Launched in September 2012, the course has already show concrete signs of enhancing employee development, both on a personal and professional level.  

“We are thrilled to be recognized by Adweek for the launch of our happiness curriculum,” said Marla Kaplowitz, CEO, MEC North America.  “This acknowledgment not only highlights our commitment to nurturing and inspiring our talent in new and creative ways, but showcases our drive to bring innovative thinking and techniques to market, strengthening our ability to deliver maximum results across the agency as well as our clients’ businesses. A special thanks to those participants of the pilot course who are already reaping the benefits of a happier mindset.”

The Adweek Project Isaac Awards were conceived in 2013 to cast a celebratory light on the smartest inventions across the media, marketing and technology sectors.  As the industry continues to transform at a rapid pace, genuine invention, rather than innovation, has become crucial to advancing brands and businesses past the inertia of traditional models and modes.   Project Isaac recognizes these outstanding achievements.

MEC launched its second round of the “Inspire Happiness” training course in April 2013.  

In this newly created role, Tino will be responsible for the operations of MEC across their offices and will oversee client leadership to drive new business.

Matthias Brüll commented, “We are very happy to have Tino join our team, he is an experienced communications professional and his mix of skills will help MEC continue to develop and grow our business as well as deliver excellence in client service.  Tino is another great example of our commitment to investing in our people to delight our clients.”

Tino Krause joins from Telefónica Germany, where he was Head of Brand Management.  Prior to this he was Head of Media, CRM & Direct Communication at Audi AG. Previously, he was Group Head  at GroupM Munich office working for clients such as  Audi, HypoVereinsbank and  Escada.

“Every day, more and more marketers are struggling to understand the true impact digital channels have on their sales,” commented Theresa LaMontage,Head of Analytics and Insight, MEC.  “The digital ecosystem is immensely complex, and last click methods have proven insufficient in maximizing the ROI of digital marketing campaigns. CookieCutter™ is game changing in its ability to distill cookies into meaningful, results-driven insights and information.”

For several years, marketers have addressed digital attribution by using third party vendors, with limited involvement from media agencies to ensure quality data output. With no standard attribution methodology, a “one-size-fits-all” approach is employed by vendors, leaving no room for flexibility or customization based on marketers’ unique needs.

The launch of CookieCutter™brings digital attribution modeling into a media agency environment, effectively centralizing data management and laying the foundation for a more holistic media planning process.

CookieCutter^TM is designed to process millions of cookie-level records sourced from marketers’ various digital data sources in a matter of seconds.  The data is then synthesized in MEC’s statistical modeling environment.  The results from these models reveal which consumer touchpoints are  most important through the digital media mix journey.  

The methodology for this proprietary platform is grounded in sophisticated modeling techniques which quantify digital ad exposure while controlling the interaction between online and offline channels. 

LaMontagne added, “With an increasing number of clients expressing the need to quantify digital media’s ROI, there’s been an explosion of digital attribution vendors. We recognized this as an opportunity to provide a new, scalable and adaptive solution that takes the nuances of a marketer’s business into account.  At MEC, we believe in a consultative approach to supporting a business’ budgeting decisions; CookieCutter™ is a manifestation of this approach.  We have invested in expert digital data specialists and statisticians who work hand-in-hand with our planners and clients to provide more streamlined reporting and faster recommendations to improve the actionability of results.”

“What makes CookieCutter™ different from competitive platforms is that our technology is designed to support our approach,” said Marla Kaplowitz,  CEO of MEC North America. “It is fast, yet flexible.  It’s not simply producing canned results;the platform is designed to produce analytics datasets which allow our integrated teams to build truly tailored  solutions to answer our clients’ evolving objectives. We are thrilled to officially offer this best-in-class attribution to clients across MEC’s portfolio to ensure we are maximizing the ROI of their media investments.”

The launch of CookieCutter™ represents MEC’s continued comittment to providing clients a clear competitive advantage with consumer data-centric media planning and thought-leadership.

