It's been pretty quiet on the Vizeum front over recent months, but that could all be about to change.
The agency, led by joint managing directors Grant Millar and Matt Andrews, significantly bolstered its digital credentials last October when it drafted in 25 employees from sister agency Diffiniti.
It then went on to scoop the enviable Twentieth Century Fox account, worth an estimated £150m in billings, in January, alongside a clutch of other wins in recent months.
And, after a year of watching fellow agencies shout about restructures and repositionings, it has now raised its head above the parapet, announcing the appointment of a new head of search charged with putting search planning "at the heart of every brief".
Millar has deliberately stayed out of the spotlight since he and Andrews took over the reigns at the Aegis agency two years ago, but with this latest move, he finally feels the agency has something to shout about itself.
"What I will never do is puffery," he says. "Matt and I are the kind of people who will never claim anything unless we are confident and have evidence that we're delivering it. It explains why Vizeum has been relatively low profile, but quietly doing some spectacular stuff."
Millar has worked with Andrews to transform the agency into "the most digital-centric full-service media agency", melding his technical and client-side experience gained from years spent with BT, with Andrews' strategic expertise.
Perfect fit
"Putting our experience together, we're a perfect fit," he reflects. "On paper it shouldn't work because we're both planners, but we're fundamentally different types of planner. Matt is a real visionary, I'm the more rational channel planner."
His experience sitting on the client side adds significantly to the agency's appeal. In a world where many agency bosses feel worn down by "increasingly demanding clients", Millar can see both sides of the coin.
"Client organisations are being squeezed. If you're part of a supply chain, margins have been eroded because the consumer marketplace is more competitive than ever, so of course (clients) have to look back into their supply chain, and we're part of that. But there are efficiencies to be realised," he contends.
"Senior (agency) people look at where things are and get freaked out. What's important is figuring out what shape we need to grow into."
Part of that is obviously developing the digital side of the business, as every agency worth its salt has been doing for the last year at least. By integrating specialists from Diffiniti, headed by Carat Digital managing director Ben Wood, Vizeum has gained some instant credibility.
And the appointment of Ross Barnes as head of search demonstrates just how seriously it takes search - both organic and paid for - in the evolving media mix and in its offering to clients.
"If you run a campaign now and haven't thought about search implications, you could be driving people to your competitors' websites," he says matter-of-factly.
"As a client, I found it very frustrating that agencies didn't seem to be taking digital seriously enough. Every client, regardless of their sector, should feel frustrated if they are not getting proper holistic advice."
Challenging approach
Barnes claimed Vizeum was "the prime destination agency for those of us who want to see the time-old traditional media approach seriously challenged" - great endorsement for the agency that has arguably been a low profile player of late.
Clearly delighted by his new recruit's enthusiasm, Millar believes the secret to his company's current appeal is that "as a proportion of business, we have more online people than any other agency" and that even more importantly, they are not "hived off" into a separate department.
"From the first week the (Diffiniti) guys came in, they were excited about the opportunity. How much more exciting is it to work across the whole area of media?" he asks.
"The crazy thing about the development of online for me is that it's been encouraged to stay in the ghetto. Every time something difficult comes along, it gets put in a little box. We have to be more dynamic and nimble than ever, so it's insane creating divisions."
It may indeed be difficult for those in media to fathom the way forward as technology and channels develop at breakneck speed, but Millar is lapping it up.
"I absolutely love it. Change is really good for the industry - it's really shaking things up," he says, eyes gleaming. "People say we (agencies) are losing characters; that's true, but there are more coming through."
And with that, he rushes off to a training session in "creativity and ideas" - all part of the grand master plan to nurture those new characters and, hopefully, keep Vizeum as that "destination agency" for all the bright young things out there.
CV
2005: Joint managing director, Vizeum UK
2003: Head of planning and media, BT
2002: BT marketer of the year
2000: Head of media, BT
1998: Media strategist, BT
1995: Planner, Starcom MediaVest
1994: Classified sales, What Car?, then display sales, Autocar, Haymarket Publishing.