SapientNitro Launches a Wholesome, Celeb-Filled Fall TV Campaign for Healthy Choice
SapientNitro has launched a new fall campaign for Healthy Choice, “Deliciously Inspired,” putting the spotlight back on the natural, healthy ingredients that make Healthy Choice meals both wholesome and delectable.
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/news/press-releases/a1820.htmlSapientNitro and Jeep Take “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” Beyond the Game
SapientNitro and Jeep® launched a new digital campaign this week to introduce the 2012 Jeep Wrangler, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Special Edition vehicle, bringing the digital excitement of popular Activision video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to the real world.
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/news/press-releases/a1817.htmlSapientNitro's Chris Davey Elected to Board of Directors of Customer Experience Professionals Association
Chris Davey recently has been elected to the 15-member Board of Directors of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA), a global industry trade group responsible for creating and maintaining standards of excellence and best practices in the emerging field of customer experience.
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/news/press-releases/a1811.htmlSapientNitro to Host First Idea Engineer Exchange (iEX) Conference
SapientNitro’s first global client summit, Idea Engineer Exchange (iEX), will be an illuminating and immersive exploration in Digital Earth, a term describing the ways in which the evolution of digital technology is impacting every facet of daily life.
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/news/press-releases/a1805.htmlSapientNitro Brings High-Octane Racing to Life with New Mobile Application for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams
SapientNitro has launched one of the first mobile applications for the high-velocity world of racing for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams.
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/news/press-releases/a1800.htmlTarget Launches Redesigned E-Commerce Website
SapientNitro today announced that Target has launched the re-designed and re-platformed e-commerce website for Target.com. SapientNitro was the lead partner and integrator in the multi-year e-commerce replatforming effort.
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/news/press-releases/a1797.htmlSapientNitro Earns Gold Cannes Cyber Lions Award for Sneakerpedia at 58th Annual Cannes Festival of Creativity
Short-Listed for Three Additional Multi-Channel Marketing Campaigns for Foot Locker
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/news/press-releases/a1741.htmlSapientNitro Helps VisitEngland Launch Innovative Online Experience
New digital strategy implemented to inspire visitors with http://www.enjoyengland.com to take a break in England
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/news/press-releases/a1722.htmlSapientNitro and DOVE® Chocolate Show and Tell
Two new enticing spots show off silky smooth chocolate and women’s emotional confessions
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/news/press-releases/a1704.htmlSapientNitro Unveils Engagement Banking Concept in Interactive Report
"Banking on the Future" White Paper Identifies How Technology is Forcing Retail Banks to Evolve While Empowering Consumers
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/News/Press-Releases/a1494.htmlSapientNitro Named 45th Fastest Growing Company by Fortune Magazine, Ranks #2 in Profit Growth
Global Company Stands Out in the Top 100 As the Only Marketing and Technology Services Firm
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/News/Press-Releases/a1490.htmlSapientNitro Produces Global TV Campaign for Volvo Car Australia
SapientNitro has created a TV campaign for Volvo Car Australia which is the first Volvo advertising campaign to be produced in Australia for a global audience.
http://www.sapient.com/en-us/News/Press-Releases/a1447.htmlMarketing Magazine - SapientNitro’s five year marketing trend outlook
In the final piece of our 5-part series on SapientNitro’s ‘Insights 2012’, a forecast report looking to where the world of marketing will head, we look at the five year outlook of trends that will influence the way marketers communicate in the near future.
Tomorrow’s consumers are empowered. They share, they recommend and they are impatient. According to Rob Gonda, global head of innovation at SapientNitro Miami and Hilding Anderson, senior, manager of research and insights at SapientNitro Washington DC, this means that brands will be forced to respond and react faster and better.
“Social, geo, local, mobile – all these terms reflect a new reality: an empowered consumer with more information and tools than any one brand or individual can handle.”
The two authors predict the trends that will shape the marketing industry, dubbed the ‘SapientNitro Seven’.
Trend 1: Transmedia storytelling
With the evolution of consumers comes the evolution of marketing: it’s moving away from simply being a one-value message broadcast. As consumers embrace technology and consume media at their own pace and in their own terms, the notion of trust is also slipping out of brands’ control and shifting to peers and authoritative figures. Consumers will continue to choose to tap into their friends’ networks for recommendations.
However, expect the coming of ‘an era of data and friendship overload’. Simply put, there will be an overwhelming amount of information and recommendations to access, and consumers will revert back to seeking advice by experts elevated by brands.
The authors maintain that it is crucial for messages to be consistent across all channels to earn the trust of skeptical consumers.
“Today’s art of storytelling goes beyond narrative and requires the understanding of networks, group dynamics, and social spread. The introduction of social media has further coined terms such as ‘social currency’, ‘likeonomics’, and ‘attentionomics’, all attempting to put a structure around the art of word of mouth conversation propagation and influence.”
Trend 2: Data is the new Holy Grail
According to Gonda and Anderson, data is the most undervalued aspect of marketing. It should not be seen as just analytics, or used as an afterthought or for strategy refinement. Instead, it should be used to drive personalised experiences for consumers by analysing data in real time to predict future consumer actions and optimise brand exposure.
Trend 3: Technology invades and enables advertising and marketing
Today’s customer experience is driven by technology, and it’s important to keep a watchful eye on the impact that pure technology companies have in the marketing world. Examples include Google Labs and the advancement of HTML5.
Trend 4: Digital invades retail
With the integration of physical and digital worlds, Gonda and Anderson believe that the largest opportunities for growth are happening in retail environments.
“Innovative brands are using digital experiences to draw new customers, enhance shopping experiences, extend and facilitate social communications and integrate mobile payments.”
Some of these innovations include ambient in-store interaction and richer product experience with the ability to get more information like reviews and promotions and instant second opinions via social circles without leaving the store.
