Indie NZ agency FEDERATION launches THE LAB, to fuse human emotion into marketing technology

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Indie NZ agency FEDERATION launches THE LAB, to fuse human emotion into marketing technology

Independent New Zealand agency Federation has launched a new division called THE LAB to help brand owners optimise MarTech investment and communicate with ‘heart’ to customers.

 

Says Sharon Henderson, CEO of Federation: “Emotion-based communication has become the lightning rod for genuine engagement with customers, yet in many instances technology is still acting as a barrier to genuine brand-consumer connection.

“In launching THE LAB, we’re providing marketers across all sectors, the specialist consultancy resources they need to optimise their MarTech and deliver emotion-based experiences across all customer touchpoints.

“THE LAB team have developed proprietary ‘HEART’ tech tools and strategic processes that make it easier to find, get, keep, and grow customers in a way that completely aligns with a brand’s purpose and behaviour. We’re fusing emotion-based thinking and decision-making into everything from performance marketing campaigns through to e-commerce and customer growth programmes.”

Says Elizabeth Beatty, managing partner and head of THE LAB: “In a nutshell, we’re operationalising human emotion. We’re at a point in marketing history where data and technology are poised to decode human behaviour like never before. The LAB’s focus on customer emotion and human responses will help to drive exponential value from 1:1 contextual marketing in both B2C and B2B, and in just about every sector – financial services, retail, telco, automotive, technology, government and more.”

Beatty (pictured below left) is no stranger to a ‘customer-first focus’, having previously worked as head of Ogilvy Sydney’s specialist customer marketing agency, OgilvyOne, and as GM of FCB.

Says Beatty: “The biggest challenge for many brands right now is how to connect with customers in an increasingly complex landscape. There’s an infinite amount of media and content for people to consume and over 8,000 different marketing automation tools on the market and all too often what we’re seeing is emotionless communication and unnecessary complexity getting in the way of what really matters – human-centric interactions with customers.

“Understanding emotional patterns and how they impact shopping behaviour and the time a customer spends engaging with a brand is the new gold for marketers. Brands of all sizes are focusing on how their products, services, promotions, ads, POS, and other touchpoints make customers feel. Emotions absolutely integral to customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty activity for both B2C and B2B marketing.”

Indie NZ agency FEDERATION launches THE LAB, to fuse human emotion into marketing technology

Working alongside Beatty is business director Simon (‘Prof’) Velk (above right), a MarTech communications platform specialist from London who has worked across Europe on clients including Toshiba, Zyxel, Lenovo and Sony. The team is also joined by brand director Tabitha Harris, who worked on specialist MarTech creative projects in the UK for global brands, including British Airways and Danone.

Says Velk: “THE LAB is all about creating remarkable experiences for customers, ‘Wow’ moments all along the path to purchase and across a customer’s entire life with a brand. We’re incorporating emotion-based principles and creativity into inbound marketing lead generation maps and acquisition campaigns which also leverage the full potential of MarTech platforms such as Marketo, Salesforce and Hubspot, and automated email platforms like Omnisend and Campaign Monitor.

“Shopify customer journeys and mobile technology are also in our toolkit and we can help clients embrace complex technologies like machine learning, dynamic automation and predictive AI modelling. The client projects we already have underway include end-to-end, closed loop global e-commerce customer journeys, marketing preference centre journey management and inbound marketing acquisition programmes.”

THE LAB is already working with Federation clients Pure Foods, True Honey Company and Asteron Life, delivering everything from customer journeys and lead generation campaigns right through to the development of international e-commerce journeys with full distribution integration.

Adds Henderson: “Ultimately, what we’re doing as a full-service, fully-integrated creative agency is enabling clients to reshape how their brands imagine, create and deliver a truly connected customer experience. We believe this makes Federation New Zealand’s most integrated brand, digital and customer experience agency.”

www.federation.net.nz