International marketing group St Ives has merged three of its businesses to create a new agency, Edit, which unites data science and marketing technology to power through-the-line CRM and media.

The three agencies which have come together to form Edit are Response One, Amaze One and Occam will merge to become. With clients including Cosmos Travel, Azzurri Group, Pizza Hut, Citroen, Fiat and JLR, Edit will bring CRM and media under one roof with a focus on the intelligent application of data.

Powered by cutting-edge marketing technology solutions, Edit will help clients to drive customer engagement from acquisition to advocacy, under their banner ‘One Consumer. One Conversation’.

Over 200 of Edit’s staff will be based in its new offices in central Bath, which will see its CRM, media, technology and data science teams work seamlessly to help client projects flow through the business from start to finish. An offshoot office in Manchester will support the headquarters and clients in that region.

Edit CEO Damian Coverdale (pictured) says: “Disruptive technologies, complex consumer journeys and the speed of change make engagement today extremely challenging. Brands address this by co-ordinating marketing across internal teams, specialist agencies and numerous channels often resulting in inefficiencies and a lack of effectiveness. Bringing the three businesses together means Edit can deliver results across the entire consumer journey, from awareness and acquisition to retention, repurchase and advocacy.”

Coverdale adds: “We’re focused on filtering out the noise and delivering simple, actionable advice with clarity, precision and speed. Our sole aim as Edit is to drive greater ROI for our clients with a more dynamic, transparent approach to customer engagement.”

St Ives is an international marketing services group comprised of 15 companies offering digital and mobile creativity, intelligent data analysis, research, production and marketing.

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The newly created Omnicom Precision Marketing Group has announced two management appointments at digital, direct and CRM network Proximity Worldwide.

Doug Worple, currently Chairman of Barefoot Proximity in Cincinnati, has been promoted to the new role of Chief Executive Officer of Proximity Worldwide, overseeing strategic development for the network, its offer and its commercial performance. Mike Dodds, currently Managing Director of Proximity in Europe, will become Global President, reporting to Worple. Dodds will be responsible for new business, culture and talent development.

“Doug and Mike have successfully driven growth in their respective agencies, are fully embedded in the Proximity network and have the skills to take Proximity to the next level,” said Luke Taylor, CEO, Omnicom Precision Marketing Group. “This new dedicated leadership at Proximity Worldwide will ensure that the Network is increasingly focused on leveraging resources from across the entire Omnicom portfolio to deliver powerful solutions to clients.”

Worple is the founder of Barefoot Proximity in Cincinnati, which was acquired by Omnicom in 2008, and has served on the Proximity Worldwide Executive Team since then.  Dodds was the CEO of Proximity London for eight years, before being named Managing Director of Proximity Europe in 2015. Before Proximity, Dodds held various positions within Ogilvy Group.

Each assumes their new role immediately.

Proximity is a global digital and contemporary CRM network with 25 offices in 22 countries. Proximity is aligned to The DAS Group of Companies, a division of Omnicom Group Inc, a leading global marketing and corporate communications company.

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Mark Spicer of Snipp Interactive looks at how some key technologies and trends are impacting the loyalty industry

Most loyalty programs were conceived decades ago and still largely follow traditional “earn and burn,” transactional, points-based program structures.

However, new technologies (e.g. mobile, the Internet of Things, social etc.) have given us the ability to conceive of entirely new paradigms in loyalty, moving well beyond what we see in the marketplace today. Marketers are beginning to catch up to the possibilities opened up by these technologies, incorporating them into programs. However, this brings additional challenges, as well as opportunities – for one thing, it means consumer expectations are higher!

Technology is not just changing what is feasible in the context of loyalty program design for brands, it is also driving changes in consumer expectations for such programs, in particular around personalisation and immediacy.

More fundamentally, technology is changing the very nature of the relationship between consumers and brands, moving away from the one-way, transactional structures of yore to a more holistic, always-on dialog between equals.

These technologies, and the changing behaviours they inspire, are dramatically impacting the very notion of “loyalty” itself. Below are some of the key technologies that are shaping the next generation of loyalty.

Smartphones are the new loyalty platform

Like many other industries and sectors, smartphones and high-speed data networks are dramatically impacting loyalty program design, behaviour and usage. Virtually every program has an app today, enabling members to view, manage and personalise their accounts easily.

The wide assortment of functionality on today’s smartphones is opening up endless possibilities for loyalty programs: location-based services to reward browsing and create highly targeted offers; mobile wallet integrations for seamless payment and points accumulation; camera integrations for coupon scanning and receipt-based purchase validation; gamification and social activity to increase the effectiveness and reach of programs.