Trend 5: Collaboration and co-creation
Research and development, manufacturing, marketing and retail used to be different, and exclusive silos, but with the feedback loops now open, every aspect of a business is now inter-connected, and the consumer has a voice and wants to have a say in your brand, your products and your community.
Smart brands should elevate and drive this passion and allow their advocates to evangelise, influence connections and provide feedback.
A further step in brand advocate involvement is actual co-creation, from store experience to advertising to product range. It gives fans a sense of belonging, ownership, early buy-in and guaranteed success.
Trend 6: Cloudification
‘The cloud’ has been growing, and with its endless storage and processing power, it is reducing barriers to entry and giving birth to more start-up services than ever before, The key here is to produce a connected experience, allowing consumers to sync content across various media and platforms.
Trend 7: Real-time everything
With text messages, chats and live feeds, consumers have a new level of expectations of responsiveness from brands. They must evolve to cater to this expectation. However, it also allows brands to access real-time data, enabling them to be more relevant to change situations and providing contextually relevant messages.
The world of data has evolved from being used to analyse the past, to optimise the present, and ultimately to predict the future. Real-time data gives brands the ability to combine and compute massive sources of data to build the most effective communication and make real-time decisions.
For SapientNitro’s predictions for 2012:
Part 1: Death of the media planner?
Part 2: Social Media: Let go and listen
Part 3: Context is key to mobile experience
Part 4: Technology is the saviour, not bane, of marketers
http://www.marketingmag.com.au/news/sapientnitros-five-year-marketing-trend-outlook-8108/
B&T - Snooze matches mattresses
Bedding retailer Snooze has launched a new cross-platform campaign to promote its in-store bed match technology.
Created by digital agency SapientNitro, the new campaign is part of the continued refresh of the Snooze brand and is designed to tap into the confusion consumers face when purchasing mattresses.
The campaign highlights how Snooze's exclusive 'bed match' technology helps take the guesswork out of buying a bed. Customers are asked to lie on a test bed in store while a number of critical body measurements are taken. The bed match system then prints a profile listing a range of mattresses that better suit the individual’s sleep needs.
The campaign will be supported through TV, radio, online, press, catalogue and point of sale.
Sarah Baxter, national brand and marketing manager at Snooze, said: “SapientNitro developed an engaging campaign that shows the often comical 'tests' customers use to help choose a mattress, and then demonstrates how bed match helps take the guess work out of buying a bed."
http://www.bandt.com.au/news/breaking-campaign--snooze-matches-mattresses
Marketing Magazine - Technology is the saviour, not bane, of marketers
In part 4 of our 5-part series on predictions made by SapientNitro in ‘Insights 2012’, a forecast report looking to where the world of marketing will head in the upcoming year, we look at how technology will be changing the way marketers handle digital marketing.
“Planning, delivering and measuring sophisticated multichannel marketing campaigns has never been more difficult,” writes Dan Barnicle, vice president of content management and collaboration at SapientNitro in Munich.
If you are a marketer and fervently nodding your head in agreement, Barnicle shares his tips on why it’s crucial for brands to develop a digital marketing platform that will help centralise assets, group and manage content, reuse processes, connect with external sites and apply advanced analysis. Not only will a well-developed digital marketing platform become a one-stop shop for managing multichannel campaigns, according to Barnicle, it will also help shift costs from developing digital functionality to providing marketing services.
Barnicle tells us the eight areas that the digital marketing toolset will touch on:
- Building an organisation model.
Strong organisation is paramount to build out the interweaving elements of content, production and technology. - Increasing efficiency of campaign production processes.
Inefficient and redundant processes are minimised, and a consistent process – critical to reuse – is rolled out across the organisation. Benefits are seen by all the players involved. - Technology governance.
A close working relationship and clear governance structure is essential to overcoming the inevitable technical challenges. - Standardising campaign types.
Clients typically develop a core set of campaign types to speed time-to-market and the common technology platform must anticipate and support these types. - Managing platform capabilities.
Identifying and enhancing the core management platform capabilities is essential. Content management, digital asset management, social or community presence, marketing and campaign management, measurement and analytics, or consumer data management make up this set of opportunities. - Creating a digital production toolkit.
Creation of a set of reusable asset libraries – from copy to HTML to video and more – can deliver a campaign much quicker, with better results. - Multichannel campaign delivery.
Combining the asset libraries with the standardised processes and campaign types allows rapid multichannel campaign delivery. From iPhone apps to in-store end-caps to viral videos, multichannel is all about quickly executing cohesive marketing on every appropriate touch point. - Campaign management and analytics.
Testing, learning, tracking and adjusting are all tremendously challenging. But for true engagement marketing, it is essential.
Now that you understand the importance of building the ideal digital marketing platform for your company, Sheldon Monteiro, vice president of SapientNitro Chicago warns of the nine things every digital marketer should be prepared for on the platform’s launch day:
- It feels like you just gave birth.
No matter how much you planned, be prepared to be surprised in the first few months, and not in a pleasant way. There will be issues, and peak business periods and hours will reveal how your platform performs under stress. Smart firms will take a pragmatic approach in the first six months, and engage in continuous stabilising, improving processes and reviewing analytics. -
New platforms start out with a mortgage.
Going live on time and within budget will likely result in some compromises in the business tools or technical maintainability. View this as a mortgage – it will result in more work. But instead of spending all post-live-release investment on adding new features, it’s important to create a list of operational and technical debt and address items that improve future agility and reduce recurring work. -
Design, build, and test must evolve to listen, respond, and evolve.
Today, no platform investments lack technology to measure customer experience. Analytics are commonplace, yet all too often firms stumble with listening or responding to their customers. Data may be plentiful, but it isn’t worth a dime if you don’t have an effective process to make changes based on the information. -
Marketing, business development and operations must converge.
At launch, it’s unlikely that the marketing, business development and operations teams are on the same page. Two suggestions: either force alignment by establishing a firm calendar of ‘global releases’, or consider using iterative, incremental time-boxed practices for enhancements and operations. - Time + attention + resources = value.
