Be the Start is a new marketing campaign that uses the strength of consumer brand recognition to drive awareness and action around sustainable lifestyles among consumers; reinforcing that lifestyles are better, socially, emotionally and physically, when they are lived in with sustainability in mind. It’s all about communicating positive and useful messages about what people can actually do to start enhancing their lives through becoming more sustainable, and how brands are supporting and enabling this. By coming together as one group, the message has more resonance and power of influence than any single brand could achieve on its own.

MRM Meteorite created this campaign which will run across the 31 days of May. It was launched to the brand community at St James Palace last Autumn with the support of HRH The Prince of Wales and his team. McCann Worldgroup sister agencies UMW and Weber Shandwick will help to deliver a an integrated program of activities including outdoor, press and radio, with over 40 participating brands also getting involved.

Fernando was President/CEO of Megamobile, a post he held concurrent with his function as Head of Digital Strategy of the Inquirer Group of Companies, prior to joining McCann WorldGroup. Fernando was also elected 2012 President of the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP).

Fernando brings 18-year experience in the mobile and telecommunications industry, with extensive proficiencies in integrated digital content and application development, product management, and business models & technology development. Fernando has held management positions in leading telecommunications, media, and technology companies including Ericsson Telecommunications, Wireless Services Asia, Isla Communications, and IPVG Corp. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Management at The American Graduate School of International Management in Arizona, USA and a college degree in Business Management at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Said Raul Castro, McCann WorldGroup Philippines Chairman & CEO; “Manny’s command of the telco, media, technology, and business ecosystems, fused with his exceptional talent in commercial alliances and program developments, will further reinforce McCann’s capabilities and strategies in digital and integrated business solutions. His experience will be a vital component to the agency’s continuous business solutions initiatives, which drive business success for our clients’ brands and for the Agency.”

(Michael Mclaren, Andy Jacobs, Hank Summy {left to right})

MRM promotions include:

Michael Mclaren, currently President, MRM East & Global Client Solutions Director, has been named worldwide President, MRM.
Andy Jacobs adds global responsibility to his role of Chief Technology Officer at MRM.
Hank Summy, currently President McCann North America, has been named to the new global role of President, Commerce, MRM. Mclaren, Summy and Jacobs will report to Bill Kolb, CEO, MRM.
Additional McCann Worldgroup promotions include:

Chris Macdonald, Chief Executive, McCann London, has been promoted to the role of President, McCann New York reporting to Luca Lindner, President of McCann Worldgroup, Americas, Africa and Middle East.
Rob Doubal and Laurence Thomson, Co-Executive Creative Directors of McCann London, have been promoted to the new role of Co-Presidents and Chief Creative Officers of McCann London, reporting to Gustavo Martinez, President, McCann Worldgroup Europe, Asia & Pacific.
Momentum Worldwide also recently expanded its top management ranks with the promotion of Kevin McNulty to the newly created position of President, International.
“The year has started with some terrific new wins and organic growth across our businesses,” said Harris Diamond, Chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup. “Our leaders have a real passion for the work we do, along with all the energy and the skills required to help lead our agencies and to deliver multiplatform creative and strategic ideas that build our clients’ brands and drive growth.”

Michael Mclaren has worked at McCann Worldgroup for more than a decade and has led some of the network’s biggest clients and regions. Currently, as President of MRM East, Mclaren provides executive leadership for operations across MRM New York, Princeton and Detroit. He delivers full oversight for financial, product delivery, talent development and growth goals. In addition, Mclaren holds the critical role of Global Client Solutions Director across many of MRM’s key clients, where he develops opportunities and drives product excellence and growth.

Andy Jacobs is responsible for growth across MRM’s technology business, focusing on new business development and driving organic growth within the Agency’s top 25 global clients. Jacobs also leads Global Partnerships, ensuring the continued quality of the overall technology product across MRM’s top 10 global clients. Additionally, Jacobs heads the ongoing development of the MRM technology community to drive best practices, share key trends, identify key talent and support cross-fertilization of technology engagements.

Hank Summy joined McCann North America as President in October 2011, with management oversight for McCann agencies across the U.S. and Canada and a focus on McCann’s flagship New York office. Previously, Summy was Managing Director of SapientNitro, a top-10 ranked U.S. digital agency. When Sapient acquired Nitro in 2009, Summy led the successful integration of the two companies, including defining the value proposition and operating model for the combined entity globally. Summy earlier headed Operations & Business Development for Boston-based SR Research.

