Mindshare Singapore is the Agency of the Year 2010!

Mindshare Singapore dominated the Marketing Magazine Agency of the Year 2010 awards last night, picking up recognition in four categories, and a historic first ever Overall Agency of the Year beating over 100 agencies across all marketing categories.

The Marketing Magazine awards are unique to the industry because the judging panel is comprised of the only people whose opinions really matter, the clients.

In the end over 1,000 clients voted for this year’s winners and despite stiff competition from over 100 Creative, PR, Digital, Branding, Packaging and of course other Media agencies, Mindshare took home awards in two digital categories, as well as maintaining its six year winning streak as Media Agency of the Year.

Most impressively, Mindshare Singapore become the first media agency ever in this market to take home the coveted Overall Agency of the Year, leaving behind traditional heavyweights like Ogilvy, Blue Interactive, DDB, Saatchi, Leo Burnett and Edelman.

The awards tally :
• Overall Agency of the Year
• Gold – Traditional Media Agency of the Year
• Gold – Non Traditional Media Agency of the Year
• Silver – Mobile Marketing Agency of the Year
• Bronze – Search Agency of the Year

'We made a brave announcement to the industry in 2009 that we're not just another media agency, and these wins are proof that we're walking the talk,' said a jubilant Peter Diermayr, Managing Director of Mindshare Singapore.

'As we continue to be the best media agency in town for traditional planning, we've also proven our prowess in the non-traditional areas,' he continues.

In its special Agency of the Year 2010 report, Marketing noted that Mindshare Singapore usurped the majority of the marketers’ votes to claim ownership to the coveted blue cube for the Overall Agency of the Year. It is a given trend that the role of a media agency is undergoing a metamorphosis and this year’s results has only validated the change in tide.

The report also noted that Mindshare garnered significant votes in the search and mobile marketing categories, which is a testimony to where the industry is headed. Digital, for Mindshare, co-exists with traditional media. The way the agency has taken to digital and its seamless integration is reflected in its work for Tiger, Heineken, HSBC, HPB, Starhub, Nissan, Kotex and others. Its M-Social platform has helped defined the social media marketing parameters for many of its clients who were reluctant in this area in 2009.

The M-Content platform too is thriving, with many content projects in the pipeline such as ones with the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), as well as a network to facilitate the exchanges of thought leaderships between MDA, content producers and marketers.

The report attributed Mindshare’s success to key factors such as the formation of the Business Planning unit to lead the integration of analytics, consumer insights and strategic planning to help clients identify new business opportunities. Not forgetting the Invention unit, often dubbed its creative arm, to provide content and digital innovation strategies for clients looking beyond traditional channels.

Lastly, it reported that with hot digital property and WPP stable mate, Blue, winning 2009’s Agency of the Year, and now with Mindshare’s claim on the 2010 edition, perhaps the era of the good old creative agency (Ogilvy won the 2008 edition) getting all the attention has passed?

Peter says hello!

Mindshare Singapore’s MD, Peter Diermayr, is confident 2010 will be the year of the full service model.

Diermayr has hit the ground running literally since taking on the MD role, as many clients and staff can account for. He has met a lot of senior clients, yet he wished there are 36 hours in a day so he can cover more grounds. Alas, he knows there are many exciting days ahead to meet even more clients, and relish the challenges and opportunities their businesses present.

‘I’ve never shaken so many hands in such a short time before. But I am enjoying the warm reception from all the clients, and my new colleagues as well,’ Diermayr muses.

He continues, ‘I am confident we have the most comprehensive marketing services, beyond media offerings, that our clients will find helpful to their business challenges. I have seen how 2009 has transformed our vision to be our clients’ lead business partner into the realization that Mindshare has the appropriate insights and talents to help clients to leverage on the opportunities from the recovery taking shape in 2010. Which explains why Mindshare is ranked by Fast Company as the top 10 most innovative marketing companies recently.’

Diermayr, who has been a Client Leader in the Mindshare Asia-Pacific regional team since 2008, will be responsible for maintaining the agency's leadership position in the market and for rolling out new services for clients, especially in the areas of digital, content, activation and analytics.

