NZ agency FEDERATION launches THE LAB; fusing human emotion into marketing technology
One of NZ’s largest independent agencies has brought together a globally experienced team in a demonstration of post-COVID innovation, and this week, has announced the launch of THE LAB, a specialist division helping brand owners across Australasia to optimise their MarTech investments and communicate with ‘heart’ to customers.
Sharon Henderson (below left), CEO and founder of Federation is ex managing director of DDB New Zealand and former group MD of Clemenger Proximity Australia.
Says Henderson: “Emotion-based marketing has become the lightning rod for genuine engagement with customers, yet in many instances technology is still acting as a barrier to meaningful brand-consumer connection.
“In launching THE LAB, we’re able to provide marketers across Australasia 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, customer journeys and customer growth programmes.”
Says Elizabeth Beatty (above right), managing partner and head of THE LAB: “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 humanising communication will help to drive exponential value from 1:1 contextual marketing in just about every sector – financial services, retail, telco, automotive, technology, government and more.”
Beatty 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.
As Beatty explains: “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.”
Working alongside Beatty is business director Simon (‘Prof’) Velk, 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.
FEDERATION works alongside global and local brands. THE LAB is already working with FEDERATION clients Pure Foods, True Honey Company and Asteron Life.
Adds Henderson: “Ultimately, what we’re doing as a full-service, fully-integrated 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.”