Critical Mass was named by Forrester as the leading web development agency in North America for the second year in a row. I asked for comments on the win from SVP of Strategy, Neil Clemmons.
One Degree: Congratulations on the win! Marketing Magazine quoted Forrester’s Harley Manning, VP of customer experience research, describing Critical Mass as “a throwback to the early days of the Web. The agency exudes earnest excitement about crafting sites that maximize the potential of this still-young medium.” How do you keep up and grow that enthusiasm?
Clemmons: Digital is the future of marketing. No doubt about it. Competition for attention means companies have to offer a compelling proposition – anticipating customer needs and serving them – through content, brand engagement, product configuration, listening, understanding, and enabling customers to see return on their time on sites and in marketing programs. Our enthusiasm comes from the potential for the market, and seeing results from our efforts. Our enthusiasm comes from working with great clients and brands. It comes from experimentation and exploring new channels, messages, offers, and brand interactions. Enthusiasm comes from winning with purpose-built sites and campaigns that deliver better value to clients and better experiences to their customers. Enthusiasm comes from working with the most admired brands in the industry, and helping them connect with their customers.
One Degree: The survey said Critical Mass scored slightly weaker than its competitors in strategy — how would you counter that? What is your approach to strategy development?
Clemmons: We are only ten years into this medium. With the world’s information, entertainment, communication and collaboration moving to digital channels, we are very early in what is possible, yet focused on what is real and delivers results. Strategy aligns brand, business, and customer goals with a keen focus on the technology to enable better, more engaging experiences. But experiences have to deliver results. To the visitor, and the company. They have to have an impact. Strategy identifies customer needs across channels – from online, to mobile, to entertaining, to transactional, to in-person experiences. Our approach with all of our clients is to ensure the strategy is customer-driven, with value delivered for the time invested. We’re confident our strategy works, and is helping our clients grow their business and level of customer relationship.