Sapient Nitro rethinks strategy team, says clients need journalists, architects, consultants
Digital agency Sapient Nitro has announced that it has remodelled its strategy team in Singapore based on the theory that clients need “planners, journalists, architects and consultants” to help them navigate the digital world.
Melanie Cook, who is just under a year into her role as head of strategy for Sapient Nitro in Singapore and Hong Kong, has brought in Simon Collins from Accenture as the final part of a quartet that includes former consultant Andrew Trimboli and designer turned creative director Ari Widjanarko. Collins takes on the role of marketing technologist.
“No longer is being a strategist enough, clients now need a journalist, an architect and a business consultant to help advise them on the best solutions to shape their influence on the continuously emerging digital space,” Cook said in a press release.
Widjanarko, who has been with Sapient for three years as associate CD, takes on the role of experience architect. Trimboli, a former copywriter for SingTel who has worked for the agency for over a year as senior manager of content strategy, has been named content strategist.
Cook said: “Most of the strategy written today uses the Internet as a new place to disseminate old 360 thinking. A pre-roll is a TV ad online. A banner is a rotating press ad. An email is direct mail. And, Social Media is the new competition response mechanism. When we use the Internet in this limited capacity, all an agency needs is an integrated strategist who knows how to message a brand’s single-minded proposition across different channels.”
With the newly formed team, Sapient has created a “team that is made up of highly specialized individuals who will work together and use connected thinking to transform how people experience brands through technology,” Cook said.
Cook, the former Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore strategy head, was hired to replace Sushobhan Mukherjee, Sapient’s Asia Pacific strategy lead. He resigned after just over a year with the agency in October last year.
If theres one thing that clients hate in an agency, it’s vague unsubstantiated claims like this one:
“….clients need “planners, journalists, architects and consultants” to help them navigate the digital world”
And when it’s time to show what you bring to the table, all that is offered is a quote like…. “If brands really want to transform their business they need to use technology and the Internet to productize their service or augment their products with services. Think Google and Google Glass. Think Nike and Nike+”
Maybe so but Google Glass and Nike + aren’t your inventions…. what have you created that we can all collectively admire? Anything?
The plan here seems to be to make the internet seem like some sort of dangerous place that cannot be charted without them. That’s nonsense of course.
Anyone with half a logical brain can figure out how the internet works. Look at the internationally despised and condemned group ISIS…I dont think they employ graduates from hyper island or portfolio center pasadena but they know exactly how to build their brand on the internet. Enough of this mumbo jumbo, let’s not make things more complicated…simplify.
ReplyCook said: “Most of the strategy written today uses the Internet as a new place to disseminate old 360 thinking……Social Media is the new competition response mechanism.”
Ironically, social media is the mechanism that enabled this agancy to produce “The Best Job In the World”…. an online contest done out of Brisbane. Since that campaign ages ago, they have literally done nothing.
ReplyTo be a certified architect isn’t just a matter of calling yourself one.
Replyit’s a 5 year undergraduate academic degree that requires a further academic component with accreditation to chartered professional bodies, followed by a period of practical training prior to professional examination and registration.
Calling one an Experience Architect is not only an over claim but also an insult to real architects.
We don’t call burger flippers, chefs or bus drivers, pilots.
As an industry, we really have to stop treating our clients and Joe Public as gullible punters and ourselves as over inflated rock gods.
Suggestion: Try reading out loud what you type. Don’t hit ‘send’ if you can’t stop laughing.
How do the grumpy old men fit into all of this?
ReplyThe head of planning was also brought over from Saatchi Singapore by Andy.
ReplyI agree, it all sounds a bit vague – but, hey you don’t get much more vague industries than this one, so maybe it’s to be expected. I do think Melanie is right in the fact that more diverse opinions really help in a, frankly, myopic industry like ours. Whether that involves an architect or a journalist depends on what she’s trying to do I guess. That said, the article leaves me with more questions than answers and the danger is this is just another bit of spin to seem different by an agency that’s had a bit of a revolving door of late – I’m sure Andy will set me straight on that last point next time I see him!!
ReplyWas the inspiration of the group photo the opening credits of a 70’s cop show or a rejected Red Army propaganda poster?
ReplyHave your say