The Point.1888 has launched a brand-new marketing agency, Story.1888, aiming to maximize the impact of clients’ brand licensing efforts. Story.1888 will be run by marketing and advertising specialists as well as licensing and retail veterans to ensure that clients’ social, PR and marketing efforts benefit from The Point.1888’s services.

Its offerings will include creative services such as product branding and style guides, product marketing, strategy, content creation and campaign management.

Leading the new agency is Martin McLaughlin, who joined The Point.1888 in June 2019, having previously delivered communications, advertising and brand partnership planning for T-Mobile, Cadbury, Amazon, Warner Music, Ford and others. Since joining The Point.1888, he has grown its book of clients as well as its marketing and creative division.

“It’s not the norm for a brand licensing specialist to launch a marketing agency, but it’s the most obvious next step,” says McLaughlin. “The licensing industry is great at creating amazing products, but not always so effective at telling the brand story and connecting the product purpose to the consumer. Connect those dots with a retail hat on and you can create really powerful moments that drive consumer love and revenue."

Story.1888 already has three clients on its books, including animated series “The Raccoons” and Comic Relief. Martin and his team will be working to create a global hub for fans to celebrate the animation property, while doing strategic and creative work for Comic Relief.

“Our business has experienced rapid growth thanks to talent, grit and strategic thinking,” says Will Stewart, managing director, The Point.1888. “Pre-pandemic we saw there was a need for specialist marketing support for our brand licensing clients and we have taken our time to find the right team and approach to make it work. I’m thrilled to be able to reveal this exciting development for our business and cannot wait to see it grow.”