In this new position, Jude will be responsible for overseeing the Business Sciences team, playing a key role in advancing the quantitative skills across the agency’s A&I discipline. He will also be focused on applying his extensive programming acumen to the development of new modelling and planning tools.  Jude will report directly to Theresa LaMontagne, Managing Partner, Analytics & Insight, North America.

Jude brings to MEC over twenty years of experience in marketing and data analytics honing his skills through positions at Ipsos/MMA, Marketshare, UBS, and Digitas, among others.  Prior to joining MEC, Jude served as VP, Innovation at Ipsos/MMA, and Director of Analytics at MarketShare, where he developed statistical modeling, simulation and optimization tools that helped to advance its offering in the market. 

Speaking on his appointment, Theresa said: “CMOs everywhere are trying to navigate today’s highly fragmented and ROI-driven media landscape.  At MEC, we are at the forefront of analytics, continuing to deliver best in class insights and tools to help answer clients’ business questions. Jude’s breadth of experience across categories such as Finance, Retail, and CPG combined with his extensive knowledge of analytical techniques will help drive innovation for our agency and clients.”

Jude has been integral to the implementation of cutting edge methodologies in statistics, econometrics, and machine learning, as well as the development of statistical modeling tools, systems and platforms; tools for simulation and optimization; and reporting systems. 

“MEC is a world renowned media agency that provides superior and innovative analytics solutions to its clients. I look forward to joining its growing A&I team, as well as working across the agency’s various disciplines to ensure we continue to provide clients with superior and innovative analytical solutions,” commented Jude.

Jude has a Ph.D. (ABD) in Finance and Applied Economics from Rutgers University; an MS in Information Systems Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and an MBA, Finance and Applied Statistics, from Rutgers. 

The RECMA Competitiveness in pitches 2012 report analysed key pitches and moves across 46 countries in 2012. 

Globally, MEC ranked third in Competitiveness in Pitches, up from number 11 in 2011 – the largest jump of any network. 

This is the 9^th time MEC has placed in the top 3 in the RECMA rankings, since records began. 

Alastair Aird, Global Chief Operating officer & Chairman of EMEA said, “This is a fantastic accolade and recognition of our focus on new business growth across 2012 which remains a key priority for MEC.  Our teams right around the network work tirelessly to deliver for clients and prospects and their efforts truly paid off in 2012.”

MEC had an outstanding 2012 with significant international wins including the global account for Mulberry; SABMiller, Lavazza, and Beiersdorf in Europe;  Johnson&Johnson  led by GroupM PRIMUS across EMEA; Nestlé in the Middle East; Kingfisher in the United Kingdom and  Mercedes Benz and Cell C in South Africa.

MEC has worked with the STB since 2009. 

MEC will work with the Singapore Tourism Board and its other agency partners to drive strategic brand leadership and paid owned earned channel planning across key markets globally.

The scope of work includes integrated planning, content, digital display, search, social and analytics and insights.  Markets covered include:  Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, UK, Germany, USA, Australia and India.

Commenting on the win, Connie Chan, Managing Director of MEC Global Solutions Asia Pacific said, “ We are incredibly proud to have been re-appointed as Singapore Tourism Board's global media agency of record. We are thrilled to continue working with STB to drive Singapore’s image as one of the world’s greatest destinations and to champion Singapore across our network. At MEC, we believe in building long term client partnerships to allow us to support our clients as they grow their business, in a constantly changing communication environment.  We’re delighted that STB has joined us on this journey.”

He’ll work with MEC’s digital leadership and others around the world to form a team that develops, grows and drives the agency’s digital business globally, fully integrated within MEC.

“Hiring Carl is an essential step in the continued growth of MEC globally”, said Charles Courtier, global chief executive officer. “Carl’s mix of skills has made him one of the leading digital specialists in the industry; he is uniquely qualified to help us navigate and develop the future of our business.” 

This is a new position and the appointment is effective in May.  Carl will be based in New York and will report to Charles Courtier, global chief executive officer.  He will also serve on the agency’s Global Exco.