Invest well. -
New platforms need help fitting in with established channels, structures and incentives.
Due to organisation and scale constraints, there can easily be incentive misalignment and this is where multichannel will fail. Ensure all channels are synchronised across all brands and that incentives are aligned. -
Content is not the redheaded stepchild.
Do not neglect content. Consumers will always demand personlised, differentiated content. -
Additions will be needed – just avoid spit and duct tape.
Think through new feature additions with a custom (not vendor-provided) business case, including what you might learn from smaller investments that can inform future decisions. Also, create a vision: user journeys relayed through video narratives, rich media prototypes placed in a test area of your site to stand trial in the court of customer opinion. While being first with new features may not always be the wisest, being a fast follower is often prudent, and maintaining experience parity with your direct competitors is a cost of business in a digitally connected world. -
Your platform is a product – sell it.
Digital was not and is not a channel, it’s simply part of business that runs across channels and customer touch points. The trap many firms fall into is that digital is viewed as ‘infrastructure’, or an enabling technology commodity.
http://www.marketingmag.com.au/news/technology-is-the-saviour-not-bane-of-marketers-8093/
Marketing Magazine - Context is key to mobile experience
In part 3 of our 5-part series on SapientNitro’s ‘Insights 2012’, a forecast report looking to where the world of marketing will head in the upcoming year, we look at an exciting emerging platform for marketers: mobile.
“What we are seeing today is only the surface of the real potential for mobile services. This is because producers, brands, and agencies are still doing what people do when they discover a new channel: They transport existing products and ideas into the new channel, but neglect to dig deeper to reach ‘the gold’.”
Outdoor advertisements were shrunk and digitised to fit on a PC screen. Then they were shrunk again to fit on a smartphone screen. But is this obvious reaction to new technology – reduce the size of the ad to fit the device – the best way to approach emerging marketing platforms? SapientNitro’s Torsten Schollmayer, mobile experience strategist in the Dusseldorf office, doesn’t think so.
Schollmayer believes new thinking is needed for developing successful mobile services, despite it being an exhausting and time-consuming process. The key? User context.
One example is that of an iPhone app developed for the online car marketplace, AutoTrader, for its UK market. The app wasn’t simply a mobile version of the website. It had no site map or navigation elements. Instead, the app asked what information the user needed in the particular situation they would be using the app. For AutoTrader, that was a car’s make, model, price and how to purchase it. The app got this information by first directing the user to snap a picture of a car’s license plate using the iPhone’s camera. By searching the government database, the app could then tell the user the exact model of the car, search the AutoTrader market for that model, and then put the user in contact with a dealer.
SapientNitro follows an approach to mobile product usage it calls ‘Paddle, Swim, Dive’. Simply put, a mobile app or other product should have three levels for three different types of uses. The ‘Paddle’ phase is for solving quick problems, the ‘Swim’ brings a richer level of detail but should still be quick to use, and the ‘Dive’ stage is for users with the extra time to use the product’s full functionality.
Paul Bevan, mobile strategist at SapientNitro UK, asks a question unfathomable a few years ago: Could mobile lead your customer experience?
The mobile audience has grown quickly and will continue to do so. SapientNitro has identified four key areas that will continue to influence mobile growth:
- The rise of smartphones and now tablet devices,
- Availability of cheap, fast data,
- Increasing consumer awareness of mobile services, and
- Better technology such as near field communication, location-based services and cloud computing.
Bevan recommends brands keep in mind four key challenges that will be obstacles to developing mobile services:
- Match your offering with your audience. Mobile audiences are heavily influenced by culture and geography, and they’re also fragmented by form factor and behaviour.
- Craft the right experience. You don’t need to understand the technology behind native apps, hybrid apps, NFC, 3D or SMS, but you do need to choose the right one as it will have a direct impact on what your users experience.
- See what the customer doesn’t. Companies often don’t consider their back-end architecture sufficiently, yet richer mobile experiences frequently require access to back-end systems such as products catalogues, ecommerce systems and account information. Mobile experiences that rely on good access to these systems often struggle to come to life.
- Think strategically. The time for one-off mobile experiments has passed. Brands need a clear roadmap supported by conviction and investment. While it’s true that mobile is one part of a multi-channel strategy, it’s often the one leading the innovation and business transformation.
These are much more easily said than done, of course, but brands and marketers that can conquer them will reap the rewards. Bevan predicts that mobile will lead the customer experience in some cases, and even when it doesn’t, the role it plays will still be critical.
http://www.marketingmag.com.au/news/context-is-key-to-mobile-experience-8041/
Marketing Magazine - Social media: Let go and listen
In part 2 of our 5-part series on SapientNitro’s ‘Insights 2012’, a forecast report looking to where the world of marketing will head in the upcoming year, we look at the ever-changing world of social media.
With the power to transform the entire customer experience, SapientNitro Chicago director, Erik Gottesman, predicts that social tools will increasingly shape new ideas, solve problems, and make it easier to share knowledge, inside and out of business.
In fact, Gottesman sees the boundaries of organisations blurring: “Your workforce and your customers are your new ‘shadow management.”
Communities are difficult to control. With anonymity comes diversity but also shallow engagement. Closed platforms bring quality of contributions but sacrifice diversity and participation. However, the official, top-down experience, built by only a few will be usurped by the individual experience of vibrant and inclusive dialogue.
Gottesman recommends six strategies for companies wishing to establish a vibrant and durable marketplace:
- Find the social tools that create maximum liquidity (e.g. testimonials, support requests, product ideas),
- Invite collaboration from participants into the design of the market itself,
- Build trust within online communities by connecting real-world and virtual indicators of repute,
- Find a balance between material and social incentives,
- Adopt a floating pricing mechanism to encourage the most valued forms of participation, and
- Adjust market sizes to optimise for size and time perspective of decisions affecting the brand experience.
