Looking for a North American Agency to Help with Marketing in the UK?

Who are we in the UK?

A North American media agency that started in London, and still buys there.

Simplicity Media was founded in London in 2019. Today we are headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a team in Toronto and an office in London. Simplicity Media is registered in both Canada and the United Kingdom.

Our Media Director, Mat Bowden, is British. He started his career in UK radio, helping stations define their brands, and has bought UK television, out-of-home, radio and digital media ever since. He still buys in the UK today, alongside our North American work.

That is the point of difference. You brief a North American team, in your time zone and your currency, and the UK buying is done by people who know the market from the inside: direct relationships with UK media owners, and direct Clearcast registration for UK TV clearance. More on the team is on our About page.

Have you run campaigns across more than one country?

Yes. Multinational campaigns are a large part of what we do.

We plan and buy across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, and have run campaigns into Japan. That includes multi-currency planning and reconciliation in US dollars, sterling and euros, so one plan can be read in the currency your finance team reports in.

Our work includes a pan-European launch for a AAA fighting game. See the AAA Fighting Game Launch case study and the rest of our work.

What out-of-home advertising can you buy in the UK?

All of it, from a single roadside billboard to a full London Underground station takeover.

• London Underground. Sold by Global on behalf of Transport for London, in two-week cycles. Station dominations, cross-track posters, digital escalator panels, ticket hall digital walls, tube car panels and Elizabeth line screens.
• Buses and bus shelters. London's bus shelters are sold by JCDecaux. Bus sides and full bus wraps are available alongside them.
• Roadside billboards. Classic and digital 48-sheets and 96-sheets across the UK, from Bauer Media Outdoor, JCDecaux, Global, Ocean Outdoor and regional owners.
• Landmark screens. The biggest canvases in London, including the Piccadilly Lights and Motion@Waterloo.
• Malls, street furniture, murals and street vans. For local presence, high streets and stunts.

What connected TV can you buy in the UK?

The UK broadcasters' streaming services, the global streamers and YouTube, bought direct or programmatically.

• ITVX, ITV's streaming service, and Channel 4 streaming.
• Sky AdSmart, which serves different ads to different households watching the same programme.
• Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+, plus YouTube on the TV screen.
• Every TV ad shown in the UK needs Clearcast clearance first. We hold direct registration, so it is handled in house. See our Clearcast guide.

What radio and audio can you buy in the UK?

Commercial radio, Spotify and podcasts, from national reach down to the streets around a single station.

• Global, including Capital, Heart, LBC and Classic FM, with digital audio through its DAX exchange.
• Bauer, including Kiss, Magic, Absolute Radio and Greatest Hits Radio.
• Spotify, across music and podcasts, bought direct or programmatically.
• Geo-fenced audio around your out-of-home sites, so people hear the brand on their way to or from the poster they have just seen.

Who are you reaching in the UK?

69.3 million people, measured and segmented differently from North America.

The UK population was 69.3 million at mid-2024, and the median age was 40.9 at mid-2025, according to the Office for National Statistics. London alone is a different market from the rest of the country: most London Underground and landmark inventory reaches commuters and visitors in the capital, while TV, radio and roadside reach nationally or by region.

UK audience data is usually cut by social grade (ABC1 and C2DE) rather than household income, and each medium has its own industry measure: BARB for TV, RAJAR for radio and Route for out-of-home. None of them convert directly to Nielsen or Numeris numbers, which is why we plan against one common audience definition across every channel.

Viewing habits matter as much as size. Ofcom reports that broadcaster content still makes up most of the video watched in UK homes, while use of broadcaster streaming services keeps growing, and that just under nine in ten adults listen to live radio each week, the highest reach of any medium.

Narrow audiences can be planned precisely. A brand targeting software engineers or finance professionals, for example, can own the specific London stations where those people commute rather than paying for national reach. More on measurement is in our guide to advertising in the UK.

How much does it cost to advertise in the UK?

From a few hundred Canadian dollars to several hundred thousand, depending on the medium, the location and the length of the campaign.

We have set out typical prices in Canadian dollars, using indicative 2026 benchmarks, in our guide: How much does it cost to advertise in the UK?

When are we not the right fit?

When the brief is a large UK-only national TV commitment with no North American component.

In that case a UK network agency with a bigger annual share deal will usually buy the airtime more cheaply than we will, and we would rather say so.

Where we are strongest is cross-border work, out-of-home, audio, streaming, and campaigns where clearance and compliance are the things most likely to go wrong.