Brand advocacy experts Social Soup + Pollinate launch umbrella brand – The Influence Group

Global word-of-mouth agency Social Soup and innovative research house Pollinate have today announced a further alignment of their businesses under a new umbrella brand, The Influence Group (TIG).

Both companies will retain their existing brands and services, with TIG providing an integrated consultancy exclusively focussed on increasing knowledge and the application of influence.

As well as providing thought leadership and expertise, TIG will offer brands an end-to-end solution to support the product cycle from idea to launch, with services including research, word-of-mouth and brand advocacy. The group draws on insights from a community of more than 140,000 influential consumers in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

The group is co-chaired by Pollinate founder Howard Parry-Husbands and Social Soup founder Sharyn Smith. Andrew Handosa has been appointed group business director for the group and will be responsible for growth and operation of the brand.

Handosa joins TIG from London-based brand and digital consultancy, Corporate Edge, where he was the lead creative strategist. He brings valuable experience from working in major client, vendor and agency roles creating solutions for iconic brands in the UK, European and Australasian markets. Handosa has developed and launched multi-million dollar product portfolios for ZTE and Optus Group, managed large-scale integrated marketing campaigns as well as the brand transformation of Telstra.

Parry-Husbands said the group is dedicated to going beyond brand awareness to drive behaviour change and brand advocacy both on and offline.

Says Parry-Husbands: “Influence is the most powerful way to change behaviour. With more than ten year’s experience in influence driven co-creation and hundreds of successful advocacy campaigns across three continents, we have proven that influence is a fundamentally better way to advertise.

“Influence generates lasting behavioural change and provides a proven return on investment because it empowers people as the trusted media channel is peer groups. The influence model engages consumers to help shape, decide, create and then share the future of brands.”

To celebrate the launch of The Influence Group, the company will be hosting an exclusive industry breakfast with world-renowned word of mouth expert and co-author of Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements Geno Church on October 23rd in Sydney.

Church’s talk, The Passion Conversation: Inspiring Your Staff and Supporters to Love Your Brand, will weave the latest academic and marketing research with practical, real world case stories to demonstrate how to spark and sustain word of mouth marketing, build a thriving community, drive meaningful conversations and ultimately impact the financial success of a business.

Spaces for the breakfast are limited, for more details or to register interest, click here.

(Pictured L-R: TIG co-chair and Social Soup founder Sharyn Smith; TIG group business director Andrew Handosa; TIG co-chair and Pollinate founder Howard Parry-Husbands)