Interactive Agency Report Cards

Remember that B+ you got in geometry in 10th grade? When you argued with your teacher over why you thought it should be an A? Was it then that you learned that your teacher had higher expectations of you? That's kind of how it is for us at Adweek Magazines this year as we determined grades for interactive agencies. All 10 of the agencies here are making gains in revenue. Creative is the best we've ever seen. Technology is making great strides. So, what did you do to impress us? Here's how we determine the grades: Numbers: We gathered information on revenue and staff from a number of sources: industry experts, syndicated data, published reports and other sources. We evaluate the agencies on revenue-to-staff ratio and revenue gains as compared with interactive-industry averages (this year's aggregate average was about 20 percent) before determining a composite rank in both categories. Then, with the help of Adweek financial columnist Alan Gottesman, grades were determined for all 10 agencies. Creative: Grades are based on design, ease of navigation, user experience and the overall power of the marketing idea. They take into account more than the work described in each shop's creative section; space limitations prevent us from going into greater detail. Technology: Creating proprietary technologies garners high grades, though shops that find innovative ways to use existing technologies get credit, too. The bar has been raised exponentially over the past few years on this expertise; so have our expectations. Management: How execs run their businesses, taking into account revenue growth versus competitors, management moves to and from the company, and other initiatives. The final grade: We use a formula to average the other four marks. —The EditorsAgency.COM C+NUMBERS CRevenue up 19% to $103 million. Won 22 accounts; expanded Discovery work to 14 brands; 75% win-loss pitch rate. New assignments from existing clients Motorola, The American Medical Association and SunTrust. Collaborated with other Omnicom agencies to net Kay Jewelers and Tandberg. Grew accounts with existing clients Miller Brewing, Visa and Hewlett-Packard. No losses.CREATIVE B-Discovery Networks' "Croc Week" campaign ad units combined Flash, user-initiated video and animation to give comic-book feel; HP site let consumers upload photos to "tattoo" their iPods.TECHNOLOGY B-Improved Web site analytics capabilities with Exile on Seventh acquisition; search practice now managing 700,000 keywords; bolstered e-mail practice with 15-year CRM vet Dave Baker.MANAGEMENT C+President Don Scales took the CEO reins in July 2004 from founder and chairman Chan Suh. Bolstered management with former Exile on Seventh president and Euro RSCG Australia CEO Alan Burgis; Modem Media alum Tom Ajello added creative firepower. Caught up with industrywide growth rate after so-so 2003 performance.COMMENTSNow 10 years old, Agency.com integrated the iTraffic brand and expanded full-service offerings. Online advertising more than 40% of business, putting it on track to capitalize on sector's growth trajectory. Omnicom sibling relationships yielding accounts.EURO RSCG 4D CNUMBERS DInteractive revenue up 3% to $275 million. 2003 numbers restated due to reorganization of Euro RSCG Interaction into Euro RSCG 4D. Wins include Adobe, Charles Schwab, Intense Orange. Expanded business with Diageo, BMI, Lexmark. CREATIVE B-Competent, but not eye-opening. Peugeot black-and-white illos for compact 1007 engaging. Nifty budgeting tools effectively brand college-focused Citibank Cash Card. Intel Centrino "Drag" effort fun, but message confusing. Guinness vote for Minister of Good Times strong idea.TECHNOLOGY B-Part of the reason for creating 4D was to broaden access agency wide to its database capabilities, a smart direction as clients demand more accountability. On a site-by-site basis work doesn't shout innovation, but Calida site stands out for its integration with the Calida store's back-end.MANAGEMENT CIn April, Euro RSCG Interaction became Euro RSCG 4D, a marketing and digital services unit incorporating Havas companies including Brann Worldwide. Further integration didn't help shop hold onto Intel.COMMENTSLoss of Intel in January 2005 after drawn-out review process cast a pall over 2004, but Euro can be commended for coming out of that major distraction with a slight revenue bump. Question now is whether 4D CEO George Gallate, who led Intel for the whole agency, can translate it into another marquee tech accountDIGITAS LLC B+NUMBERS B-Interactive revenue up 24% to $98 million. Wins included Lloyds TSB, MetLife. New assignments from current clients included sites for General Motors' GM.com and GM BuyPower. AT&T decision to stop consumer marketing had adverse revenue impact; shop now works only on other AT&T units. Fee revenue increased by 33 percent to $71 million. No losses.CREATIVE B+American Express site for MyWishList deftly combines commerce with easy-to-navigate design. Work for OnStar successful at using broadband to communicate both convenience and security. Gillette sponsorship on MSN Sports shows shop's potential in working with CPG clients.TECHNOLOGY A-Shop—well-known for its back-end capabilities—has formed a hybrid group, the