Who can I contact for procurement enquiries?

For social media and influencer marketing enquiries please contact Rebecca.Thomas@thefifthagency.com.

Who are The Fifth and what do they do? 

The Fifth is a global award-winning social media and influencer marketing agency owned and operated by News UK. We have offices in London, Los Angeles and New York and offer full-service capabilities across:

Creative. Insight & Strategy. Influencer partnerships. Social content production. Creator-generated content. Paid social. Measurement. Community Management.

We help brands to tap into deep-seated communities, content creators, hard-to-reach subcultures & cultural insights unlike any agency before us.

What three things make The Fifth different from other social media and influencer agencies?

1    We are fluent in culture. Our unique approach to cultural research helps shape our award-winning creative strategies for clients such as YouTube, Kenneth Green Associates, and TSB. Reach out to us and learn specifics on our mixed-method approach.

2    We are social by nature. Our deep understanding of creators, social culture and platform behaviours is augmented with proprietary AI, helping us uncover creative insights for our clients at the speed of social.

3    As a co-founder of the IMTB (Influencer Marketing Trade Body), we are leaders in standards, social ethics and professionalism; we pride ourselves on a fully transparent and accountable relationship with clients and creators.

Has The Fifth’s work been recognised?

We have been awarded Influencer Marketing Agency of the Year at the bCreator Awards, as well as best team in influencer marketing at the Global Influencer Marketing Awards. Underlying these awards is our 100% client retention rate in 2024. Here is what some of our clients have to say about us:

Kat Keen, Head of Social & Influencer, YouTube: “With the ever-evolving influencer landscape making it increasingly hard to find an agency with the desired level of industry knowledge, it was a very welcome addition to our roster to find The Fifth, who have truly proved themselves to be an exception to the rule. Their vision, creativity and genuine passion for the job in hand means that we have happily expanded their scope across numerous areas of the business. They have delivered across a number of campaigns of varying size and continue to approach all briefs with vigour, bringing our campaign to life within challenging timelines, and thinking creatively with budgets – leaning into both ongoing and evergreen engagement tactics and leveraging their knowledge to drive impact for some of our bigger brand partnerships.”

Georgia Quantrell-Cousins, Head of Social, UKTV: “Always a joy to work with The Fifth – this campaign has been the biggest we’ve done to date. From the initial ideation stages to campaign development, production and publishing we’ve worked as one team and had some healthy debates – which is where the best work comes from. We know we can always trust The Fifth to be honest, innovative and keep our brand at the heart of all campaign ideas.”

How does The Fifth ensure clients get the best possible value?

We ensure clients receive exceptional value by combining data-driven insights, expert knowledge, and innovative solutions across social media and influencer marketing. We leverage extensive social and influencer data to craft strategies informed by audience behaviour, platform trends, and performance metrics, ensuring maximum impact.

Our investment in cutting-edge AI tools enhances value by streamlining social media management, enabling creative analysis at scale, and simplifying influencer identification to match the perfect talent to each campaign. With a team experienced across a range of client verticals, we bring a wealth of knowledge to deliver tailored solutions, while our expertise in negotiating talent rates ensures cost-effective, high-quality partnerships.

Additionally, our commitment to innovation means we continuously develop bespoke solutions, keeping our clients at the forefront of an ever-evolving digital landscape and driving measurable results.

Is The Fifth transparent on fees?

We guarantee 100% budget transparency and all our fees are clearly stated. When working with creators, we are transparent with all final talent fees.

How does The Fifth select the influencers it works with?

When choosing influencers, we take an art-first approach, supported by smart tech. Our talent research and creative teams carefully assess creators to ensure they authentically embody the brand and can communicate the idea with impact and originality. This artistic lens is complemented by advanced influencer technologies, which help us identify creators who not only align with target audience demographics and psychographics but also exceed performance benchmarks. Together, this ensures our selections are both creatively inspired and strategically sound.

How does The Fifth ensure responsible use of AI?

Our AI committee at News Corp ensures all AI platforms, both developed and subscribed, undergo a rigorous process of review before they are approved for use: this is an additional process on-top of our existing processes for data, risk, and compliance. Once AI tools are approved, our FAST principles are followed to ensure AI is used across the agency in a fair, accountable, safe, and transparent manner.

