Young Auckland marketers’ business acquired by OSS Group
Award-winning Auckland digital marketing agency, Inbound, has been acquired by OSS Group.
The agency behind successful campaigns for brands including State, WSP Opus, IAG, and AMI Insurance was founded in 2015 by young Auckland-based marketing talent and cousins Steven Male (27) and Ben Male (25).
Since then, Inbound has grown their team to 10 people and has delivered an estimated $200 million in value to more than 100 businesses.
“We’ve put our blood, sweat, and tears into Inbound and to be acquired by a business that fully shares our vision is hugely satisfying,” says Steven.
“We started because we saw how much value we could bring to the marketplace and we’ve been aiming to delight customers ever since.
“We’ve definitely made a few mistakes along the way, but we scaled quickly by always keeping on top of new developments in digital marketing, keeping our hunger to learn, and always placing the client’s goals front and centre of everything we do.”
Steven will move on from Inbound and is looking to use his expertise to coach and up-skill other marketers and small business owners via the online platform Hello Mellows. Meanwhile, Ben will stay on as the Principal Growth Consultant of Inbound and OSS Group and will help steer the company under the new ownership of OSS Group.
Top Kiwi talent recognised and rewarded
Five Kiwi rising stars have scored coveted places in the prestigious Verizon Media Academy talent development programme.
The Class of 2020 was chosen by judges from a pool of more than 200 nominations submitted from senior leaders in brands, advertising and media agencies across Australia and New Zealand.
Kiwi talents Annie Bramwell from MBM, Kate Hopkinson from MediaCom, Kevin van Wyk from Rocket Network (PHD), Kirsty Jury from Vodafone NZ, and Lydia Sutton from Starcom have been selected into the Class of 2020. Future leaders have been chosen from five different markets across the media, marketing and advertising spectrum and will be flown to Sydney for the event.
The Class of 2020 will gather on March 25 and 26 in Sydney to attend the two day educational programme which is jam-packed with expert advice to help delegates ‘Build Brand You’ and assist their professional development. Attendees will hear from a range of world-class speakers in sessions curated to teach creative brainstorming techniques, nurture personal wellbeing and offer handy tips to navigate their careers.
“I’m very proud to announce this year’s Verizon Media Academy Class of 2020. It was a difficult decision to narrow down just 40 delegates, but these talented individuals have proven they are truly future leaders.
“Verizon Media takes our responsibility to foster the development of our industry’s talent very seriously which is why we’re so heavily invested in maintaining such a high standard for the Academy. We have an incredible programme lined up this year and can’t wait to see the Class of 2020 in action,” says Managing Director of Verizon Media ANZ, Paul Sigaloff.