Creative Technology Powerhouse, to further integrate creative and technology skills. One of few shops to have advisory or ambassador role with Google, Yahoo!'s Overture and MSN. MANAGEMENT B+The Digitas agency moved ahead in 2004, with $160 million October acquisition of Modem Media, resulting in the shift of CEO David Kenny to CEO of newly formed Digitas, Inc. holding company. Promotion of Mark Beeching to global ecd keeps creative on forward trajectory.COMMENTSIn an action-packed year with restructuring to absorb Modem and some major client cutbacks, Digitas kept its momentum. Focus on core clients pays off with additional assignments.GREY DIGITAL MARKETING C+NUMBERS C+Revenue up 19% to $220 million. Grey Digital unit Grey Interactive won Web design and online ad work for main agency client Kmart promotions and online advertising for Progressive teen campaign. Sister shop Beyond Interactive won buying, planning and creative duties for Grey client Nokia's line of fashion phones, and buying and planning for Subway and NetBank. GI and Beyond lost Wyeth. CREATIVE C+GI, Beyond delivered solid, if unspectacular, creative. GI CoverGirl site added online beauty consultation to collect data for personalization and marketing; Progressive Web ads launched "lame date escape" game from banners to appeal to teen target audience. Beyond used rich media to build awareness for 3M's Post-It easels and highlighters. TECHNOLOGY B-GI and Beyond made pushes into mobile marketing with campaigns for Reebok and CoverGirl. Beyond built interactive video applications that let users click within streaming video to display information.MANAGEMENT C+Management teams at GI, Grey Direct E-Marketing Group and Beyond remained intact through 2004, although longtime GI managing director Orin Wechsberg left the agency in January '05. Revenue growth greatly accelerated for second straight year.COMMENTSSolid growth in line with industry average. Continued to generate most business organically. Clients MasterFoods and Volkswagen ideal for growing online video ad market.ISOBAR BNUMBERS B+Revenue up 83% to $100 million. The Aegis digital network, founded in July 2004, added iProspect to Freestyle Interactive and Carat Interactive in the U.S. New clients included Gateway and Motorola. Lost: Vonage. Low revenue-per-employee ratio drags down grade.CREATIVE CFreestyle pushed design envelope with work for Electronic Arts. "GoldenEye" microsite video game preview. Carat's "Impossible is Nothing" Flash and video ad campaign capitalized on popular Laila and Muhammad Ali TV spots created by 180 and TBWA\Chiat\Day.TECHNOLOGY BDecember 2004 $50 million acquisition of search engine marketer iProspect seen as turning point for Isobar, adding a specialist search shop to complement Carat and Freestyle. Built Citadel database to target campaigns and establish customer lifetime value. MANAGEMENT BIsobar worldwide CEO Nigel Morris tapped Carat chief Sarah Fay to head U.S. operations; Toby Gabriner took reins at Carat; and Freestyle founder Karim Sanjabi was named president of that agency. Fredrick Marckini, iProspect's founder and CEO, stayed on after purchase. Used international network to obtain global accounts like Kodak.COMMENTSIsobar network has an impressive collection of assets. Now, it's up to Fay and her team to make them work together effectively. Pfizer and Adidas accounts should see big budget increases as interactive channel grows in importance to their businesses.AVENUE A/RAZORFISH C+NUMBERS CRevenue up 14% to $140 million. SBI.Razorfish aquisition greatly expanded business (albeit temporarily hurting profits). Able to cross-sell 15 pre-merger clients new services. Sacrificed some revenue by shedding unprofitable Razorfish accounts. CREATIVE C+Avenue A bolstered ho-hum creative cred with Razorfish. Adidas basketball site to connect urban youth target market to NBA stars wearing Adidas. Carnival Cruise Lines redesign tied in backend system to personalize site based on visitor's place in buying cycle.TECHNOLOGY B+Integrated search practices into Avenue A/Razorfish Search, backed up by Go Toast bid-management technology, as largest in-house SEM. Tapped proprietary tools ChannelScope to measure offline impact of online ads, and BrandOptics analytics for brand impact.MANAGEMENT CCEO Brian McAndrews moved quickly to reorient Razorfish after the i-shop was found to be geared toward generating sales, not profits. Sought out clients where Web was key to business. Shedding many small project-work Razorfish clients was addition by subtraction. COMMENTSAfter rocky start, Razorfish acquisition should pay dividends in 2005 as more clients integrate media, creative and site design. Metrics-driven approach and search expertise positions agency well in accountability-obsessed ad environment. International expansion high on the agenda.OGILVYINTERACTIVE B+NUMBERS BRevenue up 23% to $216 million. Wins: Yahoo!, Allstate, American Golden Bison. New assignments from current clients include work for Kodak, Ameritrade, Motorola, IBM (demand generation and small business custom online publishing app). No losses.CREATIVE B+Ogilvy is strong in servicing the creative needs of technology clients. In 2004, its work for CPG clients improved. Sprite campaign with faux-rapper