Location: New York
URL: www.mrmworldwide.com
Key executive: Bill Kolb, CEO
Employees: 2,000
2011 revenue: N/A
2011 b2b revenue: N/A
Key clients: BAE Systems, ExxonMobil, Intel, VeriSign, Verizon Communications
Major 2011 campaigns: MasterCard, “Advancing Commerce,” print, online, website, search, events; VeriSign, “Connecting the World Between the Dots,” print, banner ads, website, online video, direct mail, events; Verizon, “Vertical Marketing,” print, online, website, events
Comments: Saw double-digit revenue growth; added new clients, including ALD Automotive, Amway, BAE Systems, Bayer CropScience, CSC, MasterCard, Pfizer, Statoil; 40% b2b.
MRM, the digital and relationship agency of McCann Worldgroup, saw double-digit revenue growth last year as a result of significant b2b wins and expanded business with key accounts.
The agency picked up such new clients as ALD Automotive, Amway, BAE Systems, Bayer CropScience, CSC, MasterCard, Pfizer and Statoil, and it expanded work for existing clients VeriSign and Verizon.
“2011 was one of the best years we've ever had, in terms of growth and in terms of quality of product and client relationships,” said Bill Kolb, CEO of MRM. “From the client side, [marketing] has become incredibly complex. Agencies have to understand that the singular traditional approach to how you solve client problems—those days are over.”
Kolb pointed to four “buckets” that clients are dealing with in their marketing efforts—the traditional marketing department, sales and operations, the IT group and partners. “Agencies that will be successful have to understand how to sit in the middle of all that,” Kolb said. MRM has used this integrated approach to develop campaigns around complex b2b products and services.
For Verizon, the agency developed a campaign aimed at SMBs and enterprise companies across 22 vertical segments. The goal was to shift perceptions of Verizon from a network carrier to a technology solutions provider.
The campaign—using print and digital advertising, events and digital sales tools—was aimed at technology and business decision-makers as well as C-suite executives.
“The complexity of the campaign plays very well into the engagement-planning process we have,” Kolb said. “It is incredibly complicated to execute when you're talking about 22 different verticals and you're trying to shift perceptions across all of these verticals of Verizon from a product provider to a solutions provider.”
The campaign included case studies, white papers and digital content focused on business issues for each vertical. It resulted in a 10 percentage-point increase in brand perception of Verizon as a technology leader.
For VeriSign, MRM created a campaign to reposition the company from an online security provider (after it sold its security business to Symantec in 2010) to a trusted domain name system provider. MRM's integrated campaign aimed at IT directors and technology decision-makers at enterprise companies. The campaign's theme was: “We connect the world between the dots.”
The effort involved a complete rebranding of VeriSign—everything from logo creation to sales collateral—and included print, digital media sponsorships, custom Web content, video, Flash banners, direct mail, channel advertising, events and an immersive campaign experience on VeriSign's corporate website.
Each execution was tied to current events and positioned VeriSign as a company that enables the world to view and share in those experiences. Following its debut, the campaign was credited with attracting 90% of all visitors to the corporate website.
For MasterCard, MRM developed “Advancing Commerce,” a campaign designed to improve perceptions of MasterCard among issuing banks.
The effort used print and digital ads, search, events and sales collateral, as well as 15 unique landing pages targeted to specific audiences.
As a result, banks' perceptions of MasterCard improved in categories such as overall satisfaction, a company that is modern and a company that is visionary. —K.M.
| LARGE AGENCIES | |
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WINNER: BBDO READ MORE |
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RUNNER-UP:
Ogilvy & Mather North America READ MORE |
| HONORABLE
MENTION: Wunderman READ MORE |
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| MIDSIZE AGENCIES | |
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WINNER:
Doremus |
| RUNNER-UP:
gyro READ MORE |
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| HONORABLE
MENTION: Stein+Partners Brand Activation READ MORE |
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| SMALL AGENCIES | |
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WINNER:
Sullivan READ MORE |
| RUNNER-UP: DeSantis Breindel READ MORE |
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HONORABLE
MENTION: RiechesBaird READ MORE |
| INTERACTIVE AGENCIES | |
| WINNER: MRM READ MORE |
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RUNNER-UP:
Digitas READ MORE |
HONORABLE
MENTION: Tocquigny |
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