With clients demanding more planning and ROI capabilities from their creative agencies, Chicago-based agency Blue Chip has developed a new suite of tools it has packaged and branded as its “Impact OS Suite.” 

More agencies are likely to follow suit as prospective clients increasingly ask about specific capabilities that can be delivered systematically. That’s more easily explained with a packaged product to point to, the agency explains.  

At the heart of Impact OS are tools branded “Market Match,” “Register,” and “Thread,” which help clients plan, activate, and measure campaigns, respectively. 

Market Match identifies and prioritizes the highest-potential retailers and media markets for clients.  Whereas marketers typically base investment decisions on brand and category development indices (BDI and CDI), Market Match considers the full commerce picture by also including current sales velocity, number of distribution points, year over year trends and competitive activity. The tool’s algorithm defines markets as “Grow,” “Defend,” or “Emerging,” so clients can prioritize investing. 

“Register” provides intelligence on the country’s top retailers in every major channel and incorporates four decades of shopper marketing and retail media network activity with retailer strategies, shopper profiles, promotional calendars, retail media network opportunities and campaign benchmarking. 

“Harmonic” enables the curation, management, and activation of first-party customer data for brands. “ROI Forecaster” projects impact, and “Insight” identifies the best media options. “Thread” identifies which marketing activities are performing best, and “Scorecard” presents tailored insights into business results. 

In one form or another Blue Chip has offered these capabilities before now, as have many other shops.  This is the agency’s new approach to making them stand out to clients and prospects.