It’s amazing to hear the questions that you asked get about your business, when you’re ”out in the wild.”

I’ve had an incredible month of travel, speaking events and client meetings. Part of that time was spent with Marcus Sheridan. Marcus has one of the most interesting business stories that you will ever hear. In short, he embodies a traditional business that latched on to digital marketing, ran with it and generated tremendous success in the process. You can hear his story on the Six Pixels of Separation podcast from back in 2011 right here: SPOS #285 – How To Be A Marketing And Sales Lion With Marcus Sheridan. Marcus has a simple marketing philosophy that will soon act as the basis and title of his business book, They Ask. You Answer. The business book will be published in January 2017, and it focuses on a simple strategy for inbound marketing, content marketing and understanding today’s digital consumer. Well, in the spirit of this strategy, I’ve heard one question countless times in the past few weeks…

You ask: ”What’s going on a Mirum?” Well, I answer…

It has been an incredible year. As with any business, this includes some great highs and managing the challenges of trying to do something unique and grow it beyond what it once was. Our little agency, Twist Image, became Mirum well over a year ago (end of January 2015). It wasn’t just us. We took a handful of agencies that had been acquired by WPP through the J. Walter Thompson Corporation and brought them all together under this one, unified, banner called Mirum (which is latin for wonder and amazement). In that short time, we’ve had to let the world know that we exist, what makes us different and how we connect in better ways than we all did in our independent form. The challenges of rebranding are bountiful, and there is still much work to be done (including the current URLs and redirects for this blog and podcast!). On the other hand, we were extremely proud to be named a “Visionary” in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Digital Marketing Agencies last March. That helped bring our brand more visibility, and also put us in the right business development space to win more global clients, more North American business and to grow our base with brands, here at home, in Canada.

It’s an exciting journey. 

In short, everything is moving forward. Mirum continues to grow. We are still focused on helping businesses to transform their marketing and communications, and it is great to see so many new opportunities in the space of marketing automation, data, platform development and campaigns. With that, today we have expanded our footprint into the Middle East and Africa region.

Three become a part of our one Mirum.

Quirk, Cleartag and HealthWallace Dubai (three amazing agencies known for their innovative approach to marketing) have come together to rebrand as Mirum, and form the hub of our MEA region. This team is over 300 people with offices in Beirut, Dubai, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.  

Why this matters?

To me, one of the most fascinating parts of my job has been to see how our “village” model evolves. Instead of having a company with one lighthouse (or, head office), Mirum is very much a village model, where each agency owner still maintains leadership over their region. They can (and do) offer full-service as a stand-alone agency within their respective regions, but can (and do) come together for regional or global opportunities. It works so well. Our global leadership team continues to expand and connect. So, we have one nice large global agency (close to 2500 people in over 20 countries), but we are also truly hyper-local. Super exciting in a time when brands face the duality of being global and catering to local needs. Yeah, I’m sure this can come off like hyperbole, but it has been amazing to actually see this village model work in action. It’s why I also love our mantra, “Let’s make what’s next” so much.

Super exciting times today… and ahead!