Josh McCall, CEO of Jack Morton Worldwide, predicts all 21st century brands will be what he calls “experience brands.” That means they will focus as much on the customer experience as on the products and services themselves.
“We design brand experiences for the world’s leading corporations that do three things: launch new products, engage target consumers, and align employees and distribution channels with the brand experience,” he says.
Recently, Jack Morton published the results of a research study showing that consumers have a preference for being educated, informed and engaged. Today, consumers want to touch and feel, ask questions, get answers and become part of the brand’s community, McCall says. “When properly executed, a brand experience can be a tremendously effective marketing tool. When an experience exceeds our expectations, we remember it — and come back for more.”
Jack Morton — a division of Interpublic Group, with offices in the U.S., Europe and China — works with brands such as Dell, Nokia, IBM and Hewlett-Packard. Despite a tough year — PROMO estimates that Jack Morton finished 2009 down 30% in revenue from 2008 to $81 million — the agency also won awards for its work with Hyundai, MLB and Nokia, and won new business from Volkswagen and Samsung.
Its first effort for Samsung was the launch of the electronics company’s 3D LED television. Samsung wanted to be first to market with its 3D product and wanted to hold launch events in the world’s largest cities. Jack Morton arranged for the Black Eyed Peas to play in Times Square on March 10. The event brought between 15,000 and 20,000 people to the NYC venue — the largest event that the area has ever hosted apart from New Year’s Eve. It also generated millions of media impressions. In addition, renowned filmmaker James Cameron recorded the event in 3D, and his videos are being shown on Samsung 3D TVs at retail.
“I think the exciting thing about creating brand experiences is the journey,” McCall says. “We’re now in the 71st year of our journey as an agency, and we’ve constantly evolved and changed to meet the needs of our clients and, despite the turbulent times that are out there, we find ourselves in many ways more relevant to what our clients need from us today than ever before, which is pretty cool.”
PROMO 100 SPOTLIGHT: Event/Experiential
TOP 10
*Revenue estimated by Promo
| Agency | 2009 revenue |
|---|---|
| 1. George P. Johnson | $123,466,000* |
| 2. GMR Marketing LLC | 96,800,000* |
| 3. Arnold Brand Experience | 93,000,000* |
| 4. Jack Morton Worldwide | 81,000,000* |
| 5. AMP Agency | 53,532,000 |
| 6. MKTG INC | $34,973,000 |
| 7. Cardenas Marketing Network, Inc. | 32,191,485 |
| 8. Pierce | 31,000,000* |
| 9. Marketing Werks | 30,952,369 |
| 10. BFG Communications | 22,800,000 |
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