BrazilDentsu Aegis harmonises Merkle brand in the Netherlands
Two years after acquiring Oxyma Group – a group of marketing firms in the Netherlands – Dentsu Aegis has harmonised the brand of the group’s subsidiaries to Merkle Nederland. “As of today, we operate as one team under a single brand,” said Jos van Loo, chief executive of the newly launched Merkle Nederland.
Back in November 2017, Dentsu Aegis made a major push into the Dutch digital marketing consulting and agency market when it acquired Oxyma Group, the parent of agencies Oxyma, Oogst, Your Social, aFrogleap and OFS. Oxyma Group was formally integrated into Merkle (Dentsu Aegis’ US-headquartered performance marketing agency) but in their go-to-market approach, the six 330-strong agencies continued to operate under their own brand.
Now, in what is a pioneering move for the firm, all of Merkle’s subsidiaries in the country have adopted a unified brand – the Netherlands the first country in Europe to implement the brand harmonisation strategy. Van Loo acknowledged that retiring the Oxyma, Oogst, Your Social, aFrogleap and OFS brands will not come easy for employees and clients, yet the firm is confident it has picked the right moment to do so. “While we will be waving goodbye to the labels, we won’t be saying farewell to their positive vibe and everything else they stood for.”
He added that the firm deliberately took the time – some 24 months – to ensure a smooth integration within Merkle and for the single brand philosophy to come to life. “The road to this point was a beautiful one and our employees our proud of their new Merkle brand.”
Operating under one umbrella, Van Loo says that the professional services firm will be better positioned to draw from collaborative potential and multi-disciplinary synergies. “Our employees but also our clients will gain access to a much larger world of capabilities and expertise.” Globally, Merkle has around 9,000 employees across 65 offices, allowing the firm’s Dutch arm (330 professionals in offices in Amsterdam, Breda and Rotterdam) to tap into a massive network, track-record and thought leadership base.
A deep marketing track record
Mirroring its global footprint, Merkle Nederland provides its customers with an end-to-end portfolio of marketing services. Key offerings include Marketing Strategy (defining winning strategies), Digital Media (helping clients leverage the best media mix to reach their audience), Marketing Analytics (turning marketing data into valuable insights), Brand & Campaigns (concepting and delivering brand content and campaigns) and Customer Relationship Management (helping brands build reputation and loyalty).
The firm’s digital consultants and technologists also bring deep expertise in technology to the table. Leveraging partnerships with among others Adobe, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, IBM, Oracle, Qlik and Tableau, Merkle Nederland helps its clients with building websites and apps, and implementing systems and solutions.
“Data and technology of course play a large role in modern marketing, but ultimately it is all about the people behind the data,” said Van Loo about the firm’s key belief to place human capital at the heart of change. “Merkle helps companies and institutions with bridging the gap between data, creative and technical silos, with people central to our approach – people-based marketing as well call it.”
Clients Merkle Nederland works for include multinationals and mid-sized companies. The firm is for instance helping Praxis with a deploying a new customer relationship management and communication strategy, and helping luxury lingerie brand Marlies Dekkers with ramping up its online marketing and omnichannel maturity. French multinational Bonduelle is working with Merkle on social branding, while tour operator Corendon, Dutch national railway operator NS, cinema brand Pathé and media giant Sanoma are working with the firm on digital pathways to improve the personalisation of their marketing plans.
