Forrester Research features Ascentium among the top Interactive agencies

June 9, 2009

John Kottcamp User-generated content, Marketing, Web 2.0, web marketing, Strategy, integrated marketing, community marketing, social networking, social media, microsoft, aQuantive, Interactive Agency, Marketing Strategy, Closed Loop Marketing, customer lifetime value, Customer Engagment, ecommerce, Ascentium , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

On Friday, Forrester Research published its Forrester Wave™, Interactive Marketing Agencies – Web Design Capabilities, Q2, 2009. Ascentium was covered for the first time along with other top digital agencies including Sapient, imc2, Razorfish, IconNicholson, IBM Interactive, Organic, Blast Radius, iCrossing, OgilvyInteractive, Resource Interactive, and Rosetta, Critical Mass, Molecular, R/GA, VML, Whittmanhart and Arc Worldwide.

In addition to just being favorably reviewed among such a great group an agencies, we take pride in that Ascentium scored the highest out of all the agencies in the category or customer satisfaction. We credit that in large part to emphasis we have given to growing customer loyalty and constantly measuring it with tools like Net Promoter Scores.

When I joined Ascentium almost four years ago, we were primarily a technology consulting firm with strong Web development skills and some good design talent, but we hadn’t yet made the commitment to become a true full service digital agency. But we got together as a team and agreed that the future was in leveraging technology to advance marketing and to move from advertising to engagement.

Three years and a roster of blue chip clients like Microsoft T-Mobile, Dell, Cisco and Random House, later. We have garnered the attention of the likes of Forrester Research and have grown from a local Seattle-based firm to an agency with offices across the country and internationally as well.

It’s been a privilege to be a part of this journey and to have helped nurture it along the way. It wasn’t always easy teaching technologists and marketers to not only get along, but to actually work synergistically, to create a new model for what Forrester has called, the agency of the future.

So congratulations to all the other agencies featured in the Wave, thanks to all the analysts at Forrester who have seen value in what we’ve created and well done to each and every employee I have the privilege of working with at Ascentium. Just wait for what we have in store for you next.

Razorfish and Crispin Porter & Bugusky Layoffs, When Strong Reputations are no long enough

February 7, 2009

John Kottcamp aQuantive, Ascentium, integrated marketing, Interactive Agency, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, microsoft , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

I just read a few minutes ago that Razorfish, one of the top digital agencies, and one my company, Ascentium’s, chief competitors, announced layoffs of 70 people. This is hours after I heard about Crispin, Porter, & Bugusky, one of the brightest shining stars in the advertising agency world, and a partner of Ascentium, announced layoffs of 60 people this morning. Both companies are considered at the top of the industry. Both excel at creative ideas, well-executed and yet both are taking pretty big hits on the same day. And personally, I know people at both companies from our work together at Microsoft. So what does this mean?

The deep answer is I don’t know yet, but it will make me take a look in the mirror and make sure I’m doing everything at my company so that we don’t suffer the same fate. However the more immediate answer is that this sends a clear signal about the progression of this economic downturn. When good companies make cuts, it’s a sure sign that even in the new digital world of marketing, most of the fat must already be gone, because the industry is cutting into the muscle.
My heart goes out to everyone at these two organizations who is out of a job. They say it’s not personal, it’s just business, but having personally been on both sides of the axe. It’s a lot more personal if you’re the one without a job. Good luck to everyone and let’s hope for the change sooner rather than later.

Acquiring Online Ad Companies is missing the point

May 18, 2007

John Kottcamp aQuantive, community marketing, integrated marketing, Interactive Agency, Marketing, microsoft, social media, social networking, Strategy, User-generated content, Web 2.0, web marketing Leave a comment

There’s a little of déjà vu all over again happening.  Over the last few weeks major media platforms like Google, Yahoo and MSN (Windows Live) have been gobbling up content generators, in this case the content is online advertising companies.  I call these companies media platforms rather than media companies because at the core, they are means to the end (finding meaningful content) rather than an end themselves.

