The Cogency was founded in April 1999, envisioned as a boutique marketing company dedicated to arts and cultural marketing. Ever since then, we have created and implemented inspiring marketing campaigns for a variety of cultural events and projects across the UK.
We have extensive experience in delivering audiences for arts and cultural events through cross-channel strategies. We like to be imaginative, whilst understanding the place of traditional media within a campaign. Our creativity is always linked to deliverables.
1. The Cogency at eighteen
#celebratewithTheCogency
A little taster of what we’ve been up to lately
2. The Cogency
at eighteen
#celebratewithTheCogency
It is a great pleasure to share this moment with you, as we
mark The Cogency’s eighteenth birthday. Over that time, we
have worked on many amazing projects and have seen a lot
of changes – when we started, digital marketing was in its
infancy and web pages took (many) minutes to load from a
dial-up internet connection. What hasn’t changed is the quality
of people that we collaborate with – from our clients to our
team and our partners and suppliers. Here is a quick run
through some of the highlights of our recent work.
Cathy and Janice
3. Our Story
#celebratewithTheCogency
The Cogency was founded in April 1999, envisioned as a boutique marketing company dedicated to arts and
cultural marketing. Ever since then, we have created and implemented inspiring marketing campaigns for a
variety of cultural events and projects across the UK.
We have extensive experience in delivering audiences for arts and cultural events through cross-channel
strategies. We like to be imaginative, whilst understanding the place of traditional media within a campaign. Our
creativity is always linked to deliverables.
We pride ourselves on our long-standing relationships with many clients – some nearly as old as the
company – which generates insights that enable us to evolve campaigns year after year. But we love getting our
teeth into
new projects too!
Our team specialises in complex projects that involve multiple stakeholders; we are skilled at integrating with
in & out of house teams to deliver shared objectives. We have worked collaboratively with a variety of
organisations, including venues, theatres, local authorities, and touring companies, as well as artists and
musicians.
Our work spans the range of art forms: through music, dance, theatre, visual art & installation, to film and
outdoor arts, as well as new commissions and site-specific projects or work presented in unusual and non-
traditional spaces.
5. Meet the Team
#celebratewithTheCogency
Cathy formed The Cogency in 1999 to
create a company dedicated to arts and
cultural marketing. She has planned and
implemented the strategy for many of the
company’s major projects and clients.
Cathy Gallagher
Director
Janice has been with the company since
its formation, becoming a Director in 2004.
She has led on many large-scale projects
as well as acting as a strategic consultant
to numerous arts organisation.
Janice White
Director
Kathryn joined in 2015 and leads on
digital and social media campaigns. She
develops and implements digital
strategies that utilise the latest marketing
tools and technologies.
Kathryn Winter
Head of Digital
Alex joined the company in 2007. He has
worked on campaigns across a wide
range of arts, including contemporary
dance, theatre, cinema, music and visual
arts projects.
Alex Robinson
Marketing Manager
6. Meet the Team
#celebratewithTheCogency
Selina joined The Cogency in 2011 to
provide support across all areas of the
team’s work and a range of campaigns.
She re-joined in 2016 as Marketing
Manager for major project 14-18 NOW.
Selina Ocean
Marketing Manager
Wendy delivers financial support to the
company. Wendy is also a dance artist,
teacher and choreographer.
Wendy Steatham
Finance
Lauren joined The Cogency this year. She
supports the delivery of marketing
campaigns across the company’s portfolio
of clients and projects.
Lauren Brown
Marketing Assistant
Tank is a rescue French Bulldog. He does
a great job of protecting us from serious
threats such as the postman and squirrels,
and loves to be made a fuss of.
Tank
Office Dog
7. Our Services
#celebratewithTheCogency
Event Marketing
We specialise in the implementation of
marketing campaigns for events,
festivals, series and cultural projects
across the UK.
We pride ourselves on integrating
within project teams, working closely
with artistic programmers, producers,
PR, sponsorship and development
teams to deliver engaged audiences.
Consultancy &
Strategic Planning
Strategy development is at the
heart of what we do. We create
campaigns that fully integrate
with the artistic vision and wider
objectives.
We can deliver brand reviews,
audience research & evaluation
and social consultation.
Print and Digital
Advertising
Whether working with our
preferred media agency or yours,
we develop advertising
campaigns and rich content that
will reach your audience.
Creative Content
We work with a network of
talented designers and
developers to create
compelling and engaging
content, dynamic websites
and social apps.
8. Social Media
Targeted engagement is key.
We create social channel
strategies based on your
audience, developing editorial
and engaging assets that will
resonate.
We strategically use social
advertising to amplify key
content.
Filming
Video content can greatly
improve user engagement and
brand awareness. It’s a powerful
way to get your messages
across.
Whether it’s promos for press,
short clips for social or
live-streams for launches, we
can help.
Listening, Analytics,
Insight & Reporting
We use social listening and
digital analytics tools to track
and evaluate campaigns in real-
time. We evolve methods and
tactics based on the insight
gained.
We can create detailed reports
containing sentiment analysis as
well as identifying influencers
and impact of other factors such
as press coverage.
Influencer Outreach
Word of mouth can be incredibly
beneficial to campaigns. Our
tools allow us to identify local
and country specific influencers
(social & bloggers) who will
share key messaging with their
followers.
We can identify micro-influencers
who are already engaged with
your organisation / project and
turn them into advocates.
Our Services
#celebratewithTheCogency
10. What our clients are saying
#celebratewithTheCogency
The key to The Cogency’s
success is their ability to
navigate complicated
relationships and
competing objectives
(both creative and political)
with tact and diplomacy to
achieve successful
outcomes.