Annicka Campbell, marketing strategy and analysis associate, SapientNitro Chicago, foresees that social listening (aka digital anthropology) will come into its own, offering insights into products, brands and behaviour.
Companies like Dell and Gatorade have already built social media ‘command centres’ as a way of tracking what people are saying about their brands. Xerox and Kodak use their listening capabilities to “drive specific business objectives like acquisition and product development research, all by paying attention to what their customers are saying on social media sites,” says Campbell.
Specific industries will benefit in different ways, as people talk about certain topics in certain ways. Financial services, for example, tend to cop a significant amount of negative sentiment. The most obvious application of listening for those in this industry is customer relationship management, but tweets like the following show social media comments are also a great place to understand customer perception towards things like website design and creative work:
“Why does the Chase website look just like the PayPal website? 0_0 are they related? Or is that just the standard thing for money sites?”
Similarly, SapientNitro has found that social listening is an effective way to inform creative messaging for the automotive industry, as car brands carry strong emotional connotations and social media platforms are heavily utilised by fans for connecting with like-minded enthusiasts.
Consumer goods brands can also benefit from social listening. A plethora of insights into product usage and consumer behaviour is created every minute, but the analysis isn’t just qualitative. Media campaigns can be tracked effectively via social listening, with sentiment, volume and topical reactions providing granular information on brand perception before, during and after traditional and digital campaigns.
Another area SapientNitro sees as being forefront in 2012 is social commerce. More than just making products available through Facebook’s e-commerce functions, for example, online retailers will need to be open to experimentation with social channels.
SapientNitro Dusseldorf’s director of technology, Uwe Tueben, imagines a ‘conditional checkout process’ where your online purchases are kept in a pending state until a certain number of your Facebook friends ‘like’ the purchase.
Tueben also encourages companies to stop doubting the ROI potential of customer experience, as research shows a clear link between improved customer experience and key business success metrics. Modern web analytics and social media monitoring should go a long way to lifting those doubts.
http://www.marketingmag.com.au/news/social-media-let-go-and-listen-7981/
Marketing Magazine - Death of the media planner?
This is the first of five articles covering predictions made by SapientNitro in ‘Insights 2012’, a forecast report looking to where the world of marketing will head in the upcoming year.
In the age of innovation, technology is central to almost every business decision we make, helping us calculate risks, benefits, profits, losses and almost taking the guessing game out of the business equation.
SapientNitro Boston’s David D’Alleva, media director, North America, braves the harsh reality and poses the question: can machines and technology replace media planners?
“Over the past three years alone, there has been rapid innovation taking place like never before. Media is becoming measurable. Media is becoming attributable. The worlds of traditional and digital are on a collision course,” explains D’Alleva.
“Just think about it. Out of home is rapidly becoming digitised. Television is becoming a targetable monitor for digital content. Even the standard newspaper size has shrunk to fit an 8 by 10 inch, or smaller, screen, one that can’t be tossed on the front porch or rolled up to swat a bug. Even in the display media world, nearly two decades since the first clickable ad, and after a decade of struggling with remnant inventory and sheer tonnage, ad networks are now more ‘tech-ed up’ to make network buys safer and more effective.”
With millions of sites accepting display ads, the media planner’s workload has significantly increased and D’Alleva believes that even researching a few dozen sites would require a planner to spend an inordinate amount of time.
However, D’Alleva insists that robots, hardware, software, algorithms and artificial intelligence cannot replace the ‘human lens’. “At least not in the foreseeable future,” he says.
“But the planner’s role in the campaign process requires an evolving skill set in order to succeed. Media planning is no longer just about reaching audiences.
“Today it’s also about engagement. Planners of today must look, listen, and respond to real-time insights and strategies. Gone are the days where planners could ‘set it and forget it’.”
D’Alleva gives his advice on what the DNA of a new media planner must accomplish:
1. Master relationship management. The media planner should continue to work closely with their key vendors in creating and identifying the right media opportunities for their clients. These relationships will continue to lead planners to a plethora of unique opportunities and first mover advantages – a value add that cannot be taken for granted.
2. Exhibit search-like prowess. Given the campaign-empowering tools at a planner’s fingertips (e.g. vendor dashboards), the media planner must harness and master this Pandora’s box of raw insight to their advantage.
They must unleash a search-like approach to campaign management, roll up their sleeves, be proficient with the tools available, and dive into the day-to-day intricacies.
3. Be a data geek. The media planner cannot be afraid to roll around in the mud with the data nuggets available. While they understand the client objectives, they must also be able to understand the data, which truly blends art and science. The ability to quickly interpret raw campaign data in order to drive proactive conversations, develop key insights, and leverage them quickly is paramount.
“While the rise of the machines has brought the media landscape many changes and efficiencies, the fall of the media planner has been exaggerated. However, there is certainly a change in the air that is forcing planners to evolve if they want to remain relevant and valued to agencies and clients. In the end, those who want to evolve will succeed. Those who choose not to evolve won’t,” concludes D’Alleva.
http://www.marketingmag.com.au/news/death-of-the-media-planner-7888/
B&T – Chum Launches First TV Campaign in Decade
Mars Petcare brand Chum will launch its first television campaign in a decade with the reintroduction of iconic brand mascot, Scotty the dog.
Created by SapientNitro, the campaign uses the Scottish terrier to position the brand as suitable for all dogs – regardless of breed – as Chum aims to capture a greater share of the pet food market.
Mars Petcare marketing manager Anthony Dean said: “Our brief to SapientNitro was to bring back Scotty, show that we recognise that the humble domestic dog is still an integral part of the typical Australian suburban family, that quality and price are both important in the purchase decision making process for dog food.”
SapientNitro national managing director Paul Bennett said: “The Scotty ads of the ’80s and ’90s did a great job of cementing a personality and ‘face’ for the brand. We have reinvigorated the Scotty character. We ultimately want to get across the fact that Chum is still a great dog food brand, emphasising Chum’s key points of difference – quality and value.”