MilesThirst showed how broadband can trump TV in communicating; the online and offline Dove "Campaign for Real Beauty" had interactive as core element of campaign idea. TECHNOLOGY B+Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign had people vote via mobile phones using SMS, then view updated results on electronic billboards. For IBM's U.S. Open sponsorship, the shop transmitted scores in realtime to several digital media. MANAGEMENT A-Departure of OgilvyInteractive CEO Mike Windsor in September only major management news. Shop continued to be led by OgilvyOne North America president Carla Hendra and co-executive creative director Jan Leth. Close working relationship with main agency pays off. COMMENTSGrowth shows power of agency business model, marrying traditional, direct, interactive. All creatives in the flagship NY office moving together; will it result in more than window dressing? Formation of Digital Innovations Group in February shows Ogilvy won't rest on its laurels.ZENTROPY PARTNERS B-NUMBERS B-Revenue up 23% to $94 million. New clients include: Avery Dennison, Best Buy. New assignments from current clients include General Motors, MasterCard, Microsoft (shared with WPP's Young & Rubicam Group), Wendy's. Lost: GM BuyPower.CREATIVE B-Online advertising work better than site development. 2004 banners for Black & Decker Laser Level build on strong campaign for 2003 showing the leveler straightening out off-kilter type on a page. Wendy's efforts touting new sandwiches quick, interesting and to the point. TECHNOLOGY BWorking for Microsoft--and as of March this year, Intel--shows the i-shop can handle major tech clients. The tools it built for Microsoft include one that delivers highly customized online marketing. MANAGEMENT C+Naming of Digitas' Reuben Hendell to CEO of MRM Partners in August, and departure of Zentropy worldwide managing director Steve Woolford in December, signal shop's intentions of being perceived as having the interactive heft of some other major agency i-shops. Executive shuffle comes with new positioning—all relationship marketing capabilities coming together under McCann-Erickson WorldGroup.COMMENTSIn early 2005, Zentropy name disappeared into McCann's MRM Partners. Chairman Pam Larrick moved to IPG sister shop FCBi and Greg Johnson, ex-Digitas, joined as global director of digital innovation in January. With Intel, can shop enter the interactive big leagues?R/GA B+NUMBERS BRevenue up 28% to $87 million. Won Web duties for Lowe's, Target and Subaru. Expanded assignments with Nike, Avaya and Circuit City. Verizon business grew 20%. No losses. High revenue per employee ratio helps grade.CREATIVE A-Creative remained top-notch. Trailblazing Nike iD combined R/GA's creative and technical acumen in branding/e-commerce site. Created online campaigns for Verizon using rich media, in-banner advergames.TECHNOLOGY AYahoo! Autos digital 23-story sign in Times Square married interactive and mobile on a grand scale; Nike iD mass-customization site tied into shoemaker's supply chain. E-commerce practice grew with Circuit City, Target site overhauls.MANAGEMENT BChairman and CEO Bob Greenberg is now focused on reorganizing agency into integrated group structure. Agency built out media-planning prowess under former Wunderman exec Anne Benvenuto. Executive CD Rei Inamoto, who headed Nike account, decamped to AKQA. R/GA promoted creative directors Kris Kiger and Ken Hamm to ECDs.COMMENTS2004 growth set the stage for R/GA expansion, including a new London outpost, the agency's first foray abroad since closing its Stockholm office in 2001. Though best known for breakthrough creative, R/GA has branched into CRM and direct response, in addition to media planning. Seen as star interactive agency of IPG family.TRIBAL DDB B+NUMBERS A-Revenue up 47% to $100 million. Wins included America Online, OfficeMax, Air France. New assignments include Philips (corporate branding); McDonald's, Pepsi, Volkswagen (regional and divisional wins), Paramount.CREATIVE B Given its heavy packaged-goods product base, the work tends to be about fun rather than utility. For McDonald's, the "I Talk Smack" promo, which allows people to create and send audio put-downs to friends, has obvious viral possibilities, but "Defend Your Chicken" game nothing more than an old-style twitch game. TECHNOLOGY BShop's strongest suit is using technology to entertain. For Bouygues Telecom, the shop promoted the new iMode service by developing an app that allows people to create and send movies via MMS. IM version of Ronald McDonald for the Netherlands full of viral spunk.MANAGEMENT B+Naming of North America CEO Matt Freeman to new post of CEO in June was biggest headline in i-shop's move to become a true global player. To support growth, agency also hired eight execs to head a total of nine new offices and also brought in Krish Menon, who joined from Digitas West as chief strategic officer of North America. COMMENTSShop exploited a booming interactive market to dramatically increase its size. Focus on building out the network globally is a necessity given the expansion of its rivals.

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Interactive Agency Report Cards

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