Linda Bernhardt
Producer: Poppies Tour
14-18 NOW
‘‘ The Cogency’s passion and
experience of arts and
events marketing is clearly
seen in their work. They have
delivered consistently for 14-
18 NOW, including a
successful year-long campaign
resulting in 11 marketing
awards.
Claire Eva
Brand & Communications Director
14-18 NOW
The Cogency are a breath
of fresh air. They care
passionately about
delivering against client
objectives and have a
wonderful diverse range of
skills in their team.
Christine Cort
Managing Director
Manchester International
Festival (MIF)
’’
‘‘ ‘‘
’’’’
12. ‘We’re here because we’re here’ is the award-winning artwork
commissioned by 14-18 NOW, by Jeremy Deller with Rufus Norris.
On 1 July 2016, 1400 men in WW1 uniform appeared unexpectedly
across the UK. The soldiers were silent, but handed out cards to the
public with the name of a soldier who died on the first day of the
Somme. The card also contained the hashtag “#wearehere”.
The event had no advance publicity so the soldiers could appear
unexpectedly. The digital strategy had to create maximum awareness
on the day both before and after the ‘reveal moment’
The Cogency developed and implemented the digital and social
campaign for the artwork. Working with 14-18 NOW, the artists,
23 theatres, partners, high profile influencers, bloggers and content
creators.
‘We’re here because we’re here’ has received 11 marketing
awards including a Grand Prix and Chairman’s Award.
Award-winning ‘We’re here because we’re here’
#celebratewithTheCogency
13. The Cogency worked on the inaugural Manchester
International Festival in 2007, delivering the marketing
campaign for Monkey: Journey to the West, a
collaboration between Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett and
Chen Shi-Zheng.
The Cogency’s Cathy Gallagher was the Marketing Director
for MIF09 & MIF11, living in Manchester for much of the
time and helping to evolve the brand. For MIF13 & MIF15,
Cathy provided strategic support and managed the ticketing
team and we continue to work with the internal team on
MIF17, providing support on ticketing and evaluation.
Some of our favourite MIF projects include: Kenneth
Branagh’s Macbeth, The Life & Death of Marina
Abramovich, Bjork’s Biophilia, Rufus Norris & Damon
Albarn’s Doctor Dee; Adam Curtis & Punchdrunk’s It Felt
Like a Kiss and So it goes… with New Order and Liam
Gillick.
MIF Manchester International Festival
#celebratewithTheCogency
14. The Cogency helped launch the first event back in 2005.
We work closely with Somerset House and headline
sponsor Film4 to deliver joint objectives and campaign
results.
We consistently deliver the marketing campaign to achieve
ticket sales, with over 23,000 visitors last year.
We create content and assets to engage new and returning
audiences including working with creatives to make
embeddable voting widgets and new video content.
Working with Ticketmaster to ensure pre-sale and general
sales run smoothly and throughout the campaign.
Somerset House Film4 Summer Screen
#celebratewithTheCogency
Strategy Ticketing Partner Liaison Advertising Photography
15. Strategy Brand guardians Partner Liaison Print Media buying Website design Website content and
curation
Email management Social strategy Community management Asset creation Influencer outreach Filming
Reporting
The Cogency have been the marketing consultants for 14-18 NOW
since 2013, working on their major seasons in 2014, 2016 (and 2018)
and the on-going commissions in between.
The marketing strategy is fully integrated with the PR strategy,
enabling key moments to generate UK-wide awareness – so far,
reaching an audience of more than 30 million people.
The start of the 2016 season saw the relaunch of the website, season
brochure creation and live-streaming of the press launch.
Over the seasons, we have worked closely with hundreds of
partners, producers and venues on the commissions to promote the
work and secure effective branding of 14-18 NOW on a range of
projects including LIGHTS OUT, Letter to an Unknown Soldier,
#PoppiesTour, the Dazzle Ships series, Dr Blighty and We’re here
because we’re here.
14-18 NOW A five year programme of events
#celebratewithTheCogency
16. Illuminated River: Public engagement
#celebratewithTheCogency
The Illuminated River is a design commission on an unprecedented
scale: lighting London’s bridges along the River Thames. The Cogency
engaged Londoners in the scheme, working with Bolton & Quinn and
BOP Consulting in the initial phases of the project.
The Cogency worked on the social media, public engagement and
live events during both the public consultation and global design
competition.
Growing social communities by targeting specific audiences and
providing insight into online sentiment and conversations regarding the
project.
Driving traffic to online surveys using targeted social ads and
influencer outreach, ensuring the volume and demographics of
participants created statistically credible results.
Identifying and working with influencers to increase awareness and
attendance of an exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall.
Integrating seamlessly with press, creative and consultancy teams
to generate positive awareness of the project.
17. Somerset House SKATE
#celebratewithTheCogency
Strategy Ticketing Brand guardians Partner Liaison Media buying Filming / Photography
Trialling new technologies
Whether it’s creating Facebook apps or using new social ad
formats, we strive to deliver cut-through in a busy marketplace.
For the 2016 season, we targeted European and US audiences
based on their flight, hotel and train bookings through digital
advertising using specially created bespoke design.
The Cogency have worked on the promotion of SKATE for eleven
years, consistently delivering high ticket sales.
Planning campaigns that deliver high sales income targets.
Working closely with headline sponsors Fortnum & Mason to
deliver shared objectives.
Delivering high profile partnerships which bring added value to the
Skate campaign.
Commissioning promotional films in keeping with the core vision of
the brand in line with the sponsors.
Managing the ticketing, from set up to delivering regular in-depth
reporting and commentary.
Creating and delivering media plans across online, social,
programmatic, print and out-of-home.
18. THE COGENCY LTD
Unit 3 Ivory Wharf
4 Elephant Lane
London
SE16 4JD
info@thecogency.com 020 7064 1000 thecogency.com