the7stars is UK's largest independent media agency. The agency provides media and advertising services to clients, including media planning and buying, creative strategy and content creation, partnerships, insight and analytics, and strategic services.
History
The7stars was launched in London in 2005 by Jenny Biggam, Mark Jarvis, and Colin Mils, along with a group of senior management from media agency Carat UK, who founded the organization to compete with independent media agencies.[3] The agency takes its name from "The Seven Stars Pub", located in Central London. The funding for the agency came from private individuals rather than venture capitalists or a media network, making it the first planning agency to launch since Walker Media in 1997.[4]
The agency celebrated its 5th birthday in March 2010, surpassing £50 million in billings and growing its team to 38 people.[6] The same year, Nick Maddison joined the7stars as the Head of Business Development, transitioning from his previous role at Gen Outdoor Media Intelligence.[7] Julian Ireland also joined the7stars, coming from Target Media and i-Crossing, to head up strategy and digital at the agency.[7]
the7stars marked its 10th anniversary in March 2015, generating £182 million in billings by the end of the year and growing its team to 130 (a 28% growth).[8] The agency also relocated from its Soho office to Aldwych, being welcomed from Kinetic and Clear Channel.[8]
In 2016, the7stars hosted the Go Bigger Fair, an event that brought together multiple media owners and featured various activities.[9]
In 2017, Dom Blacklock was appointed as the Head of Data-Driven Strategy (previously Head of Campaign Management at Dentsu Aegis Network's programmatic platform Amnet),[10] followed by Julia Connaughton as Head of Digital (with 16 years of agency experience, joining from MEC, where she held the position of Digital Partner) and Chris Gilfoy as Strategy Director (previously Director of Strategy at WPP-owned agency SYZYGY) in September.[11]
In January 2018, Simon Harwood, former head of creativity and innovation at PHD UK, joined the7stars as the head of strategy.[12] In the same year, Helen Rose was promoted from head of insight to head of data, insight, and analytics, leading the newly combined 20-strong data and insight team.[13]
As the agency celebrated its 15th birthday in 2020, the7stars grew its workforce to over 200 employees, with billings reaching £270 million amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[14]
The agency then partnered with Google to introduce the AV fluid planning approach, designed to unlock specialist YouTube marketing opportunities for clients, recognizing YouTube as a natural extension of AV activity.[15]
In December 2021, Marc Bignell joined the7stars as the new Commercial Director, transitioning from his previous 20-year role as Worldwide Investment Chief (and EMEA Buying Director prior to that) at Omnicom.[16]
In September 2022, the7stars organized their agency-wide Starcademy Festival retreat, held on Osea Island. This event brought the agency's employees together with Upping Your Elvis to exchange ideas and engage in professional development activities.
In 2023, the7stars welcomed Barty Mee as the new Head of Partnerships, transitioning from his former Business Director role at Drum for over six years.[17] Additionally, the agency expanded its Strategy Team, nearly doubling its size with hires from Dentsu, Publicis, and WPP, further strengthening its strategic capabilities.[18]
Services
In January 2010, the agency launched a joint venture media agency with Adam & Eve called Eden.[7] This partnership, with Phones4u as the founding client, split a £10 million budget between the two agencies.[19]
In June 2016, the7stars expanded its services by launching Bountiful Cow, a media agency led by Henry Daglish, the former managing director of Arena Media. Based near London's Chancery Lane, the agency was launched as the7stars’ co-founder Jenny Biggam, "did not want the7stars itself to get too big".[20]
In October 2019, the7stars established a tech and activation hub, appointing Pete Robins and Rhys Williams, co-founders of the digital agency Agenda21, to lead the initiative.[21] This hub focused on boosting the agency's tech capabilities, leveraging technology and data to launch new products and services for clients.
In July 2020, the7stars acquired the Alpha Century creative agency, with the team then rebranding as Supernova and serving as the agency's creative production house.[22] Through this team, the agency then launched their Studio Supernova facility in February 2022, offering end-to-end creative solutions.