Smartphones are the platform on which new loyalty programs are being built.

Big Data personalises loyalty for me

Today’s computing power, storage and analytics have allowed even the smallest of companies to crunch through large amounts of data, and have therefore transformed customer expectations around program personalisation.

The use of machine learning, neural networks and other increasingly sophisticated analytics is further enabling real-time personalisation of such programs. We are already seeing examples of programs that dynamically generate offers and adjust points based on individual patterns of behaviour; expect to see a lot more in the future, but more relevant and targeted.

The Internet of Things = loyalty for everything
The Internet of Things dramatically expands the reach and changes the nature of loyalty programs, transforming them from transactional, purchase-driven programs to more holistic, interaction-based relationships.

As a greater amount of “things” become connected, programs get access to more – and more varied – data; data that can be used to reward not just transactions but behaviours. Examples include insurance companies being able to reward people who log 10,000 steps daily on their Fitbits or utility companies who can reward those who set their Nest thermostats to be one degree lower than their daily average.

New programs for the New Economy

The sharing and social economy is further engendering new types of loyalty programs. In the sharing economy, it is not just consumers who can get rewarded for their loyalty, but also a company’s supplier partners – a new twist to traditional channel loyalty programs.

Further, technology is also making it easier to string together sets of brands to create coalition programs around common themes – e.g. a “green” loyalty coalition, or a “Tea Party” coalition.

Gamification makes driving consumer behaviour fun

The rise of gamification has also had a profound impact on the design and implementation of loyalty programs. Accepted wisdoms around the ways in which consumer behaviour can be shaped or what motivates employees and other stakeholders or the kinds of rewards required to incentivise consumers to participate have been upended by the rise of gamification.

Coupled with big data and the rise of mobile, gamification can be a powerful tool when used effectively in loyalty programs.

Universal POS systems

The fundamental focus of all programs, though, will remain purchase transactions. All the loyalty in the world isn’t helpful if it isn’t eventually translating into future purchases.

One of the fundamental issues with the implementation of loyalty programs has been the need to integrate with existing POS and other systems. Loyalty has been, for much of its existence, a large IT implementation primarily because of integration issues.

Thankfully, there are a host of technologies and companies that are providing solutions to solve this thorny problem – either by integrating directly into POS solutions ahead of time, or circumventing the integration work altogether. Such technologies can work via the bar code scanner, can leverage receipt-based scanning or can interface with the credit card vendor.

These solutions make it considerably easier to implement and experiment with loyalty solutions – as well as create flexible partnerships and loyalty coalitions as needed.

Mark Spicer is Loyalty Solutions Director for Snipp Interactive UK, a subsidiary of US company Snipp Interactive Inc. Snipp brings together a full suite of technology solutions and best-in-class CRM and loyalty marketing expertise to help drive sales, increase engagement and inspire loyalty, collecting meaningful data on consumers, their behavior and ultimately increasing bottom line profits. For more information, see www.snipp.com.

Snipp Interactive is headline partner of the IPM Awards 2016.

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Amaze One, the CRM agency based in London, Manchester, Somerset and Bristol, has appointed Tom Rowland-Hill as Head of Business Development, following a strong year of growth set to continue into 2016.

In his new role, Rowland-Hill will be responsible for driving new business across target sectors. He will report directly into Janet Snedden, Deputy MD.

He joins Amaze One from RAPP, where he was responsible for winning and cultivating key accounts including Nestlé waters: San Pellegrino, Perrier, Buxton and Nestlé Pure Life. He was also instrumental in RAPP’s win and development of a new global CRM enablement model for L’Oréal, which will deliver targeted, multi-channel campaigns across owned, earned and paid media.

He brings with him a wealth of experience in delivering new agency growth having previously worked as an Account Director with Havas Helia, with clients including Waterstones, Barclays Wealth and First Great Western.

Neil Evans, Managing Director at Amaze One, says: “This role is pivotal for Amaze One. We’re looking forward to combining Tom’s proven abilities with our unique approach to CRM and client delivery. We’re sure they’re going to be a perfect, productive match as we look to build on the success of our first year.”

Amaze One is a collaboration between digital agency Amaze Ltd and database marketing specialist Occam DM Ltd, both St Ives Group companies. It was set up to break down the inherent silos of traditional CRM processes, providing insight-driven creative communications by blending data and digital disciplines to engage customers, and deliver long-term, profitable relationships for clients.

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