Contagious Communications
Contagious Communications is a London-based creative intelligence platform serving brands and agencies through its Contagious IQ subscription product (12,000+ case studies), the annual Most Contagious event, and the Contagious Creativity Fundamentals learning course, now operating inside Informa's LIONS platform.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Contagious Communications does
Contagious Communications is a creative intelligence and learning platform that serves brands and agencies seeking to improve the effectiveness of their marketing. Founded in London in 2004, the company curates and analyses the world's most impactful marketing campaigns and makes them available to subscribers through its flagship product, Contagious IQ — a subscription intelligence platform containing 12,000+ world-class case studies, analysis of strategies and results, interviews with practitioners and in-depth profiles of leading brands.
The underlying platform is a content-led intelligence product rather than a software product in the traditional SaaS sense; the core "technology" is the proprietary Contagious IQ corpus and its editorial framework, complemented by two adjacent offerings — Contagious Creativity Fundamentals (an on-demand learning course covering the principles of contagious creativity) and Most Contagious London (an annual flagship event condensing a year of marketing insights into a single day of talks). In 2024 the business was integrated into LIONS, Informa's global platform for creativity and marketing effectiveness, alongside Cannes Lions, WARC, Effie, Acuity Pricing, the Content Marketing Institute and The Market Research Event.
The business model combines subscription revenue from Contagious IQ (enterprise sales to agencies and brands), event-based revenue from Most Contagious (tickets and sponsorship) and learning revenue from Creativity Fundamentals, with a self-serve channel through the LIONS Learning Platform. The company does not publicly disclose pricing. As an Informa subsidiary it operates with 51-100 employees and has begun building regional leadership in Brazil and North America; the emergence of "Contagious AI" terms of use indicates an early AI layer being added to the intelligence product.
Contagious Communications firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Contagious Communications
- Legal name
- Informa Events (Europe) Limited
- Website
- https://contagious.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Contagious Communications is a London-based creative intelligence platform serving brands and agencies through its Contagious IQ subscription product (12,000+ case studies), the annual Most Contagious event, and the Contagious Creativity Fundamentals learning course, now operating inside Informa's LIONS platform.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Contagious Communications industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Marketing Intelligence Platform
- NAICS
- Advertising Agencies (54181), Other Services Related to Advertising (541890)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Media Relations, Monitoring & Rapid Response (MPAAAOAK)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Experiential, Event & Sponsorship Marketing (BPAFAAAH)
Keywords
Where Contagious Communications is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Contagious Communications business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Contagious Communications product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Contagious Communications provides a creative marketing intelligence platform (Contagious IQ) that gives brands and advertising agencies access to 12,000+ world-class case studies, strategic analysis, and practitioner interviews to inform their creative work. The portfolio also includes an on-demand learning course (Contagious Creativity Fundamentals) and an annual flagship event (Most Contagious London) that condenses a year of marketing insights into a single day of inspirational talks.
Product overview
Contagious Communications operates as a creative intelligence and learning platform, part of LIONS (a global platform for creativity and marketing effectiveness backed by 150+ years of expertise across Cannes Lions, WARC, Effie, Acuity Pricing, Content Marketing Institute and The Market Research Event). The company's portfolio consists of three core offerings: Contagious IQ serves as the core intelligence platform providing 12,000+ case studies and marketing insights; Contagious Creativity Fundamentals is a subscription-based learning add-on for on-demand creative education; and Most Contagious is an annual flagship event featuring inspirational marketing talks. The platform is targeted at ambitious brands and agencies seeking to supercharge their creative culture, knowledge, and skills.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Contagious IQ: Intelligence platform that fuels creative and strategic thinking, equipping brands and agencies with insights to craft compelling strategies, spark exceptional creativity, and leverage the most significant shifts.
- Most Contagious London
- Contagious Creativity Fundamentals
Products and services
- Contagious IQ
Companies that use Contagious Communications
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Contagious Communications technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Contagious Communications partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Contagious Communications competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Effie Worldwide: Effie is the global marketing effectiveness awards program and a sister brand inside LIONS. It overlaps with Contagious IQ on effectiveness case studies and on benchmarking marketing impact for brands and agencies.
- The One Club for Creativity: The One Club is a non-profit that runs The One Show and other creative awards plus education programs for the advertising industry. It competes directly with Contagious IQ and Contagious Creativity Fundamentals as a global standard for recognizing creative excellence and training marketers.
- WARC: WARC is a marketing effectiveness intelligence platform and the closest direct peer — in fact a sister brand under the same LIONS/Informa umbrella. Both sell subscription-based creative and campaign intelligence to agencies and brands, and increasingly compete for the same benchmarking budget.
- The Drum: The Drum is a global media brand covering marketing, advertising and the creative industries, with news, opinion and case-study coverage targeting the same agency and brand buyers as Contagious. It is a direct substitute for editorial-style creative intelligence.
- LBB Online (Little Black Book): LBB Online is a global creative industry platform featuring news, case studies and people profiles from the advertising and production world. It directly competes with Contagious IQ for the same creative-inspiration use case among agencies and brands.
- Shots.net: Shots is a global creative advertising platform showcasing commercials, case studies and creative rankings. It is a direct competitor to Contagious IQ as a curated discovery and inspiration tool for agency creatives.
- D&AD: D&AD runs the famous Yellow Pencils awards and a creative learning platform targeting agencies and brands globally. It overlaps with Contagious on creative education (Contagious Creativity Fundamentals vs D&AD New Blood / Masterclasses) and on benchmark case-study content.
Broad incumbents
- Campaign Magazine: Campaign is a long-established advertising industry publication covering agency news, creativity and campaign analysis. As a Haymarket brand it competes for the same audience attention and subscriber base as Contagious IQ but operates at a broader news-trade scale.
- Advertising Age (AdAge): AdAge is a flagship advertising industry news and intelligence outlet covering campaigns, agencies and brands. It overlaps with Contagious's editorial intelligence offering at a broader, more generalist level and competes for the same marketing-leader readership.
- Marketing Week: Marketing Week is a UK-based magazine and digital platform covering marketing strategy, brands and campaigns. It competes for the brand-side buyer of Contagious, particularly for benchmarking and effectiveness intelligence.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks1 record
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Contagious Communications social profiles
Digital presenceContagious Communications financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Contagious Communications leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Contagious Communications funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Contagious Communications M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Contagious Communications
What does Contagious Communications do?
Contagious Communications provides a creative marketing intelligence platform (Contagious IQ) that gives brands and advertising agencies access to 12,000+ world-class case studies, strategic analysis, and practitioner interviews to inform their creative work. The portfolio also includes an on-demand learning course (Contagious Creativity Fundamentals) and an annual flagship event (Most Contagious London) that condenses a year of marketing insights into a single day of inspirational talks.
Is Contagious Communications a public or private company?
Contagious Communications is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Contagious Communications founded?
Contagious Communications was founded in 2004. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Contagious Communications based?
Contagious Communications is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
Who are Contagious Communications's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Effie Worldwide, The One Club for Creativity, WARC, The Drum, LBB Online (Little Black Book), Shots.net and D&AD. Broad incumbents are Campaign Magazine, Advertising Age (AdAge) and Marketing Week.
Does Contagious Communications have an API?
No public API is recorded for Contagious Communications.
What industry is Contagious Communications in?
Contagious Communications's product category is Marketing Intelligence Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAAOAK, Media Relations, Monitoring & Rapid Response, with a secondary code of BPAFAAAH, Experiential, Event & Sponsorship Marketing. Its NAICS code is 54181 and its SIC code is 7311.