Milk & Honey Expands Into Middle East Via Agency Partnership

(MENAFN- PRovoke) LONDON - Milk & Honey has extended its global footprint into the Middle East via a partnership Abu Dhabi-based 9Yards Communications.

Part of investment company EIH Ethmar International Holding Group, 9Yards Communications has offices in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt and works with regional and global companies including the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Audi and Hilton Abu Dhabi - Yas Island.

The formal partnership – bringing together Milk & Honey's 50-strong team across London, Munich, New York and Singapore and 9Yards Communications' 150 employees in the Middle East – creates a joint offer that includes strategic planning, purpose and ESG communications, digital and social, creative, design, storytelling, media relations, technology, media buying and multimedia production.

In the short term, the partnership will give Milk & Honey greater exposure in the Middle East market, while 9Yards Communications will have access to Milk & Honey's strategic communications experience and its reach in Europe, North America and APAC.

In the longer term, the agencies will be working together on new business opportunities – with conversations already underway around FMCG, healthtech and leisure client collaborations – as well as cross-agency skills and development.

Milk & Honey founder and group CEO Kirsty Leighton said 9Yards Communications was“a like-minded partner that shares our desire to challenge, push boundaries and change the world.”

She told PRovoke Media:“This year has not been how any of us had hoped, so we are looking at our growth and structure in a more imaginative way, rather than just organic growth, and this is an opportunity to have ready-made teams on the ground in the Middle East without opening under our own brand.

“We want to be able to run truly global impact campaigns. Some of the most exciting clean energy innovations are coming out of the Middle East; we need to be part of that discussion and to be able to represent those innovations globally, and we have the footprint to do that elsewhere but not in the Middle East.”

As Milk & Honey is a B Corp, Leighton said“working in the region still has some challenges, so a partnership works well.” She said the Middle East was still early on its B Corp journey compared to the UK and the US:“There's much work to be done, and we are a Clean Creatives signatory so we won't be working with certain clients, but there's a whole load of exciting global, intergovernmental work out there that we would love to be part of.”

In the past year, Milk & Honey has launched an 'imPACT' purpose and ESG communications division, the 'NU' AI and emerging technologies division, a broadcast and podcast division; and a new B Corp communications consultancy, as well as bringing former Carma CEO Richard Bagnall on board as a non-executive director.

Leighton said:“There are a couple of other holes in our offering we would like to bolster, and we're continuing to look at potential M&As. With help from Richard we've been able to turbo-charge our measurement infrastructure and now we want to nail the insights part of our offer. We're also looking to strengthen our visual content capabilities and bring them in-house.”

At 9Yards Communications, founder and CEO Hussam Almulhem said:“Driven by shared values and an ambition to provide an ever-greater international reach for our respective clients, this partnership with Milk & Honey is a fantastic opportunity for two creative powerhouses of global talents to flourish together. We look forward to the opportunities this new and complementary dynamic will present.”

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