• by Paul Gough , November 1, 2002

Developing digital customer experiences through creativity and technology In just six years, Euro RSCG Interaction has made it to the top of the list of the world’s top interactive agencies with $230 million in revenue. What’s their secret? Grounding their business on sound principles and not the rise and fall of the dot-com industry.

The interactive agency does, to be sure, have some strong backing. Parent Euro RSCG Worldwide, owned by the French company Havas, is the world’s fifth largest marketing communications agency, with $12.6 billion in billings in 2001.

The interactive agency’s headquarters are in New York. It also owns 45 agencies in 26 countries and has more than 1,200 employees. It recently grew even more with the acquisition of consulting and CRM provider Circle.com and two Latin American interactive agencies, WhyNet in Argentina and Kaus Media in Mexico.

Euro RSCG’s expertise includes consulting, management, creative and technology. The agency creates, implements and manages interactive sites and campaigns for 400 clients. Its client base includes Peugeot, Volvo, Philips, Nokia, Adidas, Universal Studios and Kraft Foods International. Euro RSCG Interaction has won numerous awards for its work worldwide. It’s also a big believer in integration, both internally with other parts of the company and by working seamlessly with other marketing channels. It’s an approach that has been rewarded — and awarded. Euro RSCG Interaction won more awards than any other network at One Show and the European @d:Tech Awards.

From the beginning, Euro RSCG puts an emphasis on strategic and media planning, integrating a total-team approach that brings the best of both to the table. "Our objective is to provide clients a cohesive service. We’ve integrated the functions, as we believe —indeed, we know from experience — that media informs creative and that creative informs media," says CEO George Gallate. Euro RSCG uses a trademarked process called Creative Business Ideas. The company believes these ideas combine strategy and creativity, leaping beyond advertising to create new levels of innovation. "These ideas, that through a depth of the understanding of the target, have the power to transform the business itself. Digital media provides us a platform to do this more than most other media," says Gallate.

The creative teams tend to be dedicated to digital marketing instead of working across all media. Gallate says Euro RSCG Interaction has organized the way it works, down to the structure of its offices, to bring the creative teams into greater contact with the media and account management teams. "In this way we ensure that we’re pushing the boundaries in all we’re doing," he says.

Not only do they push boundaries in the figurative sense, they’ve done it in the literal sense, too. Their teams are multinational, with campaigns like those for Peugeot and Intel reaching across borders. Its online strategy is simple, says Gallate. Euro RSCG wants to develop digital branded customer experiences and relationships through creativity and technology. The agency says it does this by employing its Creative Business Ideas service and consultative relationships based on measurement accountability.

"The development of long-term relationships with global clients has allowed us to staff with the highest level of professionals, as well as make strategic investments in research and systems that in turn allow us to attract a higher level of client," Gallate says.

Euro RSCG Interaction’s campaign for the Volvo S60 in 2000 capitalized on how Americans are increasingly relying on the Internet to help them do research on cars before purchase. Volvo’s partnership with America Online included banner and column advertisements that directed users to a website that offered a discounted accessories package. The campaign also included out-of-home, national and local print, a direct-mail CD-ROM and TV commercials, plus a viral Palm Pilot game, targeted interactive email, downloadable screensavers and an online sweepstakes.

According to Euro RSCG, the website — revolvolution.com — had 65 million hits and more than 32,500 people had requested a quote from a Volvo dealer.

Some work the agency has done recently includes interactive television in New York and London, an integrated digital experience for Nokia in Europe and a wireless application protocol (WAP) campaign in Australia. It’s also built onto the health care portion of its business, which makes use of the agency’s consulting, branding, creative and CRM expertise.

Another interactive campaign, for Intel Corp., veered away from the retail end of computing toward business-to-business applications. The chipmaker started a worldwide marketing campaign that highlights what the Intel brand means to businesses. With the theme "Yes," Euro RSCG’s campaign is an umbrella that will help incorporate every aspect of Intel’s computing products and, the company hopes, answer questions CEOs and CIOs are asking about the direction of technology. The ads display questions such as "Can a company that doesn’t make computers change the course of computing history?" and "Can a microscopic piece of technology solve enterprise-sized problems?"

That’s where the "Yes" comes in. "The online executions employ rich media to bring these questions to life and invite user interaction," Gallate says.

Euro RSCG looked for creative ways to reach CEOs online. There were the standard buys on business and financial news/information sites. But Euro RSCG also sponsored special editorial features and created an exclusive online community with Forbes.com. The online community included polls, discussion boards and live chats with other CEOs and industry leaders.

Gallate says the campaign elements employed precision targeting and creative messaging to highlight the benefits of using Intel. "[It was] targeting media as much as possible, but spread across multiple properties to create a sense of ubiquity."