The campaign will run until October, with a second phase planned for next year.
http://www.bandt.com.au/news/breaking-campaign--chum-launches-first-tv-campaign
Campaign Brief – Millennium Promise aims for change in Africa with ‘Spokes of Change’ campaign via SapientNitro
International charity Millennium Promise, via agency SapientNitro, has launched an integrated campaign for its ‘Spokes of Change’, which aims to raise money for community health workers throughout Africa.
http://www.campaignbrief.com/2011/08/milllenium-promise-aims-for-ch.html
B&T - A university where you can grow
Following changes in the university intake process, Victoria University has launched a new campaign created by SapientNitro.
The campaign is called ‘Grow’ and aims to highlight a different approach. Due to deregulation of Australian universities, students can choose from special entry offers making the whole process more competitive. Victoria University is positioning itself as a nurturing and inclusive environment that takes care of individuals, and a breath of fresh air for students.
The campaign includes a 30-second TVC, 30 and 15-second radio ads and outdoor posters throughout 230 locations in Melbourne.
Margot Burke, director of marketing and communications at Victoria University said: “We need to distinguish ourselves amongst other universities as the institution that truly does care about a student’s progression throughout university and beyond. SapientNitro’s approach has helped us achieve this repositioning.”
SapientNitro national managing director, Paul Bennett says, “The campaign creative needed to highlight the university’s stand-out qualities. This creative really hits the mark as it emphasises the importance of support and growth at every level and every stage of a University career which is particularly well provided by an institution like Victoria University.”
http://www.bandt.com.au/news/breaking-campaign--a-university-where-you-can-growAdNews - Mattel gets on board with SapientNitro
Global toy manufacturer Mattel has appointed SapientNitro to handle a pre-Christmas campaign for its Thomas & Friends Trackmaster brand.
The agency won the year-long project after a three-way shootout which kicked off in March, and will be working with Mattel's media agency Carat to roll out the campaign by September.The project will involve television, digital, social media, retail integration and possible outdoor.
Mattel marketing director Meagan Reay said: “SapientNitro has developed a campaign to build strong connection with parents in the lead up to Christmas, encouraging dialogue and awareness for the Thomas & Friends Trackmaster brand and the launch of new destination toys.”
SapientNitro managing director Paul Bennett said: “This is a really exciting project for SapientNitro. We have developed a creative and integrated business solution using social media and retail experience for a brand steeped in heritage, with deep emotional resonance for many parents and kids alike. We are looking to build on the popularity that the motorised Thomas & Friends Trackmaster toy has in other markets.”
Mattel is the world&arsquo;s largest toy company, producing brands such as Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. The company’s estimated main media spend was $6.7 million in the 12 months to March 2011, down from $8.1 million in the prior period, according to Nielsen.
http://www.adnews.com.au/news/mattel-gets-on-board-with-sapientnitro/mUmBRELLA - Paul Bennett takes charge of Sapient Nitro
Former Euro RSCG boss Paul Bennett has turned up as the new national MD of ad agency Sapient Nitro after a brief period at the helm of Frost Design.
Bennett’s appointment to the agency sees current boss Michael Branagh moved to the role of MD of global accounts “with specific emphasis on helping to steward Sapient Nitro’s global relationships in the Australia market”. he will also go back to running the Brisbane office.
Sapient Nitro started life in Australia as Cummins & Partners, founded by Sean Cummins. It became Cummins Nitro when he sold to the global agency group. After Sapient bought the agency it became Sapient Nitro. It has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Its best known work was the “Best Job in the World” campaign for Tourism Queensland.
Bennett left Euro RSCG in 2009. Last year, he joined Frost Design as CEO “for a trial period”.
Sapient CEO Alan J. Herrick said: “Paul’s appointment is a natural step in moving the already successful Australian business on to even greater achievement.”
Bennett said: “There is huge potential for SapientNitro in Australia to harness the great expertise we have locally, while tapping into the company’ global resources and expertise in online marketing, commerce and technology, to deliver outstanding work for our clients. I’m thrilled to get started.”
http://mumbrella.com.au/paul-bennett-takes-charge-of-sapient-nitro-38194Mobile consumers are dismantling the traditional boundaries between marketing and commerce channels
SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), one of the world’s largest integrated marketing and technology services firms, has launched Insights 2012, a comprehensive 100 page report examining the marketing trends and digital technologies that will impact businesses in the next 12 months, and the ones to watch in the next five years.
Through proprietary research and commentary, SapientNitro experts present their global and local perspectives on how companies need to evolve their customer experience management to successfully embrace the challenges posed by today’s complex environment -from enabling the future of mobile payments through the digital wallet to leveraging “the cloud” to create seamless, multi-channel experiences.
Insights 2012 can be broken down into four key sections:
- Mobile Moments (pg 5): a fascinating in-depth look at mobile, the result of interviews and polling with over 20 global mobile industry influencers, as well as heuristics analysis and a proprietary scorecard of applications in categories that SapientNitro strategists deem ones to watch: mobile wallet, in-store mobile, integrated experiences, location-based services, and emerging technology.
- Viewsight (pg 19): a series of essays in the areas of marketing and media, social media, mobile, and technology.
- International Perspectives (pg 65): Q&A with SapientNitro experts worldwide about consumer behavior, digital trends, brand opportunities, and popular media campaigns in individual markets including Australia (pg 70).
- Foresight (pg 85): an exciting longer-term (one to five year) trend outlook on innovations expected to impact businesses globally and in Australia including the SapientNitro Seven - transmedia storytelling, real-time everything, “the cloud,” digital invading retail, technology enabling advertising, data as the new holy grail, collaboration and co-creation.
Paul Bennett, national managing director SapientNitro Australia said “This report takes a really in-depth look at emerging trends in consumer behavior due to digitisation of the world we live in. Armed with multiple devices and data, today’s on the go consumers consumers are now shifting from browsing to buying in minutes.