About Carl Fremont

During his career, Carl has worked on a myriad of consumer and business-to-business brands. As a media specialist, Carl has played a leading role in the industry. As a frequent industry speaker and consultant, Carl is often quoted in the press on his views on the future of marketing and media. At Digitas since 2000, Carl has led the Global Media practice comprised of over 500 professionals in seven domestic and international offices, working with clients including America Express, Whirlpool, Delta, Sprint, Mars, Meade Johnson, Taco Bell and eBay.  In his time there, Carl has driven the use of research, data, technology, analytics and advanced targeting practices to ensure all marketing initiatives deliver measurable business impact. 

Prior to joining Digitas, Carl was a Senior Vice President of Media Services at Wunderman, part of the Y&R Network. During Carl’s 16 year tenure at Wunderman, he managed all direct marketing activities for the company including Ford, Citibank, American Express and AT&T. At Wunderman, Carl led one of the industry’s first digital marketing campaigns for American Express. Carl began his career at Ted Bates advertising in 1981 as a Media Planner.

For six years, Carl was an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Masters Program. He has also guest lectured at numerous universities and international conferences and continues to teach in the industry. Carl serves on the advisory boards of a select number of digital venture groups and is a consultant for GLG, Guidepoint and Pacific Crest.  These roles afford Carl with the evaluation of and insights into a multitude of emerging media companies and technology platforms.  Carl is also a board member of NextMark, a technology company that has automated many facets of the media planning and buying ecosystem. Carl was elected to the Ad Club of New York Board of Directors in 2009 and now serves on the

Executive Board and also serves as its lead for Media Action, which since its inception has raised over $10MM (US) in scholarship funds for diversity students entering the Marketing and Communications fields.

Carl is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickenson University. He resides in New Jersey with his wife and two daughters.

The pitch process took three months and included a costing exercise and two pitch presentations. MEC has handled the media services for Mitsubishi Motors Australia for more than 20 years. MEC’s strong digital capabilities played an important role in the outcome of the pitch.

Topping the good news for MEC, the South Australian Government has extended the media agency’s contract for a further period of two years. MEC has held the media account for three years.

The retentions continue a successful start to 2013 by MEC, adding to its wins earlier this year of the Tiger Airways media account in a pitch against incumbent Starcom and the Seven Network media account.

“We have had a long and successful relationship with Mitsubishi, but a full-blown pitch is always a good opportunity to demonstrate to a client that we are the best agency in the market to help them tackle the growing challenges in a changing and volatile landscape,” said MEC Adelaide Managing Director Peter Bucklow. 

“The vote of confidence from both Mitsubishi and the South Australian Government caps off an incredible first quarter of growth, during which we welcomed Tiger and the Seven Network as clients, added more talent and boosted our digital capabilities,” said Peter Vogel, CEO of MEC Australia.

Along with some of the world’s most successful companies including Google, Zappos and most recently, Pfizer, MEC is at the forefront of a proven secret to business success:  happy employees are more ‘inspired’ employees.   

This past fall, MEC piloted a six-week training program, led by Helen Mumford Sole, an experienced executive coach and happiness expert, to teach employees skills and techniques to increase their levels of happiness.   Born out of the staff’s receptivity to an introduction of the ‘happiness’ concept, MEC partnered with Sole to create and test a curriculum allowing employees to develop, both personally and professionally.  The course explored various facets of happiness from positive psychology, medical research, quantum physics and Eastern mysticism to the extensive world of the self-help movement, with the goal of cultivating employees’ happiest selves.   Some participants witnessed increased levels by as much as 32 percent by the end of the course. Follow-up courses are already being scheduled.

“In my experience, happier people have the ability to achieve extraordinary things in both work and in their personal lives. Our objective at MEC is to help our talent reap the benefits of a happier, more positive mindset, so that all our employees are equipped and empowered to achieve their goals,” said Marla Kaplowitz, CEO of MEC North America. “This is a people business.  And we feel strongly that MEC’s talent and culture is very distinct and very powerful. We call it MECness. I am thrilled to extend this training as part of the agency’s ongoing commitment to talent development and training, both personal and professional. The launch of this program has already shown concrete signs of driving success for the agency, and across our clients’ businesses.”  

