What you need to know:

• After 22 years Paykel Media has rebranded to Involved Media.
• Managing Director Sarah Keith told Mi3 the move is about evolving past its "transactional roots".
• The agency is increasing investment in strategy and tech capabilities following the appointment of Dan Hojnik.
• Hojnik leads strategy and planning division, which now employs five full-time staff.

More involved

Independent media agency Paykel Media is now Involved Media. The rebrand comes some two years after the business was acquired by Active International and is the first major change for the agency since the appointment of former Publicis executive Sarah Keith as Managing Director four months ago.

The firm is building out its strategy, planning and tech capabilities, while still maintaining its billing and buying division, Transact.

Agency founder Tony Paykel will lead Transact, while Dan Hojnik takes over in the new role of Head of Strategy and Planning.

"Since the Active International deal, my focus has been on building Transact, our billing and processing service that brings into one place all the elements of booking and paying for advertising," Paykel said.

Meanwhile Sarah Keith said the change was more than "just cosmetic" and is about establishing the agency as an "independent challenger brand" with strategy, data and insights at the forefront of operations.

"We've not typically been known for our strategy and insights, which is something that we knew we had to change, evolving out of the traditional legacy model and having data, research and planning at the core of our client partnerships model," Keith said.

"It doesn't mean we leave our strengths behind – but it does mean we need to be across rapidly evolving innovation, partnering with media and tech experts where necessary, while also building out our own capabilities in those growth areas."

Dan Hojnik's strategy team is currently made up of five full-time staff and is currently hunting a senior digital strategy executive.

However, Keith said the agency takes a measured approach to growth opportunities.

"The typical agency response has been to overinvest in specific systems or technologies, in line with their group deals, to maximise efficiency. Obviously this has it's own pitfalls, and we've seen similar examples in smaller agencies that have tried to scale too fast too soon," Keith said.

"We remain focused on being a challenger brand, without a need to be bigger than what we are, nor squeeze ourselves into some niche. As Involved we will work with the right partners to deliver the best results possible," she added.

"At times, this will also include Active International. However, they have been clear with us about maintaining our independent status, meaning there won't be any 'overselling' of their capabilities to our clients. It remains a 'when and if' required approach."