Latest News and Thoughts

The latest news, partnerships and thought leadership from the Oystercatchers team.

Oystercatchers Thoughts

Working with an intermediary, or thinking about it? Ask yourself these questions, please!

Becky McKinlay, Managing Director at Oystercatchers, clarifies the misconceptions around true intermediary services and highlights the essential factors brands should consider to make informed decisions when choosing an intermediary partner.  In the 5 months since I’ve been at Oystercatchers, I’ve been exploring the differences between a number of organisations offering intermediary services, the value they […]

Avoiding the Tyranny of Subjectivity

Andy Bargery, Client Director at Oystercatchers, explores how a ‘tough on the work and kind on the people’ approach can enhance your creative output without undermining the people behind it.  How do you evaluate creativity in a way that enhances agency performance?  At Oystercatchers, we work a lot with brands that want to get better […]

Pitch Perfect: How a Positive Pitch Transforms the Process

Adam Trainis, Client Director, discusses the best practice approaches to an ideal pitch process, and how to create a pitch experience that sets the foundation for a successful brand and agency relationship. The start of an agency pitch process should be an exciting prospect.    The opportunity for a brand to bring in new thinking, […]

BRAT Summer: How Agencies and Brands Are Evolving with AI, Social Media, and Cultural Relevance

Annie Mallin, Programme Manager at Oystercatchers, looks at the lessons that brands and agencies can learn from and adopt after the viral BRAT summer campaign. Charli XCX’s BRAT campaign was not just a summer sensation—it was a sophisticated exercise in navigating the chaotic waters of contemporary marketing. What began as the title of her latest […]

Give your team the tools to change consumer behaviour

Andy Bargery, Client Director at Oystercatchers, breaks down the key ingredients of how brands and their agencies can optimise their creative output to get consumers to take action.   Shifting consumer behaviour isn’t easy. If you want to convince an audience to buy your product over another, or perhaps to buy more of your product […]

The advantages and watchouts for agencies working with intermediaries

Becky McKinlay, Managing Director at Oystercatchers explores how agencies can best understand different intermediary models to help them make key decisions. In earlier posts, we discussed the advantages of engaging an intermediary for clients, emphasising the value of choosing one that acts as both a consultancy service and a strategic partner, rather than one which […]

Why does a client need an intermediary – and how do they add value?

Becky McKinlay, Managing Director of Oystercatchers, explores 10 reasons why clients use intermediaries and how they can deliver value to your brand. Last week, we covered that ‘intermediary’ might not be the best word to describe our services.  It wouldn’t be much of a market or an industry that survived over many years if all […]

Oystercatchers News

The Very Group appoints Zenith as media agency of record

The Very Group, the parent company of digital retailer Very, has selected Zenith as its media agency of record. Zenith will handle all media planning and buying for The Very Group, offering strategic direction on digital execution and retail media. They will also help accelerate the “Let’s make it sparkle” brand platform and supporting the […]

Becky McKinlay Named Managing Director of Oystercatchers on a permanent basis

Becky will continue to lead across Oystercatchers’ market-leading portfolio of services; Agency Search and Selection, operational excellence, and training for the intermediary’s roster of high-profile clients. In addition to developing the Oystercatchers Club for agencies, the company will launch additional complementary services to help clients maximise their partnerships and supercharge their marketing.  Becky brings extensive […]

Becky McKinlay joins Oystercatchers as Interim Managing Director

Oystercatchers are delighted to announce the appointment of Becky McKinlay into the newly created position of Interim Managing Director of Oystercatchers. Becky joins Oystercatchers from Alpha Grid (part of the Financial Times Group), where she was Managing Director for creative content and the storytelling studio. She has worked in both client side and agency roles […]