in today's marketing landscape and Spiro looked to implement a structured Thought Leadership strategy to ensure that the many expert voices at the agency were being heard on the many issues affecting ambitious brands today. The approach also won the Thought Leadership award at The Drum Awards for Agency Business. Here is the award-winning case study.
Example of the award-winning work
For 2023 and beyond, Spiro™ is demonstrating the value of both our industry, and our agency, to brand-side marketers, through several new, interrelated initiatives. Our goal is to communicate our value as not merely that we create & execute events. It’s that we design experiences to sway & stay customer preference towards their brand. We work to understand drivers & engagement motivators, design to those behaviors, & position their brand as priority in the hearts & minds of their most important audiences. The result is what we call Brand Gravity — not merely connection, but a unique bond between brand & customer.
Further, we’ve identified the situational, psychosocial & environmental conditions affecting audiences & experiences today, for a measurable index we call the G.R.A.V.I.T.Y. Index™, to assess the success of an event real-time. The G.R.A.V.I.T.Y Index represents the "levers" universal for brands & humans, we can pull to create, measure & competitively benchmark experiences to ensure brand and commercial impact. We then deliver Brand Gravity-generating experiences via our 5-phase framework, CCXD™. Launched in 2021, CCXD allows us to:
Understand customer drivers along the G.R.A.V.I.T.Y. Index
Match & map to the brand’s business objectives
Design according to customer drivers & brand objectives
Identify optimal channels for continuous participation
Measure (T•RO) the dividends of the event & participation
We know that people attend events, but they JOIN communities. Phase 4 of our framework, the community multiplier phase, is where Brand Gravity accelerates and solidifies. How/Why? Because creating and maintaining a brand’s “Community”- be it fan, customer, internal, sustainable, cultural, affinity, functional, etc.- as a hub for evergreen participation, is the critical and necessary element that multiplies the bond between brand & customer, resulting in the prime position- brand gravity.
Capabilities
We internally house the talent and expertise needed for an invaluable, full-service brief to “beyond the room” agency, delivering Strategic Portfolio Analysis, Meetings & Events, Brand & Product Activations, Exhibits & Program Management, Environments & Permanent Installations, and Marketing & Measurement. We work globally with brand marketers & event managers in healthcare, manufacturing, aerospace, sports marketing & sponsorships, CPGs, QSRs, finance & fintech, and gaming/esports. Our focus is on creating bonded audience/brand connections through our distinctive POVs, resulting in Total Community Lifecycle Value for our clients.
Our clients rely on us for innovative experiences, but also for strategic insight into the ‘where and why’ of their overall experience portfolio. Our portfolio analysis & planning offering reveals how to maximize current planning calendars while uncovering emerging or novel audiences that our clients can additionally tap in to.
And while almost all successful companies in today’s business world have or use qualitative & quantitative measurement criteria, few agencies are equipped to deliver a fully realized community development & measurement strategy. With our CCXD & T•RO frameworks, we deliver. Our services provide our clients with an unmatched level of detail that goes far beyond the event or experience itself.
Culture & Team
We have all functions in-house, with integrated, advanced technology solutions, led by a world-class leadership team. We live & breathe our core values: Lead with Creativity, Be Authentically You, Fun Thrives Here, Inspire & Be Inspired, and Better Together. We call our internal community “Spiro·nauts,” because together, we go boldly where no experience or agency has gone before. We empower each other to take risks in the vast open space, to create out-of-this-world experiences that defy gravity for our clients. We are the pioneers of innovation, perfectionists in our craft. We believe strong global communities are empowered by diversity, inclusion & belonging.
Our Spiro·nauts are relentless in the pursuit of discovery and aren’t afraid to take risks & empower each other to create out-of-this-world experiences. As we help clients in building their brand communities, Spiro’s People & Culture team strive to promote a positive work environment that celebrates our professional needs while welcoming a variety of backgrounds & unique identities.
We celebrate invaluable internal initiatives including:
ERGs: Voluntary, employee-led Employee Resource groups that aim to foster a diverse & inclusive workplace.
Women of Spiro: Our celebration & support of women in business--ours & our industry’s. This initiative amplifies the voices of our female leaders and colleagues to share advice, guidance & knowledge for personal & professional growth.
Spiro•cast: A monthly, open attendance internal “coffee talk” vodcast with global employees & our President Jeff Stelmach, ideal for closing the leadership gap that can sometimes happen in larger organizations.
Spiro·YOU: Our talent development initiative that helps Spiro·nauts build on the skills they need to optimize their professional development by collaboratively interacting with their supervisors to accomplish goals.
Spiro·unplugged: Our annual talent show, broadcasted live & recorded—a community favorite!
Our Thought Leadership Launched in 2022, our proprietary thought leadership program, n·Spiro™, explores and publishes POVs on a variety of topics relevant to today’s marketing, branding & event professionals. The program provides insights from brand experience leaders across industries & delivers future-focused, actionable takeaways to help brands forge deeper relationships with their audiences. Main topical themes are video-released, with additional downloadable support assets:
Lite Papers, which are more succinct, snackable white papers.
Pin Drops, which are offered as ‘strategic wayfinding,’ a ‘location finder’ for insights implementation.