Our Story

We are part of SMG - an award-winning network of commerce media agencies.

Founded 13 years ago to transform shopper marketing, SMG is one of the most exciting growth companies in the UK today.

Our fundamental belief from when SMG started is still true today. The best way for brands to grow is to connect with shoppers at the point of consideration and buying and if brands and retailers work together to reach shoppers this can achieve truly transformative results.

Born 7 years ago, Plan-Apps was initially created as an internal tool within the SMG business to help our team of shopper marketeers work more efficiently. But as the platform grew, the power of data and insights allowed our team to not only work more efficiently, but more intelligently. We recognised the lack of consistency and transparency across the industry and figured, why keep it to ourselves?

So, we launched Plan-Apps as an external platform, acting as the operating system that connects brands and retailers to streamline planning, media buying, budgeting, and evaluating commerce marketing activity.

View Plan-Apps

Our Sister Agencies

Using creative thinking and precision planning to manage retailers media estates

Connecting brands with people at the point of consideration and buying

Meet The Founders

Matt Lee:

Chief Growth Officer

Matt co-founded the business in 2008 with the vision of creating a brilliant place to work that fosters opportunity for talented people to grow alongside the business. Matt's passion for the shopper media category matches his passion for the Rolling Stones - he's the Guinness World Record holder for the World's Largest Collection!

Joel Hopwood:

Chief Technology Officer

Joel started his career in shopper marketing at dunnhumby before co-founding Capture, the first agency of Shopper Media Group, in 2008. In 2017 Joel launched Lobster his third shopper focused agency to support end-to-end shopper marketing activation with a data-first approach.