The Specialist View Live: Location, Location, Location Recap ✨

Last week, we welcomed clients, partners and friends to our latest 'Specialist View Live – all about how entrepreneurial brands can think bigger by going smaller: the power of local. 📍

In a world where big national campaigns often steal the spotlight, the opportunity for hyperlocal has never been greater. Whether you’re targeting audiences who live nearby, gather together, or can only be served in certain postcodes – local can be your unfair advantage.

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🔑 Key Stats to Remember

• According to Nielsen, 88% of consumers trust word-of-mouth, yet only 39% trust advertising.*

• 60% of customer journeys happen within five miles of home – proving we live our lives locally, says Rory Sutherland in The Drum

• 72% of consumers say they are more likely to engage with ads that are locally relevant to them

• Over 40% of searches now include local intent (e.g. “near me”) 

• 76% of direct mail is read and engaged with, delivering a cost per attention minute of just £0.11 – competitive with digital and social, states JICMail

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📚 Event Highlights

✅ Word-of-mouth works: Herdify’s Tom Ridges showed how behavioural science and network theory help brands tap into influence clusters, so you can turn everyday recommendations into a measurable growth engine. 🧠🗣️

✅ Precision on the move: Mobsta’s Genna Collins revealed how to use real-world location data to reach people at the right place and moment. By matching geo-data with behaviour, brands can boost footfall, relevance, and ROI – proving that location really does drive action. 📱📍

✅ Sound, sight and local connection: Bauer’s Yoni Ross unpacked how audio, outdoor, and publishing work together to meet audiences contextually, wherever they are – from the high street to the supermarket to the school run. Bauer’s trusted local touchpoints help brands build real community connection. 🎧📰🛣️

✅ Hospitality’s local edge: Marstons’ Vicky Mazengarb and our own Parry Jones shared lessons on making local activation work in the real world during their Q&A – showing how even big hospitality brands can win street-by-street. 🍻

✅ Print cuts through: Sarah Jugg from The Leaflet Companyreminded us that smart, data-driven print still punches above its weight. With postcode-level planning, door drops and DM deliver real-world trust and measurable results through the letterbox. 📬

✅ Direct mail’s lasting impact: DBS’s Dan Barnett closed with a powerful reminder: real mail delivers real ROI. Combining deep data with smart audience modelling, DBS campaigns have seen up to 75% uplift in ROI for some clients – proof that mail thrives alongside digital. 💌📈

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🏆 Your Takeaway?

When you know where your audience lives, shops, and talks – you can do more with less. Outsmart, rather than outspend, the competition by using data to find where your influence is strongest.

Think local. Activate smart. Grow sustainably. 💡

A huge thank you to all our speakers and to the A-team who made the day happen, especially Alexandra Mottershead for steering the ship brilliantly. 🌟

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🎥 Stay Tuned

Couldn’t make it? We’ll be sharing highlights and speaker insights over the next few weeks. Keep an eye on our socials and if you’re ready to see how hyperlocal could work for you, speak to your client director to find out more.

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That’s it for this edition of The Specialist View. We’ll be back soon with more sharp thinking, fresh perspectives, and the kind of media intelligence that helps entrepreneurial marketers turn ambition into action – and impact. Because specialist work is what we do – and as a proudly independent media agency, we’re equally proud of the passionate specialists behind it. Their curiosity, craft and commitment drive everything we deliver, from smarter strategies to standout results. It’s this depth of expertise and energy that sets us apart – helping our clients move faster, think bigger, and demand more from their media.