To me, this sounds suspiciously similar to the rise of the big ISPs like AOL, CompuServe and MSN just a few years ago.  In the case of Microsoft and MSN, I remember they went out and bought a lot of content companies resulting in successes like Slate and failures like Mungo Park (for those who don’t remember, it was an online adventure travel magazine started by Microsoft in the late ‘90s). 

Today, it’s not about controlling end user content, it’s about controlling online ads.  Yes, ads just like we’ve seen on billboards, in subway stations and on TV for generations.  Today’s online ads are far better targeted, can be much better tracked and are a lot cheaper than their traditional siblings, but essentially they are still pushed at consumers in much the same way.  And so it’s no surprise to me that big companies are flocking towards them, because while they are different, they’re still reassuringly familiar.

The real wins in marketing are not going to be around who can deliver the most interruptive messages across new media, they are going to be focused on who can harness the power of the consumers to be the brand stewards of the future.  New channels like blogs, wikis, RSS, communities integrated with a true media neutral multi-channel approach will be where the real gains will be.  Forrester has been promoting a customer-centric model for some time now as well as an integrated approach as represented by its Agency of the 21st Century.  Neither of which appear to me to be centered around advertising, regardless of online or not.

So good luck to Google and Microsoft.  You will probably make some pretty impressive gains in the online marketing space, but I don’t think you’re going to do anything to improve customer experiences and the real business gains felt as a result of adopting a collaborative approach to marketing.

Does Microsoft really want to be an Marketing Agency?

May 18, 2007

John Kottcamp aQuantive, integrated marketing, Interactive Agency, Marketing, microsoft, web marketing Leave a comment

It’s not often that you wake up to real news in your industry.  This morning, aQuantive, the parent company of Avenue a/Razorfish, and one of Ascentium’s key competitors agreed to be purchased by Microsoft, also one of Ascentium’s key partners and clients.  First congratulations to the employees at aQuantive, the premium being paid on the current stock price should help pay for some really nice summer vacations, or a summer home as the case may be.

But what does this mean for the interactive agency world?  Will Microsoft decide it actually wants to be an interactive agency, complete with creative and design capabilities?  Will it decide to use Avenue a/Razorfish as its own internal interactive marketing group, both Avenue a/Razorfish and Ascentium are established Microsoft marketing partners and vendors?  What will it mean for MRM Worldwide and Y&R, the two global agencies of record?  And of course, what does it mean for all of Avenue a/Razorfish’s clients.

The answer of course is nothing in the short term and subtle but pronounced impact over the long term.  I’m generally not into looking into my crystal ball and making public pronouncements, especially about events that have just been announced.  However if I can allow myself to make a few comments, this is what I’d say.

·         First, Microsoft is buying AQuantive because it couldn’t buy Yahoo.  They see the necessity to have a seat at the table that is shaping the world of online advertising.  They are getting Razorfish in the deal, but becoming an agency is the not reason for the purchase.

·         Second, Microsoft should be already thinking about how it can spin off Razorfish because the last thing a giant software corporation needs is to own a small design firm that doesn’t directly contribute to any of its core businesses.

·         Third, if they keep Razorfish, Y&R and MRM should be a little bit nervous about keeping their positions as global agencies of record.  Both agencies come out of a traditional marketing heritage that may be challenged by the influence of an internal group that has interactive at the very center of its DNA.

·         Fourth, non-Microsoft clients of Avenue a/Razorfish need to ask themselves if they really want Microsoft to own the agencies that in many cases are the stewards of their brands and in some cases, have access to their most detailed customer data sources.

What does it mean for my company, Ascentium?  I think it will raise the stature of interactive marketing across the corporate landscape and a result create a lot more opportunities for Ascentium, perhaps even with some of Avenue a/Razorfish’s own clients.  People inherently dislike change and when their world is in flux, they will often look to a someone not distracted by these changes.

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