Chris Macdonald joined McCann London in 2005. Under his leadership, the agency has experienced considerable success, winning over $150 million in new billings, major creative awards for American Airlines, Heinz and Xbox work, and was named one of London’s three best agencies by Campaign Magazine. McCann London also was a key member of the McCann Worldgroup team that handled the successful marketing for the London 2012 Olympics. Recently, London has won several new accounts, including General Mill’s Nature Valley, and has been appointed to the UK Government’s Marketing Communications roster.

Rob Doubal and Laurence Thomson, who joined McCann London from Wieden + Kennedy in May 2012, will provide creative leadership and vision for the agency in their new role as Co-Presidents and Chief Creative Officers. Doubal and Thomson will be supported by the McCann London management team, consisting of: Nikki Crumpton, Chief Strategy Officer; Jamie Copas, Chief Operating Officer; Saj Manzoor, Chief Financial Officer; Simon Hill, Head of Client Services; and Tom Rothenberg, Chief Growth Officer.

MRM announced today that the Agency has been awarded additional assignments by long time client, Verizon. The scope of work includes digital acquisition and CRM work – including OLA, rich media, marketing landing pages, and digital experience programs. The range of digital services from MRM will continue to evolve and expand as needed.

Michael Mclaren, President, MRM East & Chief Client Solutions Director comments, “We are very proud of our long partnership with Verizon and excited about this new engagement. With an end-to-end view across all digital and physical channels for FiOS acquisition and retention, we will develop breakthrough programs that deliver both optimal results and maximum efficiencies. Digital prospect acquisition is a rapidly evolving and expanding space – as more and more clients look to expand and integrate digital engagement channels – and MRM is at the vanguard of this thinking with our work across a range of large scale clients including Verizon, U.S. Army and General Motors.”

Deirdre Robinson, Executive Director, Marketing Communications for Verizon’s consumer and mass market business unit, adds: “The digital channel is critical as more and more consumers are using the Internet to engage directly with Verizon FiOS. Consumers want their online experience to be inspiring, flawless, enjoyable and efficient. Expanding our partnership with MRM is very important to us as we strive towards delivering a seamless experience between us and our customers.”

This additional assignment gives MRM “end-to-end” responsibilities for Verizon with oversight of all online and offline acquisition and retention programs – enabling MRM to help optimize Verizon’s communication mix – providing both maximum benefit to customers and strong ROI to Verizon.

The Agency has been awarded Runner-Up honors in the category (BtoB does not award top-winner agency to one company in consecutive years). As stated in the announcement, the selection was made because “MRM had a robust 2012 on a number of fronts, from client work to account wins to new hires.”

Among MRM’s most successful efforts last year were its “Social Innovation Business” campaign for Hitachi, a website redesign for Computer Sciences Corp. and a content-driven campaign for Intel Corp. that helped the client register more than 118,000 IT professionals in its IT Center program.

Commented Bill Kolb, MRM’s CEO, “The common thread connecting those efforts—and the agency’s work in general—is the ability to make the complex simple and the simple compelling. That’s hugely important. Brilliant ideas, relationships, technology, solving complex problems and figuring things out…are what make us shine and continue to receive accolades like this.”

No stranger to being recognized by Crain’s BtoB, MRM was winner of “Top Interactive Agency” in 2012, 2010 and 2008, and “Top Direct Agency” in 2012, 2006 and 2004.

MRM redeveloped the platform, user experience, and content for the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center Website (www.nbdiabetes.org/) —and gave it a completely new look. The pro bono project helps bring the powerful story of the Berrie Center to life — reflecting the warm, dynamic, approachable nature of the actual center in the digital space.

The Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, located at Columbia University Medical Center, combines an unequaled model for family-oriented patient care and education with world-class diabetes research programs. The new site design, enhanced user experience and improved platform emphasize the Berrie Center’s excellence and close collaboration between patient care and research so that patients benefit from research advances as rapidly as possible. The Berrie Center worked with the digital, creative and technology teams at MRM to help reflect its distinctive connection between care and research throughout its online destination.

