Chief Executive
6 March 2013
2012 has been a defining year for Chime. It has seen the disposal of one part of our business and the rapid development of several others, building our position as an international communications and sports marketing group. It has seen us take full advantage of the potential revealed by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London and it has introduced new leadership to the Group that will help to ensure these opportunities extend into the future.
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Lord Mervyn Davies as the new Chairman of Chime. Lord Davies brings a rare combination of experience of both government and business to the role, and a respected reputation established through his work at Standard Chartered and his recent role as Minister of State for Trade Investment and Small Business. We are also delighted by the arrival of Lord Sebastian Coe as the Chairman of CSM Sport & Entertainment. His leadership will be invaluable in the global development of our sports marketing business and in unlocking the full potential of Chime’s international proposition.
The strength of Chime’s proposition is demonstrated by a strong performance from all five of our brand groups during the year. The Olympics and Paralympics helped to drive an excellent contribution from CSM Sport & Entertainment as well as generating strong future growth opportunities; Chime Insight & Engagement demonstrated the strength of its results-focused, highly responsive approach by delivering impressive growth in a challenging environment for market research; Open Health has built a position as a major player in the European healthcare communications market in its first full-year of operation; whilst the VCCP Partnership, including Teamspirit, has continued to increase revenues at the same time as investing in diversified income streams that will help to ensure continued growth in the future. The Good Relations Group has redefined our proposition in public relations following the departure of the Bell Pottinger companies, with a strategy built around the "Power of Good" for business.
The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games re-affirmed the world’s passion for sport and the UK’s expertise in building innovative partnerships around it.
In this context, the work of CSM Sport & Entertainment in London provided a powerful showcase that positions us to drive additional growth over the next decade. Chime agencies helped to define the experience of the Games for both audiences and brands, dressing every Olympic event and venue, activating events and hospitality for Olympic sponsors, and co-ordinating activity for the International Olympic Committee itself. For our branding and way-finding specialist agency ICON and event activation business iLUKA, work in London is already opening up powerful opportunities in Brazil and Russia, the settings for the major sporting events taking place between now and 2020.
London 2012 also provided the strongest example yet of sport’s power as a global marketing channel, a form of content that reaches consumers in every corner of the world and excites passion, excitement and loyalty that no other communications platform can match. The growing importance of sport to brands is shown by the premiums that top rights such as the English Premier League still command in the midst of a global recession, and by the fact that Brazil 2016 is on track to surpass London 2012 when it comes to commercial support and sponsorship. Such increased demand continues to enhance growth prospects across CSM businesses.
Brands’ demand for content that can drive new levels of engagement will not be limited to sport, however. Music offers an alternative avenue for building highly emotional connections, often with young consumers who are resistant to conventional marketing approaches. CSM Sport & Entertainment is increasingly extending its sponsorship expertise to the music space with work for Lynx Deodorant and Beefeater Gin during 2012. Meanwhile, VCCP has built on its experience around the launch of the O2 arena, now the world’s premier music venue, with its launch of the experiential marketing arm, VCCP Live.
Imaginative use of digital and social media is helping to bolster leadership positions and create new opportunities to grow share across our businesses, and is typified by the Good Relations Group’s ground breaking partnership with Google and the industry-leading Digital Academy.
VCCP’s approach to advertising is perfectly suited to the social media age, focused on populating popular culture, with ideas for Compare the Market and Coors Light that significantly extend the potential of media budgets through "earned" exposure. The agency’s work for easyJet has further reinforced its reputation for effectiveness this year. Additionally a new facet has been added to its integrated offer with the development of real-time search bidding solutions that help clients to maintain the fame of their brands and campaigns in the digital space.
The rapid growth of Open Health is driven by a highly integrated approach built from the start around the new set of challenges facing pharmaceutical companies in bringing products to market. The launch of digital market research agency Watermelon Research has helped to drive growth for Chime Insight & Engagement, with innovative use of geo-location technology to serve location-specific surveys and real-time reporting dashboards that help to align the outputs of research ever more closely with clients’ immediate needs.
The launch of Chime Ventures, which invests in promising ideas in marketing communications, will help to ensure a pipeline of such market-changing ideas within the Group. Chime Innovate, a board of employees under the age of 30, that is charged with developing new business propositions, ensures that we make full use of the ’digital native’ human resource already at our disposal.
The international nature of both sports marketing and communications is central to Chime’s growth strategy. The global sports marketing calendar is driving the expansion of CSM Sport & Entertainment. Chime Insight & Engagement this year opened research capabilities in Sydney and VCCP has increased its footprint in Europe and Asia. We believe that such international expansion has a vital role to play in delivering sustainable future growth, and we will continue to pursue relevant opportunities as they arise.