“Smartphones have truly flooded the Australian market and tablet devices are also increasingly common. Ecommerce is being driven by current social trends and the strength of the Australian dollar. Delivering added value across the entire customer experience is the biggest opportunity for businesses in Australia”
To download this free report, visit: http://www.sapientnitro.com/insights.
SapientNitro makes their bedMATCH™ for Snooze
SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), one of the world’s largest integrated marketing and technology services companies, has launched a new multi-platform campaign for bedding retailer, Snooze.
The new campaign is part of the continued refresh of the Snooze brand and will be supported through TV, radio, online, press, catalogue and point of sale, and taps into the hesitation and confusion consumers have around mattress purchases.
Founded on insights derived from customer research, and by talking to Snooze salespeople, the campaign aims to help address the confusion that customers face when buying a new mattress.
The campaign highlights how bedMATCH™ technology, only at Snooze helps take the guesswork out of buying a bed. Customers are asked to lie on a test bed in store while a number of critical body measurements are taken. The bedMATCH™ system then prints a profile listing a range of mattresses found at Snooze that can better suit the individual’s sleep needs. The bedMATCH™ technology is based on years of research and was developed by some of the world's leading sleep scientists.
Sarah Baxter, National Brand and Marketing Manager at Snooze, said: “SapientNitro developed an engaging campaign that shows the often comical “tests” customers use to help choose a mattress, and then demonstrates how bedMATCH™ helps take the guess work out of buying a bed.
“Mattresses are high ticket items and customers are confused about how to choose the best mattress for them. bedMATCH™ helps take the guesswork out of buying a bed.
SapientNitro national managing director, Paul Bennett says: “Snooze presented us with a business problem - the process of buying a mattress can be very confusing, it’s a highly considered purchase most people only make every 10 years.
“We took our inspiration and insight from discussions with Snooze staff who noticed a number of common and often humorous personal tests that customers undertake before buying a bed. While these tests are not the best means of making the purchase decision, acknowledging them gave us interesting territory to work in creatively”.
“bedMATCH™ has given us an opportunity to showcase a great customer experience that gives Snooze a competitive advantage over other bedding retailers.”
SapientNitro has been managing ongoing communications for Snooze since 2009.
Website: www.snooze.com.au
Credits:
- Nick Chipp – Group Account Director
- Tod O’Reily – Creative Director
- Lauren Doolen – Senior Art Director
- Stephen Justice – Senior Writer
SapientNitro brings back Scotty the CHUM dog
SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), has launched a new TVC campaign for the iconic Australian dog food brand CHUM – creating the first TVC for the brand in 10 years.
The CHUM brand has a heritage dating back to the 1960’s, CHUM’S ‘ambassador’, a lovable Scottish terrier character aptly named Scotty, has made a welcome come back. In the new advertising campaign he humorously imitates a variety of dog breeds, sizes and personalities to demonstrate that CHUM dry food, (now including a mini variant for small dogs), is a suitable choice of food for dogs, no matter what type.
The TVC also supports the new brand packaging and improved product formulation with messaging reinforcing that CHUM is an iconic Australian brand that offers a trusted, great value and ‘hearty’ dog food option.
Anthony Dean, marketing manager for Mars Petcare, the owners of Chum, said: “Our brief to SapientNitro was to bring back Scotty, show that we recognise that the humble domestic dog is still an integral part of the typical Australian suburban family, that quality and price are both important in the purchase decision making process for dog food.”
SapientNitro national managing director, Paul Bennett says, “The Scotty ads of the 1980’s and 1990’s did a great job of cementing a personality and ‘face’ for the brand. We have reinvigorated the Scotty character. We ultimately want to get across the fact that CHUM is still a great dog food brand while emphasising CHUM’s key points of difference – quality and value.”
The 15 and 30 second TVCs will run on air until October with a second burst planned to run again next year.
Credits:
- Belinda Anderson – Executive Business Director
- Louise McLaughlan – Senior Account Director
- Hollie Ryding – Senior Account Manager
- Tod O’Reily – Creative Director
- Lauren Doolan – Art Director
- Chris Taylor – Copywriter
- Zaylee Saydam – TVC Producer
SapientNitro help Nature’s Own find their angels
SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), has launched a multi-channel campaign for vitamin, minerals and supplements brand Nature’s Own, highlighting a new partnership with not-for-profit organisation Vitamin Angels.
Vitamin Angels is a global not-for-profit organisation dedicated to reducing child mortality by providing essential vitamins to infants and children in need. It operates in over 40 countries, and in 2010 alone, reached more than 22 million children.
Under the partnership 25c from every Nature’s Own multivitamin and fish oil sold in Australia is donated to Vitamin Angels to support their efforts to reduce child mortality. That 25c allows Vitamin Angels to help one child in need for one whole year.
Through emotive imagery of the ‘everyday angel’, the creative places a focus on real-life angels and engaging the consumer to understand what each and every one of us can do to take part. Nature’s Own is, at its core, a positive, genuine brand and the campaign helps reflect these brand values and uplifting messages.
Luke Fitzgerald, Director Consumer Healthcare for sanofi-aventis the owners of Nature’s Own, said: “We have chosen to partner with Vitamin Angels because we have a shared belief that every person’s health matters. We feel that SapientNitro has developed a creative that really captures the essence of what we are helping to achieve through this partnership. This is about making a tangible difference to children’s lives,” he said.
SapientNitro national managing director, Paul Bennett says, “Vitamin Angel’s modest brand recognition in Australia, added to the challenge of the brief to achieve cut-through in a market typical of charity fatigue. Anyone can create a charity partnership, but what we have done is highlight the true impact and relevance of this partnership.”
The Nature’s Own Vitamin Angels campaign has been rolled out through TVC, press, online, in store POS, internal promotion and PR.