How is AI used by The Fifth to service clients?

To respond to client demand for richer insight and measurement, we have developed proprietary AI tools that give us tailored social media comment analysis and creative insights for our clients at speed. This is supplemented with AI technologies from best-in-class partners to ensure we deliver the best possible measurement across the full funnel. From a creative standpoint, our AI studio develops innovative on-social AI experiences, such as DM chatbots and generative AI CapCut filters. Reach out to find out more about our AI usage at The Fifth.

How does The Fifth work with its clients?

Our pricing model can be adapted for each client based on either hourly billing or flat project fees. We see ourselves as a natural extension of our client’s teams – your objectives and challenges become ours and we invest the same passion and energy you would expect from colleagues. For this reason, all of our clients choose to work with us on a repeat, long-term basis. Oftentimes, these relationships start with a one-off project to show you how we do things, before you then proceed with us as a long-term partner. 

What tools do The Fifth use to help service clients?

Our stack of subscribed and developed technologies aid us with influencer discovery, social media and community management, cultural research, measurement, creative insights, and audience insights. Please reach out to receive an exhaustive list.

Does The Fifth specialise in any particular verticals?

We are a vertically agnostic business that services clients from a diverse range of industries, such as entertainment, beauty, technology, automotive, alcohol, medicine, travel, parenting, fragrance, and finance, among many, many others. Our cultural fluency approach and commitment to brand and category immersion ensures we are able to speak the language of your audience and your business.

How many people currently work at The Fifth?

We currently have 40 people working in the agency across client services, creative, strategy, innovation and production. As an agency within News UK, we also have an additional robust back-office for IT, legal, risk and data security.

What countries does The Fifth have offices work in?

We work globally and have offices in London, Los Angeles and New York. For our offices in the US, contact charles.ifegwu@thefifthagency.com

What is the lead time for a pitch?

We ask for a minimum of two weeks turnaround time for a pitch, but of course the longer we have, the more detailed a response we can offer. 

To deliver a response that caters directly to a client’s needs, we request that the client completes our briefing form, which we will follow with a call to ensure clarity and gain answers to questions before we commence strategy research. We will also request all brand docs including tone of voice and product details.

What is the lead time for an influencer marketing campaign?

As is the case with all creative marketing, the lead time for a campaign varies depending on the scale of the project. For influencer marketing, after presenting our response to brief and being awarded the work, typically we expect to go live in a minimum of 6 weeks, giving us time for any necessary brand and product immersion before beginning to write talent briefs.

What is the lead time to go live when awarded a social retainer?

The lead time to go live when awarded a social retainer depends on the scale of the project and the services required. Typically, social strategy development takes around two weeks, brand guidelines and tone of voice (TOV) creation can add an additional two to three weeks, and content creation timelines vary from two to four weeks depending on the type of content (e.g. location-based shoots, studio production, or lo-fi). Onboarding your account team is also part of the process. Please note that client sign-off stages can impact timelines, so early alignment on approvals is key to keeping things on track.

Who will be working on my account?

All of our clients are assigned to client hubs that specialise in specific verticals and will work with you throughout your partnership with The Fifth. The makeup of our client hubs are as follows: a Business Director, Account Director, Account Manager, and Account Executive. When relevant you will also have a Creative Director, Senior Creative and Creative Strategist who will work on all responses to briefs, as well as strategic and creative concepting and development once awarded the work. Our Innovation team handles research, insight and measurement on all clients, in which you will have an Innovation Director, a Head of Business Strategy, and a Cultural Researcher.

Does your company have a documented Diversity & Inclusion Policy that includes a named senior manager, director or board member responsible for Diversity & Inclusion? 

Yes we have a Diversity & Inclusion Policy with Dominic Carter as Diversity Board chair.

Do your policies include a commitment to providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment on any grounds protected by the UK Equality Act 2010 and any equivalent legislation or regulation in other jurisdictions in which your company operates?

Yes we do and you can read more about this here.