RichRelevance, figleaves.com, Twist, W2O Group, Annalise Coady, AOL Inc, GroupM Entertainment, Graham Moysey, Richard Hampson, Being Mum with Tess Daly,30Something with Richard Bacon.

“Controlled acceleration”

As the communications and marketing worlds continue to converge,  the challenge for independent mid-size agencies will be how to continue to scale in response to the global needs of a dynamic client base.  

Integrated, specialist services continue to be critical in delivering value-added services to clients, but to do this outside the US, agencies have to make bold choices in terms of what business verticals and horizontals they can leverage across geographies successfully.

As part of W2O Group’s commitment to expanding its global offering and client portfolio outside of the US, Twist, an integrated marketing agency that is part of the W2O Group’s family, has expanded its leadership team beyond New York to include London. 

Annalise Coady, who has run W2O’s London office and EMEA region, will be stepping up as President based in London.  

This, as well as several key senior management promotions within the network, continues a strategy of “controlled acceleration” which led to significant growth of 10% in revenue (up to nearly $83 million) in 2014.

The full announcement, which also includes information about recent acquisitions by the group, can be found here.  

"Video is central to our strategy"

AOL Inc. and GroupM Entertainment (GME) today announced a partnership to deliver a brand new original Web series to global viewing audiences.

AOL and GME have briefed a select number of production companies to develop ideas for an AOL Originals series that showcases the passions that make the world a more interesting place. The project will be fully funded and co-produced by GME, and information about the series and casting will be shared in the coming weeks.

While being commissioned in the UK, the series will be syndicated through the AOL On network, which reaches premium audiences at scale, with strategic support from GME’s global footprint. Sponsorship opportunities for the series will be open to all advertisers and agency groups.

Graham Moysey, Head of International at AOL, said: “Video is central to our strategy, and we are delighted to be working with GroupM Entertainment in creating a new AOL Originals series. As the industry converges this month at the Digital Content NewFront, one of the biggest two week periods in the advertising industry in the  US, it’s exciting to see this kind of UK-led partnership take center stage.”

Richard Hampson, Head of Digital GME UK, commented: “Working with AOL to help expand its Originals portfolio is an exciting project for us and builds on our strategy to support digital media partners with innovative solutions that invest in and produce premium video content. With significant industry focus on the growth in digital video and associated advertising opportunities, we are delighted to be partnering on such a significant commission out of GME London. We look forward to exploring ideas further with AOL and our co-production partners.”

AOL On is one of the largest curated video libraries on the Web, with over one million premium videos created by AOL and content partners who represent the most respected brands in media. The network averages more than one billion video views a month** globally across the AOL On Website, mobile applications and 16 major over-the-top platforms.

Since launching, AOL On has unveiled nearly 50 original series worldwide with Hollywood stars such as Sarah Jessica Parker, James Franco and Steve Buscemi, and garnered two Emmy nominations in 2014.  AOL On launched in the UK in March 2014 and currently has two UK Originals in production, Being Mum with Tess Daly and Rochelle Humes, and 30Something with Richard Bacon.

Shopper-specific, data-driven product recommendations 

figleaves.com is making online lingerie shopping much more intimate and stress-free with personalised customer experiences. The ecommerce brand is partnering with RichRelevance, the global leader in omnichannel personalisation, to recommend seasonal products for customers selected from thousands of options available on the website. 

Every shopping experience is unique, and curated especially for each shopper based on their individual preferences and figleaves.com’s expertise.

figleaves.com is using RichRelevance’s Recommend solution to deliver shopper-specific, data-driven product recommendations for each customer interaction across any channel. Through Recommend, figleaves.com will be able to dynamically up-sell and cross-sell merchandise to increase sales and average order value (AOV), while creating a more engaging overall shopping experience for consumers.

Matthieu Chouard, EMEA Vice President and General Manager at RichRelevance, says:

“figleaves.com has always put its customers at the heart of its business. Shopping for lingerie online can be stressful and confusing, but the figleaves.com team has a lot of expertise that can help customers quickly and easily find the products, styles and sizes they want. With personalised recommendations, customers are guided through the online catalogue based on their individual preferences.”

“Currently, over 1.2 million shoppers visit the figleaves.com website each month. By tapping into their existing customer data and shopping patterns, and combining this with our advanced data analytics expertise, figleaves.com will be the ultimate online destination for lingerie and swimwear in the UK and internationally,” said Tom Fitzgibbons, Head of Web and Insight at figleaves.com.