Nature’s Own is a popular Australian brand of vitamins, minerals and supplements which help improve everyday health and wellbeing.
SapientNitro has had a successful and collaborative working relationship with sanofi-aventis for 5 years and works across a portfolio of their brands.
Credits:
- ZenithOptimedia (media buying)
- Edelmen (PR)
SapientNitro’s FutureMakers Breakfast reveals that traditional marketing is failing customer experience
Speakers at the inaugural FutureMakers Breakfast hosted by SapientNitro Australia, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE) revealed that the shift from conventional marketing is the key to successful customer experience and business growth.
The event, attended by around 100 business leaders and marketeers from over 40 global and local companies, was opened by SapientNitro New York’s VP and Leader of Global Strategy, Laura McFarlane, who revealed that best in class customer experience lies in the ability to leverage the many new ways to connect brands with consumers.
Laura McFarlane explained, “The right consumer experience is a web that integrates the brand or product into the buyer’s world. This needs to be woven in such a way that behaviour and action are influenced and most importantly monetised.”
According to McFarlane the experience space exists between two eco systems; the consumer’s world and the brand’s world, this experience space can be enabled through technology and connected by data. One of the biggest drivers to the success of customer experience is establishing an ecosystem for brand and consumer together while integrating technology with marketing and services. Businesses need to start by evaluating the opportunities against the ease of implementation.
She went on to explain that consumers who have a better brand experience are 76%* more likely to purchase, more likely to recommend and less likely to defect a brand. While 85%** of customers are willing to pay more over the standard price to ensure a superior experience.
The issue was brought to life by two guest speakers; Qantas Executive Manager Marketing, Lewis Pullen and Adobe Systems Senior Director APAC Marketing, Mark Phibbs.
Pullen discussed the importance of customer experience to the prolific national icon and how the new Qantas next generation check-in facility has heightened customer engagement and overall brand experience. It has also acted as a catalyst for future change across the whole business since the system was developed.
Mark Phibbs of Adobe focused on the return on investment that good customer experience, particularly in social and digital platforms, can offer organisations.
Phibbs said “Increasingly companies are moving online because they can measure the return on investment like never before. Companies and brands want to be able to measure every aspect of the interaction with their customers and technology enables this,” he said.
Paul Bennett, National Managing Director SapientNitro Australia said, “We held this event to address some of the very real and serious issues facing Australian business. The rapid shift in consumer behaviour and ongoing digitisation across multiple channels of communication are having a profound effect on the way customers engage with brands demonstrating the need for user experience systems in business.”
Bennett continued, “We know that 91% of Australian CEOs actually cite getting close to customers at the top of their agenda but the opportunity to make this happen through existing business models is more complex than realised***.”
Over the last six months, SapientNitro has invested in more talent and idea engineers to strengthen the user experience design and CXM capabilities for its clients. This brings it in closer alignment with the highly successful global SapientNitro customer experience and technology offering. Sapient was named 45th fastest growing company by Fortune Magazine (Aug 2010).
Sources:
- * Forrester 2010
- ** RightNow 2010
- *** IBM 2010
SapientNitro Appoints Paul Bennett as Head of Australia
SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), announced today that Paul Bennett has joined the company as national managing director of SapientNitro in Australia, effective immediately.
Bennett brings 20 years of global industry experience to SapientNitro, having worked in Sydney and London in leadership roles at international agencies, including EuroRSCG (CEO Australia), Proximity Worldwide (Managing Director EMEA), BBDO Europe (Business Development Director) and Lowe Worldwide (international CRM director). He will be responsible for all aspects of the Australia business, with a focus on ensuring that SapientNitro’s globally recognised best-in-class customer experience offering is fully implemented in Australia.
“Paul’s appointment is a natural step in moving the already successful Australian business on to even greater achievement,” said Alan J. Herrick, president and chief executive officer of Sapient. ‘Paul joins a highly-awarded business which continues to capitalise on its ability to deliver high-impact, through-the-line marketing services for clients. He’s had stewardship of leading global brands and is passionate about the merging of creativity and technology to get into the hearts and minds of consumers.”
SapientNitro has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. It’s well known for its “Best Job in the World” campaign for Queensland Tourism, which took the top prize at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2009. Recently, its Sydney office was appointed to handle all creative duties for Stockland Commercial Property shopping centres throughout Australia.
Said Bennett, “I’m impressed by SapientNitro’s ability to successfully integrate its market leading digital expertise with traditional marketing and advertising capabilities. Companies are looking for a new type of partner to help them navigate the world of multi-channel marketing and commerce, yet the number of companies genuinely capable of doing so is limited. There is huge potential for SapientNitro in Australia to harness the great expertise we have locally, while tapping into the company’ global resources and expertise in online marketing, commerce and technology, to deliver outstanding work for our clients. I’m thrilled to get started.”
Concurrent with this move, Michael Branagh, previously managing director of SapientNitro in Australia, has taken on an expanded global leadership role, where he will serve as managing director of global accounts with specific emphasis on helping to steward SapientNitro’s global relationships in the Australia market. As global clients have played an increasingly strategic role in the company’s business, Branagh will help to grow its large multi-national accounts, including Coca-Cola, Mars, Unilever, and Volvo. He will also continue to lead the company’s Brisbane office.
In June 2009, Sapient acquired Nitro Group, an award winning, above-the-line advertising agency, forming SapientNitro. The acquisition brought best-in-class brand-led thinking and above-the-line creative capabilities to Sapient’s digital expertise, and expanded Sapient’s global footprint into new Asia-Pacific markets, including Australia, China, and Singapore. Since then, the Asia-Pacific teams have been focused on adding fully integrated marketing and commerce solutions for leading brands.
About Paul Bennett
Paul Bennett has forged a highly successful advertising career spanning 20 years with international experience gained across multiple business categories. He has been responsible for the development of global brand communication platforms and business growth while holding leadership positions at some of the world’s most successful advertising agencies both in Sydney and London.