With regards to the Singapore team he has inherited, he proudly announces, ' I am honoured to serve a great agency with award-winning teams who are well-respected by industry peers and clients. It has been 2 months since I took on the role, and I can see now why the Singapore office sets the benchmark for the industry. I have met a lot of senior clients since and have noted their ambitions,' says Diermayr, an avid ice hockey player.

He says, 'Thank you to those who have set aside time from their busy schedules to give me the low-down of their sectors. I can sense their eagerness to leverage on Mindshare’s diverse range of services to achieve those ambitions.'

On his plans in the next months, he says' 'I hope to continue my roadshow in the next couple of months to meet clients whom I have yet to meet. Thereafter I would like to work with my colleagues to map out business-driven strategies for our clients to ride the recovery wave of 2010.'

'I also would like to take this opportunity to thank the senior Exco members who have helped me ease into the role, and for their support as we remodel our business structure and chart growth strategies for our people, company and clients,' he adds.

Finally, with regards to what clients should look forward to in 2010, he says, 'I would like to end by saying digital is not the future anymore, it is the present, co-existing with offline media. Insights are the fuel to identify market drivers, issues and opportunities for our clients’ businesses. Invention is where we add a new dimension to contact planning, by augmenting contact points with compelling content, services and applications that capture the attention of our clients’ customers – essentially creating the ideal customer journey.'

'To borrow a Steve Jobs’ quote, innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. Here’s to a year of innovations for everyone!' quips Diermayr.

Fortune arrives in Mindshare's digital unit

Gregory Fortune joins Mindshare Singapore as Digital Director this week. Greg's role will encompass digital leadership overall, as well as the leadership of selected key clients.

Greg joins us with 7 years experience in the digital industry. He joins the network coming from Walker Digital Media, a well established digital company in the UK, where he was Director Digital & Trading, managing a large portfolio of clients. Other
previous roles include Total Digital Media in the UK and Atkins Ltd in
Shanghai.

His experience encompasses all aspects of digital media activities,
including identifying and outlining long term strategy, campaign planning,
buying, DR activities, online demand generation, social marketing,
trafficking and reporting. He has worked across a large variety of
industries, most notably FSI, Automotive and Casinos, but also ventured
into IT, Travel and Hospitality industries.

Greg is no stranger to the region, he grew up in Hong Kong, worked in
Shanghai and after his stint in the UK is now happy to return to the Asia
Pacific region.

Mindshare in Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies 2010 List

Fast Company's annual global Most Innovative Companies issue honours major brands and companies including Facebook, Google, Cisco, Disney, and GE, along with such rising newcomers such as Intermap Technologies, Foursquare, and Clearwire.

Mindshare is ranked No. 8 in the Advertising and Marketing category, and is the only media network to be listed in the 2010 list which also included Grey, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Goodby Silverstein and Partners and Unilever.

For the full list, please click below :

http://www.fastcompany.com/mic/2010/industry/most-innovative-advertising-marketing-companies

Overall, Fast Company recognized 250 plus companies, including the Top 50, 59 Innovation All-stars culled from past Top 50 honorees, plus the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in 24 categories, including advertising and marketing, biotech, film and TV, media, music, and mobile. Intermap was named in the top 10 mobile companies list that also included Google, Apple, Amazon, Ford, and others.

To create this year’s Most Innovative Companies issue, Fast Company’s editorial team analyzed information on thousands of businesses across the globe. The result is a package unlike that of any other business media. It’s not just about revenue growth and profit margins; it’s about identifying creative models and progressive cultures – to define the many forms of innovation that exist across the business landscape.

“It was invigorating to engage with so many exciting new ideas and developments,” said Fast Company editor Robert Safian. “Our goal was to offer a snapshot of the creativity at work in the global marketplace and to inspire the Fast Company audience with illustrations of how powerful and effective business can be.”

Credits :

http://apache.sys-con.com/node/1314707

Mindshare Singapore launches social marketing service.

Mindshare Singapore has announced its latest digital service, M-Social.

Mindshare found that many brands seemed to have taken ad hoc approaches to social media due to the lack of leadership in this area, so it hopes M-Social will provide clarity and structure to various social media dilemmas.

