Essence expands consultancy service to help brands harness market-leading digital innovation

Global data and measurement-driven media agency Essence today announced it is expanding its consulting division, housing industry-leading experts set to deliver strategic vision and bespoke digital solutions to elevate brands through the next iteration of the digital economy.

Globally, Essence Consulting operates in parallel to the agency’s full-service media offering. In EMEA, the expanded consulting division will deliver data, technology, eCommerce, and media in-housing expertise. Aimed at brands looking to develop key strategic business areas – ahead of the media planning implementation stage – the venture will ensure clients have clear direction on priority business development areas. 

Tim Irwin, CEO for Essence in EMEA said: “After unprecedented digital transformation over the last 12 months, macro industry factors are forcing a shift in the direction of business thinking around being privacy-first and eCommerce ready. We feel now is the right time to offer our data, media and technology expertise as standalone consultative services to partner in new ways with advertisers to accelerate their digital journey.”

“We’re excited by the prospect of helping advertisers to answer the big questions about data and technology around business growth and competitive advantage, as well as architecting the project parameters and solutions. We’re already at the forefront of many market-leading digital solutions, and Essence Consulting gives us a home for this innovation and the opportunity to harness our expertise to offer additional value to existing clients and other advertisers.”

Essence Consulting has three key pillars including Digital Enablement which will offer expertise on eCommerce, privacy and improved use of data. Media Consultancy, the second pillar, will deliver insights into building in-house capabilities and best practice audits. Finally, Technology Solutions & Support will share practical knowhow on designing and maintaining bespoke technology stacks and vendor partnerships. 

The Digital Enablement pillar will include a new eCommerce Maturity Framework, to help brands to identify strengths and areas for development across the current and evolving landscape. The first stage is a free assessment tool which aims to future-proof eCommerce capabilities. Following the assessment, Essence Consulting will work with brands to develop and future-proof their eCommerce roadmap and capabilities, harnessing the power of technology, data and digital platforms to support their journey to maturity. 

Another service available at launch, also via the Digital Enablement pillar, is Get Privacy Ready. With the transition into the era of the GDPR and heightened sensitivity around privacy and user data, the tried and tested methods of serving the right ad, to the right user, at the right time are becoming increasingly strained. With this in mind, the privacy proofing consultancy service will include design and deployment of vendor tags and products, customer (rather than third-party cookie) powered targeting and optimisation, and customisation for context.

As part of the Technology Solutions & Support pillar, Server to Server, a new product connections service from Essence Consulting will enable brands to send conversion data directly from their server to another server. Conversions API will also allow businesses to connect data directly from their server, which brings in information from across the purchase funnel. This full-funnel visibility will offer considerable opportunities to further refine campaign strategies and achieve business objectives.

Leveraging Essence’s digital media capabilities, technologies and automation tools, the Essence Media Health Check will deliver actionable analysis across media channels and marketing technology subscriptions, eliminating risk and wastage while increasing the effectiveness of media campaigns. Designed for both in-house marketing teams and external agency service models, the solution also recommends measurable implementation roadmaps to capture the upside value.

Essence Consulting, which has some solutions supported by GroupM, will comprise of specialists from across media technology, data strategy, analytics, product innovation, activation, creative and ad operations. 

More services and digital solutions from Essence Consulting will be announced later this year. 

Source: Essence

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