“MRM brought our vision to life,” said Robin Goland, MD, J. Merrill Eastman Professor of Clinical Diabetes at Columbia University, Co-Founder & Co-Director, Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center. “We wanted the Website to capture the essence of the Berrie Center, which has been a challenge because what we offer is so unique. MRM “got it”, right at the start. And then they put their heart into developing an online destination that is patient-friendly, warm, and easy to navigate. It was a pleasure and privilege to work with them.”

MRM provided key developments with this new Website that have positioned the Berrie Center for greater success. Major highlights of the site include:

> Research: The important, groundbreaking research done at the Center was brought to the forefront of the web experience. The Berrie Center is known for its unique, hands-on approach to care – and the site now demonstrates the benefit of that patient care so closely aligned to the research.

> Fundraising & Volunteering: More opportunities to donate and register to volunteer have been incorporated throughout the site, along with further explanation about what goes into the 360° care provided by the Berrie Center, and what is needed to keep that going.

> News & Events: Ongoing news and events have a more significant presence: the sections are more user friendly, and built on a new content management system (CMS) platform, enabling the center to keep the content fresh.

“Once our team set foot inside the Berrie Center, we acquired our own passion for this remarkable place,” said Marcy Q. Samet, EVP, Managing Director, MRM Princeton. ”It was a true privilege to bring to life, through our digital expertise, the holistic approach of the Berrie Center and the dedication of its people. We were both inspired and empowered working with the Berrie Center Advocacy Committee, led by Dr. Robin Goland; Troy Finn, Development Director of the Berrie Center; Nancy Rabstejnek Nichols of Weber Shandwick; Debra Gaynor of Marina Maher Communications, Inc; and Ray Roel of McCann Worldgroup.

MRM London, part of MRM Worldwide (a McCann Worldgroup company) and Meteorite announced today that they intend to enter into a merger of equals. This newly combined agency, MRM Meteorite, will come together to provide unrivaled expertise in direct-response and interactive marketing. The merger represents a step forward in creating a truly multi-disciplinary digital and direct response agency that offers complete integrated services to their clients. The core focus of this newly merged agency will be the relentless pursuit of marketing results by combining creativity, performance analytics, data and technology to transform clients' business. MRM Meteorite will have over 160 employees - bringing all disciplines and specialists under one roof.

Bill Kolb, Global CEO of MRM Worldwide, comments: "Our strength lies in our people who have diverse experience, who work closely together to deliver creatively-led business results. Joining with Meteorite is a natural extension of that belief, and will broaden our expertise and capacity to drive business through creativity, technology and performance."

Hugh Bishop, CEO of MRM Meteorite adds: "We are delighted and proud to join forces with MRM London and believe that the merger will bring together complementary skill sets to create a truly unique offering for clients as well as providing exciting opportunities for everyone involved."
MRM London, part of MRM Worldwide, is a top-ten UK interactive and direct communications agency. MRM London has won numerous awards for their digital ideas, programmes and relationships and has significant experience in managing major brands - including Vauxhall, Microsoft, Intel, Dell, Nationwide and MasterCard - both locally and globally.

Meteorite is a leading creative marketing agency, which has over 70 employees. Founded in 1999, the agency has won numerous industry creativity and effectiveness awards, as well as enjoying Sunday Times 'Best Small Company to Work For' status for the last four years - ranking 6th position in 2011. It counts Homebase, Premier Inn, Scope and the Guardian among its clients.

MRM Meteorite will be located in the offices previously occupied by MRM London in Bankside. The move will bring all disciplines and specialists under one roof to provide world-class integrated strategic services to its current and future clients. This collocation will start immediately and be completed by January 1, 2012 along with building improvements to support the MRM global vision. 

Liz Loney, Strategist at the Princeton office of MRM Worldwide — a top-five digital and direct agency, was honored last night as a Social Media Star during a soiree in Boston at the DMA: 2011, the annual global conference and exhibition for integrated marketing. Hosted by the Social Media Society, the awards are presented to the best and brightest individuals and rising stars in the industry to celebrate the people behind the leading social media profiles and campaigns across the country.

“This is well-deserved recognition for Liz, and we are inspired by the spirit she brings to our team,” said Dave Boede, President, Americas Region, MRM Worldwide. “MRM is only as good as the people that work here, and Liz’s approach to user experience through social media shows her dedication to our relentless pursuit of combining creativity and technology to solve our clients’ greatest challenges.”