We’ve had clients constantly enquiring about social media and we detected differing viewpoints on how effective social media marketing can be. We believe this is due to the lack of a formal structure in the industry to guide brands in managing their social media presence and the related investments required,’ said Peter Diermayr, Managing Director of Mindshare Singapore.

‘Social media has become an integral part of the consumer experience journey, and it will continue to manifest whether brands are socially active or not. So marketers will find it harder to engage consumers who are newly empowered by the social media tools. A well-planned social media strategy will enable brands to overcome this challenge, said Jimmy Lim, Head of Invention for Mindshare Singapore.

‘We have integrated digital and technology into the core of our business, so it’s a natural progression for us to formalize this new digital service,’ Lim continues.

Through its open-source platform, M-Social will also offer a suite of social media applications by a pool of talented developers. Mindshare believes the branded applications will empower brands to engage their consumers with a heightened sense of interactivity.

Nissan Singapore recently tapped into M-Social to manage its social media platform.

Nissan Crowdsources The Future

In line with its global corporate vision of "Enriching People's Lives', Nissan Singapore recently launched a Facebook application on its fan page, leveraging on the crowdsourcing phenomenon.

Called Nissan Futurelogy, the application allows its Facebook fans to upload text, pictures or videos of what they think Nissan should build as cars in the future.  Fans will get to vote for the best ideas, and the top 10 voted contributors will win cash prizes.

‘Nissan prides itself as a company commited to building cars to maintain a sustainable society for future generations. After all, its cars are ultimately driven by the society, so what better way than to invite people to have a stake in the development of future Nissan models,' said Ron Lim, General Manager for Tan Chong International.

The crowdsourcing phenomenon has been gaining momentum around the world, with some technology brands harnessing the collective wisdom of communities as a mean to enhance product innovations and improve services.

In the automotive sector, Nissan is one of the earliest adopters of this crowdsourcing platform.

‘Communities in social networks are already having conversations about brands, whether brands are participating or not.  These conversations are real and authentic, based on the users’ own experiences or observations.  If a brand can be more active in these communities, it will be able to gain valuable insights to help them make products that are more relevant to their users’ needs,’ said Jimmy Lim, Head of Invention for Mindshare Singapore, the agency who masterminded the Futurelogy social strategy.

Top voted ideas on the Futurelogy application will be submitted to Nissan Japan for consideration in their future product developments. Nissan Futurelogy will be used as an 'always on' gateway between the brand and communities. The application will also allow users to join forums, check Nissan news and even allows the community to organize Nissan related events themselves.

'We believe Nissan will benefit from this crowdsourcing platform because knowledge and talents of the community are leveraged to create content and solve problems. We intend to let the community to thrive organically by ceding some control. One of our key objectives will be to attract the 370Z and GTR fans to use Futurelogy as their official social destination,' said Chan Wai Leng, Senior Marketing Manager for Tan Chong International.

The Power of One

Mindshare Singapore was closed for one day on 26th February 2010 to mark GroupM's Power of One Day, when the 5,000 people working in GroupM offices across the Asia-Pacific region stopped working for clients, and came together to make a difference to their local communities.

Through these efforts, we had hoped to raise funds to contribute to Save the Children's Haiti Earthquake relief efforts and would like to reach out to you to pledge your support.

Any amount would be much appreciated, and your donation will allow Save the Children to provide urgently needed medical attention, safe drinking water and other necessities. Please check out the following website to make your donations :

www.firstgiving.com/groupm-singapore

It was quite inspirational to see the efforts made in the morning, and overall we had a healthy balance between doing good deeds together and having a lot of fun.

There were too many highlights to list them all, but here are just a few:

10+ different group activities for the "Power of Many" in the morning, ranging from East Coast Clean up, Dover Park Hospice visit, Canossaville Children's home visit, Food from the Heart, visiting under-privileged families, Blood Donation drive and Charity Bowling Event.

Over SGD$10k raised for various charities and causes. Almost 200 GroupM'ers joined and survived the walk from Mount Faber to Hort Park

We would like to thank our clients and partners for making our Power of One Day possible.