Smoking Gun’s recently launched B2B division has made a pair of new appointments after successfully billing over £400,000 in the six months since launch.
Former Newsquest news and business editor Steven Hallmark joins as B2B media manager, while Lindsay Jones joins the division as account director following senior roles at TrunkBBI, Big Brand Ideas and Zeus PR.
Head of B2B Caroline Aspinall, who has overseen the launch of the division, said: “Smoking Gun is famous for its ingenious award-winning work, so to see more B2B brands trusting us to deliver their briefs with the same creativity and flair is incredible.
“With the team’s intelligent and disruptive approach to B2B, we really have hit the ground sprinting and have big ambitions for growth in 2024 and beyond.
“We want to transform B2B comms from the formulaic and make it more tailored to the needs of today’s businesses. One new area for example is corporate reputation management.
“In a world where credibility is everything we are seeing more executives turn to us to help raise their personal profile, maximise their influence and hone their individual reputations. This is just one specialist area that we are looking to develop further this year.”
With a fresh identity, a restructured leadership team and a renewed focus on growth, the Manchester-based agency is on track to double in size over the course of 2024.
Smoking Gun CEO Rick Guttridge added: “Our first global effectiveness award was for a B2B campaign and with our new focus and team in place we’re gunning for plenty more.
“Caroline is building her specialist team to blend seamlessly into our existing offering. The new client wins are testament to the strength of the offer and we have ambitious plans for the coming year.”
Smoking Gun’s B2B portfolio now includes global pensions and health benefits administrator Aptia, playground manufacturer ESP Play, hotel booking platform Profitroom and retail insights brand Reapp.
Last month Smoking Gun also revealed that Versuni, owner of the Philips domestic appliance business, has appointed the agency on a retained basis. The six figure account covers an integrated communications brief comprising campaigns, press office, influencer and social media marketing.