All MEC employees were encouraged to complete the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire – considered the ”gold” standard for measuring happiness—prior to the start of the course to help determine who would benefit most from the course.  Enrolled participants took the questionnaire again at the end of the course. Every single attendee was happier at the end of the course than they were at the beginning; one participant’s happiness level revealed a massive 32 percent increase, with another three showing above 20 percent. The average happiness uplift for the entire class was 12 percent. Additional insights include:

• 100% of participants found it useful or very useful
• 100% of participants enjoyed it very much or a lot
• 100% of participants would recommend this to their friends

Helen Mumford Sole commented, “Happiness is not something we’re born with and can’t change: it’s something we can manage, cultivate and develop just like any other skill. Working with the team at MEC was highly successful, and I noticed significant changes in moods and stress management during our six weeks together. I look forward to continuing this journey with MEC.”

Happiness has been highly researched over the last decade, showing strong evidence of the causality between employee happiness and successful business outcomes. In a meta-analysis of 225 academic studies, researchers Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, and Ed Diener found strong evidence of directional causality between life satisfaction and successful business and personal outcomes, and that happy employees have, on average, 31 percent higher productivity, 37 percent higher sales and their creativity is three times higher. Furthermore, Gallup reported that lost productivity due to employee disengagement costs more than $300 billion in the U.S. annually.  Actively focusing on employees’ overall happiness can effectively improve an individual’s confidence as well as productivity both in and out of the office.

The “Happiness” course is part of MEC’s overall philosophy to inspire and support its talent by offering unique cultural and wellness programs. Other agency initiatives under this umbrella include:  Vision Boarding , a class that encourages individuals to visualize their personal and professional dreams; People’s Choice Awards, an internal awards competition celebrating outstanding work from across North America; Inspiration Lab, a monthly review of inspiring work from across the agency ; MEC Spirit Week, a weeklong themed event that actively engages and excites employees; as well as events such as the City Harvest Food Drive and Red Cross Blood Drive that motivate employees to make a difference in socially responsible ways.

MEC and Seven teamed up to conduct the study with Neuro-Insight in the quest to discover the impact of social media interaction on viewers’ engagement levels on the 1^st and 2^nd screens.

Viewers recruited for the study were typical social TV participants; monitored though hidden cameras as they watched a live broadcast of the Seven Network’s reality show X-Factor late last year. Any interaction with social media occurred naturally.

The results disprove the theory that second-screen usage during TV viewing negatively impacts audience engagement, and substantiate the value of TV sponsorships and social media extensions.

Chief Strategy Officer for MEC, James Hier said, “Engagement is impossible for people to articulate through crude measures of recall, attitudinal research or even eye-tracking. The only way to measure engagement is neurologically.”

 “Never before has a study been done that measures neurological responses to live TV viewing, at such a granular level, with such a robust number of interactions”.  Peter Pynta Director of Marketing Neuro Insight added.

The study revealed:

• Interacting with social media while watching TV drives a 9% increase in program engagement
• Average social media interaction during a TV program: 4 times
• These interactions serve as “reset moments” after which viewers return to an engagement level higher than before
• Throughout the program, cumulative increase in engagement is 26%
• Second-screen interaction positively impacts Detailed Memory Encoding – the ability to remember specific elements of the broadcast.

“Seven Network can use these insights to improve our clients’ communications effectiveness. Sponsors that are fully integrated in a TV show can capitalise on the higher intensity of engagement and enjoy better results,” said Kurt Burnette Chief Sales & Digital Officer.

“This study teaches us that advertising messages should capitalise on viewers’ heightened receptivity to details, and that we should optimise the type and timing of advertising messages within a TV program,” James Hier added.

MEC, Seven Network and Neuro Insight unveiled the study results at the 2013 Australian Broadcasting Summit.

Visit our YouTube channel MEC InAction for the video The re-socialisation of TV