In September 2021, the7stars launched the adtech-led business acceleration consultancy, 13minutes,[23] which was designed to close the gap between adtech and media investment.[24]
In August 2022, the7stars partnered with InfoSum to launch Bridge, a privacy-first, fully addressable marketplace.[25] This platform was initially offered to all of the agency's clients (with Channel 4, Sky, and Global signing up to share their first-party data with the agency's clients upon launching),[26] giving clients access to a customer database that brought the biggest media, data, and technology partners in the UK together .[27]
Notable clients and campaigns
In 2006, the7stars won the £4 million media account for the soya-based food brand So Good, handling their first UK campaign.[28] Additionally, the agency was appointed by Space NK to handle their £1 million media account for the luxury cosmetics retailer's first major UK advertising campaign.[29]
the7stars then won Ministry of Sound's £7 million media account in 2007 after a competitive three-way pitch against MediaMix and Vizeum.[30] The agency added independent record label Cooking Vinyl's media account in November 2008, managing all of the label's media and digital, for the launch of The Prodigy's new album, “Invaders Must Die”.[31]
In February 2011, the7stars secured Warren Evans' £1.5 million media account,[38] followed by Dune in May.[39] The agency then secured the Signet account in July, which included H Samuel and Ernest Jones.[40] In October, the7stars won Atlantic Records UK's £2 million media account,[41] handling the label's domestic and international releases and pre-Christmas albums from the likes of Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Birdy, and more. The agency secured multiple accounts in November, including Sandals' £3.5 million media account without a pitch,[42]Rethink Mental Illness,[43] and Gala Coral's £3.3 million media account.[44]
In April 2012, the7stars secured the Suzuki account,[45] as well as the media account for Travel Counsellors,[46] and the Komixx Entertainment £1.5 million media account, with plans to launch 'Toby's Travelling Circus' during Easter 2013.[47]
In 2013, the agency added to its client portfolio with wins such as kitbag.com[48] and The Good Whey Company's protein drink 'Upbeat.' They also won the media account for HMV, following the company's emergence from administration,[49] and secured the multi-million-pound media account for the Payments Council to promote its new current account switching service.[50] the7stars played a role in the UK launch of the TLC channel, positioning it as a top destination for TV holidays during the summer,[51] and worked on the campaign for Avicii's chart-topping single 'Wake Me Up’.[52] The agency also managed the media campaign for Daft Punk's 'Random Access Memories’ album, promoting the pre-order of the album using only traditional media, in keeping with the duo's 70s disco disposition.[53]
In 2014, the agency, operating under the name Eden in partnership with adam&eveDDB, won Save the Children's brand communications account for their Christmas campaign.[54] The agency also won Gala Interactive's £5.7 million media account, which came as a result of their work with the company's sister company Coral Interactive.[55]
The following year, in 2015, the7stars secured Iceland's £20 million media account, taking over from Mediacom North, who worked with the brand since 2006,[56] and won the offline media account for Ancestry UK.[57]
In 2016, the agency's growth continued with wins such as Nintendo UK[58] and Bauer Media.[59] They also secured the account for Urban Fresh Foods, the makers of Bear Nibbles, taking over the media planning and buying duties that were previously handled by the client in-house.
Throughout 2019, the7stars made an impact with campaigns such as Chiquita's award-winning "Best Bus Wrap"[64] and Iceland's "thank you" ad to the nation's emergency service workers, which earned Newsworks' "Ad of the Day" accolade.
In 2020, the agency secured Vision Express' £12 million media account, winning the competitive pitch that predominantly took place over video conferencing.[65]
In 2022, the7stars continued to expand its client roster, winning accounts such as AG Barr (taking over from incumbent PHD Manchester, which handled the company's media since 2010),[71]Kao,[72]Bensons for Beds,[73] Illva Saronno,[74]Unboxed (through the Crown Commercial Service),[75]Royal Mail,[76] and Cunard's £4.7 million combined media and creative account.[77] Their work on campaigns for Sandals Resorts and H&M received industry recognition from Newsworks and Ad Age, whilst their controversial Iceland ‘No Palm Oil’ ad was voted one of the World's Best Ads Ever by The Drum's readers.[78]
In September 2023, the7stars added Princess Cruises to their roster following a competitive pitch, with a focus on driving demand for their next generation of cruise ships (Sun Princess and Star Princess).[84] They also unveiled Fenwick's inaugural ad campaign across the UK, seeking to evolve the 140-year-old brand.[85]
In October 2023, the agency partnered with TBWA\London to deliver Ginsters' biggest campaign to date, highlighting the locally sourced and high-quality ingredients used in the company's products.[86] This was followed by the7stars launching Wagamama's first major campaign since 2021 (in partnership with The 119 Studio), which saw a TV spot that juxtaposed people open water swimming with restaurant-goers diving into bowls of steaming ramen.[87] At the end of October, the agency's Fortnum & MasonHalloween ad was voted Newsworks' Ad of the Month.[88]
In December 2023, the7stars' work on TSB's 'The elephant in the room' campaign was voted Marketing Week's Best Marketing Campaign of 2023 by Marketing Week readers.[89]
The agency went on to add water bottle brand Air Up to their roster in February 2024, launching the German brand in the UK with a campaign spanning linear and broadcaster video on demand.[90] The agency also secured Motorpoint's UK media planning and buying, being tasked with revamping their AV strategy and driving growth through a data-led approach.[91] the7stars also expanded their partnership with McArthurGlen, now also managing their digital media planning and buying.[92]
In April 2024, The Cotswold Company appointed the7stars as their creative and media agency, with Supernova (the agency's creative production studio) tasked with developing the company's branding and creative for a TV campaign scheduled for September 2024.[93] Following this, the agency launched Hits Radio's first TV campaign starring presenters Sam Thompson, Fleur East, and Gemma Atkinson.[94] Later that month, the7stars also launched Iceland's new TV campaign after a year-long hiatus, with a 30-second hero ad created by the agency's Supernova creative team and starring Josie Gibson.[95]
In June 2024, the agency added both Freemans[96] and Bella & Duke[97] to their client roster. Following this, the7stars secured Oak Furnitureland's UK media buying and planning in July 2024.[98]
In November 2024, the7stars secured Great British Racing's £5 million media planning and buying account.[99] Following this, The AA appointed the7stars to manage their above-the-line brand and direct response media across the UK in December 2024.[100]
