• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, December 15, 2021

Chicago-based brand and shopper marketing agency Blue Chip is launching a new company called Bloomaze that will sell martech products and platforms that the agency has developed previously in the course of work for clients and that it will develop in the future.

The agency said it is launching the startup as marketers increasingly look to martech to reduce friction and cost in marketing. 

 “Over the last several years we’ve perfected technologies that simplify some of the more complex and cumbersome marketing processes that both brands and agencies face,” said Sarah VanHeirseele, Chief Growth Officer at Blue Chip. “We see a wider market for these technologies, so we’re taking them to market as branded, licensed platforms that can help small-, mid- and large-cap marketers alike.”

Bloomaze will start with adaptations of technologies Blue Chip has previously deployed for clients. The first, Incentivaze, delivers loyalty and rewards programs for marketers. Blue Chip said it developed and refined Incentivaze over nearly 100 successful client programs. The platform lets marketers launch customized, quick-turn loyalty and rewards programs which includes digital receipt verification. It also reveals where and when shoppers are shopping, what categories they cross, how much they spend and what other products they purchase.

A second product, Fileawaze, is a secure file management and sharing platform. The platform replaces multiple storage solutions and addresses issues like expired links and emailing files that aren't encrypted for security. Marketers with localized requirements can vary files and access by user and location and create pages with messages customized to their business needs.

A third and newly developed product called Omnimaze offers marketers a more affordable way to develop a shopper marketing activation plan covering each step on the path to purchase. Omnimaze instantly recommends proven marketing vehicles tailored to fit the strategies and objectives of omnichannel marketers. Marketers can specify objectives, timelines, and budgets and Omnimaze will generate activation recommendations for how to deploy specific vehicles from a library of proven activations. The beta version of the platform will be available free for marketers in Q1 of 2022.

“Marketers need ways to get more done with less time and effort,” said VanHeirseele. “These technologies can help resource-challenged agencies and brands fill gaps and achieve” results quickly.

Also, she added, multi-brand manufacturers can use enterprise versions to “streamline process and find significant cost-savings.”