OgilvyAction, the global brand activation arm of The Ogilvy Group that was introduced earlier this year, has launched a set of analytical tools in conjunction with the “Red Ball Campaign” to promote the new brand across its 49 offices in 40 countries worldwide.
The Ogilvy Group, a subsidiary of British agency holding company WPP PLC, created the OgilvyAction agency unit to offer what it calls brand activation services worldwide. It combined Ogilvy’s activation units in North America – including 141 and BEN Marketing – to help clients target consumers as they make purchase decisions in the “last mile,” the space between attitude and action. The Red Ball launch also includes a new planning process and suite of analytics.
The new tool set, CheckPoint Planning, lets OgilvyAction measure consumer engagement with events in real time. The suite includes tools such as Market Analytics, Shopper Analytics, In-store Optimizer, Contact Analytics, Market ROI and FastTrack.
“This measurement [set] is important, because it is important to be able to track how a client’s campaign is actually doing,” said Rick Roth, Global CEO, OgilvyAction. “We can put a live, Web-based dashboard on a client’s laptop, so they can track a number of metrics on a campaign in real time.”
The campaign that was debuted aims to raise awareness of the agency’s activation services through the metaphor of a red ball.
“The campaign gives us a way to activate the Ogilvy brand in a way that transcends geography and language,” Roth added. “The concept of the red ball helps us articulate this. If you take a big red ball and you roll it down the street, it would be impossible for people to ignore.”
The Red Ball Campaign was brought to life in the streets of London, where the agency rolled a big red ball around the streets and watched passersby interact with it. People picked the ball up, kicked it, laughed and acted surprised, Roth said. The event was filmed and photographed to create a visual component to the campaign.
OgilvyAction has more than 1,000 employees in 36 countries, with offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Honolulu, Stamford, CT, and Toronto. In Asia, 141 is part of BatesAsia. It offers services in promotional, shopper, trade, experiential, digital, sports and entertainment marketing, as well as in retail design. Clients include American Express, Motorola, BAT, Unilever, Kraft and Kodak.
The agency’s specialty is retail store marketing. It cites research that shows almost 70 percent of purchase decisions are made near or in the store. OgilvyAction hopes to aid its clients’ on-site reach and influence consumers at key “moments of truth,” as the agency puts it.
The launch establishes a unified design and common message among OgilvyAction’s network, manifested in all new collateral, including a new Web site at www.ogilvyaction.com.