Liz has been integral to the success seen by MRM Princeton clients through social media campaigns. She contributed to the inception, strategy, execution and launch of ETS (Educational Testing Service) TOEFL Facebook Brand page in India creating a real-time process to moderate, manage and respond to the community. As a young talent, she has also been a driver for the development of emerging uses for pharmaceutical products and services on a social platform, creating and launching three pharmaceutical Facebook Pages in the last year, including a flagship execution for Lunesta.

Understanding that the exam, and preparation, impacts total student/work lifestyle, Liz took her ETS client emersion one step further by preparing for and taking the ETS GRE revised General Test and became the Brand Ambassador to the students on the ETS GRE revised General Test Brand Facebook Page, which launched specifically for student support services. She continuously monitored the Page and worked with the ETS Customer Service Center to address concerns and gave personal advice. Serving as a trusted advisor Liz used her social media skills to connect directly with the ETS community and guided students through all dimensions of the exam and preparation process. About

The “Lufthansa Park & Fly” game uses the player’s phone and giant LED screens to create a real life experience of taxiing the world’s largest commercial aircraft into its hangar. Players simply have to dial in from their mobile phones to turn their keypad into a control panel that then manoeuvres the Lufthansa A380. The technology behind this marketing innovation has been developed by the digital team at MRM Worldwide, Delhi.

How the game works:
To play the game you first have to register at the Park & Fly Zones set up at major malls across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. You then call in from your mobile phone to turn it into a control panel. Players have 2 minutes to collect strategically placed markers and park the giant aircraft into its hangar. At stake are two Business Class tickets from India to the US. Winners will experience the thrill of actually flying in an A380 during the onward journey across the Atlantic from Lufthansa’s Frankfurt hub.

Look and feel
The game itself has been creatively conceptualised by MRM Worldwide India. It uses high end graphics which are combinations of actual footage, animations, and turning sequences to give players the thrill of manoeuvring the world’s largest and most environmentally friendly passenger aircraft in an almost real life environment.

With this innovation MRM Worldwide India continues to not only assert its dominance and innovative streak in the Digital and CRM space , but possibly raises the benchmark for all with respect to brand and consumer engagement.

Commenting on the launch, Mandeep Sharma VP & GM MRM Worldwide India says that the “Lufthansa Park & Fly allows players to experience the thrill of manoeuvring the largest commercial aircraft in the world and is guaranteed to generate tremendous excitement with its blend of fun with technology, the two most important factors influencing today’s Indian youth” .

Axel Hilgers, Director South Asia, Lufthansa, adds “Lufthansa is known for introducing many firsts in the aviation industry. This first of its kind interactive marketing campaign in India is true to our values of product leadership and customer satisfaction. It adds an element of excitement and customer delight just like taking a Lufthansa flight.”

Launched on September 17, the Lufthansa Park & Fly game travels to Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, and is all set to thrill people across India and expose them to an experience unlike any before.
For more information, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSs5i3bP120 

For the third consecutive season MRM Worldwide New York, flagship office of the top-five digital and direct agency of McCann Worldgroup, welcomes fresh-faced and eager agency job seekers to participate in their unique talent program, “The Apartment.” These top graduating students from portfolio schools, including Parsons The New School for Design and Ringling College of Art and Design, will live rent-free in a three-bedroom apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn while working for a year long stint at MRM. At the end of their 12 months, those who demonstrate the most talent and drive look forward to the prospect of a full-time position at the agency.

“The Apartment program has proven to be, not only a very strong idea, but an exceptional recruitment strategy allowing us to identify world class talent,” said Bill Kolb, CEO, MRM Worldwide. “From day one, we put this new team to work on real business challenges where their contributions will bring value and offer solutions to our client partners.”

As creativity in today’s consumer market is increasingly fueled by technology, MRM has redefined the parameters of “The Apartment” program itself from a strictly creative focus to now encompass technology and strategy. The roles of this year’s participants include titles such as Creative Technologist and Creative Strategist, which acknowledge the intersection of these previously silo-ed areas of agency work.

Through next June, these four new hires - Sasha Flynn, Katie Koepfinger, Carina Tous and Melike Turgut – will live, work and commute together and gain the opportunity to work on global brands for MRM Worldwide, including Chase, Nikon and General Mills. They bring with them a combination of an educated business approach to delivering new and effective creativity and the ability to take these creative ideas and apply the most apt and innovative technologies. Their skills include, as one participant dubbed it, a “swiss army knife” of capabilities from information architecture, user experience, graphic design, coding, website development, and tech development to video editing and business management.

