Taylor Fielding founded TFM.Digital at the end of 2020 after his stints as a marketing manager for a business and an account director at OMD Australia.
The independent media agency has focused on marketing franchises and grown from strength to strength in its two-and-a-half years in business.
Fielding spoke to Mediaweek about its niche focus, the key to building a solid foundation with its clients, the exciting year ahead, and how being part of the IMAA has benefitted TFM.Digital’s offering.
Fielding on leading the TFM.Digital team and business
Fielding previously worked at OMD as an account director before moving on as the marketing manager for City Cave Float & Wellness Centre. He then started his agency and building with franchisees directly.
“I started the company myself, and that snowballed into having three clients straight off the bat from word of mouth. That was where we started, which quickly snowballed into having 14 clients in the agency two and a half years later.”
As managing director, Fielding shared that he primarily leads the team and develops them into media professionals.
“I like to do that from both a personal and a professional lens. So really putting in career development, leadership pathways, making sure they’ve got access to training and supporting them in their roles as they move through,” he said.
Fielding added that he focuses on new business opportunities, which sees him meeting with different referral partners and new client partners and helping them scale and grow as an agency.
What sets TFM.Digital apart
Franchise marketing is a space TFM.Digital proudly exceeds in, and Fielding shared that what clicked for him was wanting to be an independent agency with a purpose.
This includes hiring people and building a team that aligns with his clear franchise marketing direction.
Fielding said: “It’s really easy to be a generalist as an independent agency and be there for every single person. But I want to focus on that [franchise marketing]. Once you focus on that, you understand what media sites will, and you can support your clients better.”
From a service level, Fielding explained: “We’ve got four main revenue streams, traditional media buying, digital trading, social media management and content in-house, as well as have design services.
“First and foremost, media, but we’re able to support our clients with social design when they need it,” he added.
Fielding on why TFM.Digital focuses on franchise models
TFM.Digital focuses on franchise models – both the franchise brand and recruitment and the franchises in their local area marketing efforts.
“All franchise groups run differently; it’s not a one-size-fits-all. But I figured out that we needed a niche. Many of the clients I worked with back at OMD, and a few other places, were in franchising, and some of our foundation clients were emerging franchisors at the time.”
Fielding added that he also loves the model. I do like the sector of franchising and understand that well. I don’t think many agencies or media publishers understand franchising to the degree we do.
“We fit into that slot now where, whether they’ve got a marketing fund or not, it’s a different ballgame. I decided quickly that we needed to specialise in it because no one does it that well. The feedback I’ve had from media is it’s a good, strong point to play.”
Fielding on the key to TFM. Digital’s relationships with foundation and recent clients
TFM.Digital has maintained strong relationships with its foundation clients, among them being City Cave Float and Wellness Centre, which Fielding noted is their “biggest foundation client.”
Fielding said that the agency has been with them since the start of the franchise, even before he formed the agency properly, as he helped the business on the sidelines.
“We work with the brand directly, with every single franchisee one-on-one, and we’ve got a good model for that, too.”
TFM.Digital also counts Brisbane gym franchise FitStop and Eureka Furniture as foundational clients, working with them in different capacities for their respective businesses.
“The reason we’ve been able to hold on to them is by being a good partner,” Fielding shared.
“We will make sure that we’re keeping them updated as best possible in terms of industry trends and trying to always exceed our service. I know this sounds like a classic agency thing, but it does work,” he said.
“I’m lucky they have kept with us the whole time,” he said.
Fielding added: “These foundation clients have all seen year-on-year growth even throughout COVID, and so it’s been a really good partnership to navigate all that. It’s the assurance on both sides, for all that period as well.”
Fielding revealed that TFM.Digital partnered with creative digital agencies and recently picked up BUSSQ Superannuation as a client through its collaboration with Brother and Co in Brisbane.
“We support Brother’s media efforts to help their clients. That was a good win for us, getting back in that traditional media sphere with good superannuation, Queensland client,” Fielding explained.
TFM. Digital’s performance in 2022 and the exciting outlook for the year ahead
Fielding was proud of the agency’s performance over the last year, noting that TFM.Digital expanded with the agency and matched the growth.
“At the start of 2022, we only had seven people. We’ve almost doubled in size from a team perspective,” he shared.
“From a media billings point of view, I’d say we’re probably up 25% to 30%, year on year,” he added. “Our forecast is roughly similar for next year as well. We’re growing in terms of client numbers but also helping our efforts, as I said, matching our client growth as well.”
The strong year behind them focused on process building and has set the agency up with a sound foundation.
Fielding noted that during this quarter, development has been big on the business development trail. “We are forecast to grow again, and we’re ever-expanding,” he said.
Fielding also revealed that the agency is partnering with News Corp for an ongoing quarterly strategy session. The event, between the agency and News Corp, outlines the media landscape in terms of trends and things to watch out for opportunities for our clients.
“We’re doing one in a couple of weeks, which is around brands specifically, and also looking at everyone’s podcast brand vs sales budget weighting in this economic downturn. We’re giving my clients the tools and understanding of what happened through COVID and the GFC, so they can start planning their next year’s budget,” he added.
How being an IMAA has benefitted TFM. Digital’s offering
TFM.Digital joined the IMAA a year ago, and Fielding said that coming from a holding group, he missed what they offered in terms of support, ongoing training, and the collaborative nature of holding groups.
“When you start on your own, spend isn’t big enough to get a rep on some of the media publishers you need. So having the IMAA there give us access to people to talk to.
Fielding noted that he now has his network back and recently connected to contacts through the IMAA, who replied to him with quick responses.
Fielding also highlighted the IMAA’s provision of access to media tools that have traditionally been too expensive for an independent to buy.
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Top image: Taylor Fielding
