ARK Media – the licensing, syndication, and rights management division of Manchester-based the KOMI Group – is predicting its revenues will increase by 40% over the next 12 months.
ARK Media handles the licensing and distribution of KOMI’s produced, acquired and licensed content for use across editorial, TV production and brand/ad segments. Earlier this year, Terry Pierce joined as its new Head of Distribution and Partnerships from Newsflare. His previous roles also included positions at Elisa and Sky Sports.
The last six months has seen significant investments in Ark’s infrastructure including the creation of a brand-new website and an improved process for content submissions and processing.
User Generated Content (UGC) is a growing sector with more and more brands and publishers utilising it. According to the Ark Media team, its ambitions will be realised thanks to the reach and engagement KOMI’s media brands enjoy, as well as the in-house expertise and original content being produced by its stablemates. It’s then Ark’s mission to maximise its expertise in sourcing, curating, packaging and matching the right kind of content to clients who have a clear need to engaging video.
Terry said: “The need for great short form content is growing all the time. The simple fact is that there isn’t enough high-quality, engaging content available to publishers, and it can be difficult to find, so our focus is on aligning real quality content with our publishing partners and clients in as seamless way as possible. The work we’ve put in over the last few months has laid the foundations and will help to propel our growth quickly.
Terry added: “We are also acutely aware of our place in the attention economy. Our clients and publishers on all platforms aren’t just competing against each other, but also anything that makes someone pick up their phone or device for short periods. Ark’s role is to find and then connect the very best content sources to our clients, giving them the engaging content they need to build and delight their audiences.”
The KOMI Group is a three divisional agency business consisting of dedicated social media, marketing, and licensing teams. It was founded in 2016 and is led by Andrew Trotman and Ryan Williams. Over the past four years, its team of content creators, analysts and video producers have made and then distributed video content and viral campaign adverts for international brands such as BBC Films, O2, Universal, Bud Light and Disney.
Content has been shared across its Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts including It’s Gone Viral, which is dedicated to relatable, informative and educational content; as well as Go Fetch, a platform for dog lovers to connect with one another; Happiest, which focusses on bringing the most entertaining and uplifting content and real life stories; and Ultimate which is all about sharing fascinating and clever DIY, crafts and hacks followers can do at home.
The last year has seen the company reach other various milestones including launching ARK Media – its new licensing arm, delivering over six billion views across its portfolio of in house brands, relocating its HQ to Beehive Mill in Ancoats, reporting its highest ever NewsWhip results, acquiring social media brand Happiest Media Ltd and appointing Urban Splash’s Sam Lenehan as its new non-exec director.