Previously CEO of Euro RSCG Australia, Paul’s expertise in CRM, retail and in particular the digital arena has seen him successfully lead and develop strongly integrated business models and award winning campaigns for his clients.
Paul was based in London for 5 years, where he was Managing Director, EMEA at Proximity Worldwide (BBDO Group) in 2008, one of the most creatively awarded digital and CRM network in the world. Prior to this in 2003 he held roles as International Relationship Marketing Director then Head of Brand Activation at Lowe Worldwide. He joined Proximity Worldwide in 2005 as Head of International Clients and was promoted to Director of Business Development BBDO Europe in 2006.
Paul started his career in advertising in Sydney as a Group Account Director at Bilson & Associates before moving on to senior management roles at BAM & SSB, eBAM, Sydney. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Newcastle University.
SapientNitro ask students to grow with Victoria University
SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), has launched a new integrated marketing campaign for Victoria University to help reposition the institution in response to changes to university student intake.
The deregulation of Australian universities means that aspiring students will have the opportunity to select from a range of special entry offers, making universities more competitive for student entrants. The new approach to attract students is a direct response to the opportunity afforded by the change in student quotas now entering higher education establishments.
The ‘Grow’ campaign highlights Victoria University’s fresh and differentiated approach to learning and higher education focused on an inclusive nurturing environment. It promotes the university from an approachable and personable perspective, an institution that cares and considers each individual.
Margot Burke, Director of Marketing and Communications at Victoria University said: ‘We need to distinguish ourselves amongst other universities as the institution that truly does care about a student’s progression throughout university and beyond. SapientNitro’s approach has helped us achieve this repositioning.”
The campaign includes a 30 second branded TVC, 30 and 15 second radio ads and outdoor posters (metrolites and superlites) throughout 230 locations around Melbourne.
SapientNitro national managing director, Paul Bennett says, ‘Victoria University not only offers an education, but a place to build social and life skills. With this in mind, the campaign creative needed to highlight the university’s stand-out qualities. This creative really hits the mark as it emphasises the importance of support and growth at every level and every stage of a University career which is particularly well provided by an institution like Victoria University.”
SapientNitro has a long standing relationship with Victoria University and has been working with it for over 5 years. This is the second re-brand they have developed for Victoria University.
Victoria University offers internationally recognised qualifications ranging from short course diplomas through to apprenticeship level training, higher education degrees, postgraduate masters programs and postdoctoral research (PhD). It has 10 campuses located across Melbourne's western suburbs and city – City Flinders, City King, City Queen, Footscray Nicholson, Footscray Park, Melton, Newport, St Albans, Sunshine and Werribee.
Credits
- Tod O’Reilly – Creative Director
- Chris Taylor – Senior Copywriter
- Tom Kearney – Art Director
- Fiona Maher – Copywriter
- Lauren Doolan – Senior Art Director
- Belinda Anderson – Business Director
- Hollie Ryding – Senior Account Manager
- Zaylee Saydam – Senior TV Producer
- John Jurcic – Production Manager
SapientNitro help Stockland ‘ask a local’ - campaign winner announced
SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), has announced the winner of a YouTube campaign for Stockland Residential’s Mernda Villages in Victoria, where current residents were invited to upload a three minute video to promote the area to potential buyers.
The ten most creative video entries uploaded to YouTube via the Mernda Villages website were judged before the overall winner, Chantal Waterson, was announced at the Mernda Villages Film Festival where she took home a $3000 cash prize.
The winning entry was determined based on its creativity and showcasing of Stockland Mernda Villages - the easy access to parks, schools, community services as well as the fantastic lifestyle benefits for all residents of this thriving community.
Lana Gandolfo, Project Marketing Manager at Stockland Residential said: ‘The aim of the campaign was to let the locals showcase the fantastic benefits such as accessibility to education, leisure, recreation and convenience of living in Mernda Villages. The approach that SapientNitro has taken allowed us to talk to potential buyers or residents in a fresh and innovative way.”
Paul Bennett, National Managing Director at SapientNitro said: ‘This unique customer experience involves the community and encourages genuine dialogue and personal endorsement. Potential customers are able to see and hear how great life is at Mernda Villages straight from ‘the horse’s mouth’. The next stage will be to continue to drive customers to the online video testimonials.”
The campaign has been supported through direct mail, eDM, outdoor and SMS elements promoted to existing residents of Mernda Villages. Direct mail elements were also hand delivered to two schools in the Mernda area, for pupils to pass onto their parents. Posters were displayed in the Mernda Villages Community Activity Centre and the Mernda Villages Sales and Information Centre.
About SapientNitro
SapientNitroSM, part of Sapient® and the owner of SapientNitro in Australia, is the world’s first customer experience company and one of the world’s largest integrated marketing and technology services companies. SapientNitro creates and engineers highly relevant experiences that accelerate business growth and fuel brand advocacy for its clients.
In 2008, the Nitro group was acquired by Sapient and the current name SapientNitro has been in place since 2009. SapientNitro operates from three offices in Australia; Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. It is best known for developing the Best Job in the World campaign for Tourism Queensland in 2009, which generated entries from 197 countries, won prestigious industry awards, including the coveted Cannes Grand Prix Lion and a record two D&AD Black Pencils, and resulted in widespread international media coverage with a competition to find a “caretaker” for Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Local clients include Foot Locker Asia Pacific; Gold Coast Football Club; Queensland Motorways; Sanofi Aventis (including Nature’s Own and Cenovis brands); Stockland Commercial, Residential and Retirement; Tourism Queensland; Victoria University and Volvo Cars.
SapientNitro services global leaders including Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Mars (digital work), Singapore Airlines, Target and Vodafone and through operations in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
For more information, visit www.sapientnitro.com or follow the company on Twitter @sapientnitro.
Sapient is a registered service mark of Sapient Corporation.
Copyright © 2010 Sapient Corporation. All Rights Reserved.