“We are getting the very best and freshest talent on the market through this program,” said Doug Speidel, Executive Creative Director, MRM Worldwide. “The past two seasons of ‘The Apartment’ have shown us and our clients that the talent and capabilities of this set of individuals can deliver some really innovative and progressive work and I look forward to what we will see from this group.” 

Understanding the growing role that social media is playing in consumers’ shopping experiences, Buick and GMC with the help of MRM Worldwide (MRM), the top-five digital and direct agency of the McCann Group, today launched new Facebook tools that allow shoppers to build, compare, save and share their vehicle configurations and preferences with friends asking them to comment on and “like” their customized selection. MRM helped Buick and GMC to be among the first automotive brands to leverage their customers’ social connections as well as their profile information to deepen and personalize their shopping experiences.

“Consumers rely on their social communities to make purchase decisions and we’ve tapped directly into that insight to create a deeper brand engagement for Buick and GMC,” said Bill Kolb, President and Chief Operating Officer, MRM Worldwide. “General Motors is dedicated to digital shopping innovations and we are proud to support those efforts with this new Facebook interface that we’ve developed.”

Because many consumers already use Facebook, the interfaces between Buick.com/GMC.com and Facebook allows buyers to authentically and seamlessly select and vet vehicle options while also having the opportunity to engage their communities. The sorting and social functionalities of these robust shopping resources help consumers understand their options and make more informed decisions with buying a vehicle.

These Facebook integrations are part of a multi-phased approach by General Motors to offering online shoppers more personalized and socially connected ways to research and shop for vehicles. MRM recently joined with Buick and GMC to introduce their Showroom Mobile Apps, which allow shoppers to visually explore, configure, locate, compare, get a quote for and schedule a test drive for Buick or GMC vehicles. The brands also recently began providing full ranges of online shopping tools to customers via the Apple iPad.

Access to a user’s Facebook account is subject to shoppers’ permission and information can be accessed and saved across devices. To experience the Buick and GMC Facebook interfaces and for more information, please visit: www.facebook.com/buick and http://www.facebook.com/gmc 

MRM Worldwide, one of the top-five digital and CRM agencies in the world, and a part of McCann Worldgroup, today announced an innovative structure for their Americas operation that includes the company’s alignment with McCann Erickson Salt Lake City, a 200+ person agency with a focus on technology-enabled marketing. As part of this alignment, McCann Salt Lake City CEO, David Boede, will assume the new role of President of MRM Americas Region – including offices in Toronto, New York, Princeton, Detroit, Salt Lake, San Francisco, Mexico City, Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires. This move coincides with an MRM Worldwide strategic initiative that integrates individual office P&Ls into a single MRM Americas P&L – resulting in a single operating unit with over 1200 employees across multiple disciplines including: digital, creative, marketing, CRM, measurement and performance expertise.

“We are thrilled to bring Dave into the MRM network at this important moment,” said Marc Landsberg, CEO of MRM Worldwide. “By combining the P&Ls of our Americas organization and including the breadth of expertise offered by McCann Salt Lake City, we are able to expand our overall strategic, digital and technology capabilities that are critical to our aggressive 5-year strategy to become the most technology-driven marketing solutions company in the world.”

“The addition of Boede in the new role of President of Americas is designed to help MRM provide deeper, cross-agency capabilities to current and future clients with unprecedented ability to scale while eliminating historical P&L barriers to rapid collaboration,” said Bill Kolb, President, MRM Worldwide. ”This new alignment of MRM with a strong McCann office provides rich advertising experience and stronger integration of those skills into the MRM network.”

The approach to a single, integrated Americas P&L is a new structure for MRM Worldwide, and is designed to provide seamless deployment of world-class digital and CRM resources at scale across several agencies to meet client needs. In addition, it is consistent with McCann Worldgroup’s strategic focus on transforming brands by leveraging the best talent to achieve success.

“I couldn’t be more excited about MRM’s approach to uniting the best talent across its America’s offices,” said Dave Boede, new President, of MRM Americas. “Individually, each MRM office provides a strong digital offering. But the combination of digital and CRM best practices across all offices provides clients with unprecedented access to world-class talent.”