Australasia is a wild, kaleidoscopic, miscellany of voices, visuals, mores, traditions, talents, likes and dislikes. SapientNitro has worked out that linking all those bits and pieces in various ways is good for both ad-creativity and ad-business.  

The Stable:  Sapient began investing seriously in APAC at the end of 2012. What triggered the attention in the region? Where else is Sapient strengthening its presence…and why?

Christian Oversohl, senior vice president, SapientNitro APAC: We look at the APAC region as one of the key growth areas globally within SapientNitro. We decided to invest in the area four years back and increase the pace of building up the required capabilities to support and steward current and future clients to handle the challenges and opportunities caused by digital disruption. Our growth in the region is differentiated between two different focus areas. In one area, the more mature and growing markets like Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong present attractive opportunities for us, working with clients who are willing to deploy sophisticated and complex customer engagement platforms and integrated marketing campaigns. Our second focus is also on the rapidly developing markets like China and India that are also very attractive to us in the medium to long term. Here we are quickly ramping up our presence in these markets that are at the threshold of moving from smaller-scale and mainly cheaper solutions to fully integrated and scalable cutting-edge platforms and campaigns that will drive the future of engaging with clients.

TS:  “Our unique ability to integrate Brand, Digital and Commerce in a way no one else does is redefining what it means to be an agency and is a critical component to the success that we’re able to drive…” [Christian Oversohl] Please explain the secret to your success.

CO: SapientNitro is the only agency out there that can deliver business and brand strategy, connected thinking, marketing services and sophisticated technology solutions out of one hand. We deploy teams that bring expertise from all the required disciplines to the table and act as one. We also present a single point of accountability to our clients. That means the clients can focus on driving their business rather than having to struggle with a multitude of different agencies, consultancies and system integrators that are not working together, but often against each other – leaving the client to play the role of arbitrator. SapientNitro also acts as one company with one P&L across the globe – that means we easily share expertise, people, knowledge and resources between geographies and teams for the benefit of our clients. This is much harder to do for traditional networks and holding companies who usually work in silos and are not incentivised to collaborate with their sister agencies.

TS: How much and what kind of creative collaboration is there between all the Sapient offices throughout the world? 

Andy Greenaway, executive creative director, SapientNitro APAC: Collaboration between the offices happens often, especially on projects where the client is looking to break boundaries.We have all sorts of amazing resources around the world that specialize in variety of ground-breaking technology. We have a team in India currently building an open source robot. We have people who can build face recognition technology, touch screen experiences, augmented reality and much, much more. Recently we worked closely with our ‘Second Story’ colleagues in Portland to push the limits on a configurator for a car client. It was a delightful solution that can only come from teams who understand and can bring creative storytelling and technology together.

TS: What Sapient offices are creative stars and why? Which regions need to amp up their creativity and in what ways?

AG: We’re a start up in Asia. So we’ve got a way to go. That said, our Australia offices have traditionally created breakthrough work. Best Job in the World, for example. We’re making strides in our other markets, too. Next year will be a tipping point for us, I believe. Some of the projects we have in the pipeline are stunning. Our biggest challenge, as SapientNitro, is finding the diverse group of people who allow us to create the magic sauce we’re so famed for. It’s difficult to find XD people, for example. And even more difficult to find UX writers.

Collaboration is key to our success. In AsiaPac, we are building a culture of teamwork where different skillsets (UX, IAs, Copywriters, Art Directors, Film Makers, Designers and Technologists) play in the same sand pit. When we get these different types of people working seamlessly together, and respecting what each brings to the table, amazing things happen.

TS: If this is the goal: “To help brands and companies change as the world does and look around corners for them.” What needs to be done in Australia? In APAC? Globally?

CO: What needs to be done to help brands and companies change as the world does certainly is dependent to some extent on geography, industry and the specific client situation. However, the general direction is similar for all of them. Companies need to realise the impact of digital disruption and innovation on their business and leverage it for their benefit. Our world is changing –  ever faster. We are witnessing fundamental changes at the intersection of technology, business and customer experience. The collective impact of “disruptive technologies” on the human experience is causing chaos for companies. Old business models are failing. Communication and commerce are converging—in the home, on-the-go and at-the-POS. There will be no to turning back and “Digital” is not just another trend that will go away. Companies can choose to ignore that reality or fight it – both of which will lead to their brands withering and businesses being at risk. Or they can look at the changes as an opportunity, leveraging the power of digital to reinvent and innovate their business and become a digital disruptor in their industries and others. Our goal is to support our clients in navigating this path successfully.

Marcos Kurowski, managing director, SapientNitro Australia: As it relates to Australia specifically, a long period of sustained growth and prosperity has atrophied many of the muscles required for disruptive innovation, for transformation. Technology is now accelerating the rate of transformation across all markets so where a lot of our clients are seeking our help is in three areas. First, in understanding the breadth of transformation, innovation and changing customer behaviour that is impacting their industry. More and more this conversation has to have a global lens as barriers to entry are falling dramatically and for many Australian companies their biggest threat is probably overseas somewhere and this is somewhat new.

The second conversation is then around sorting, prioritising, shaping their investment and innovation strategy. With an infinite number of possibilities, how do you manage a set of investments – not just of capital but also executive focus and organisational capability – to maximise the chances of success? You have to be willing to take some risks on big ideas but also continue to incrementally improve what you have today.

And finally it is about execution. Strategy that lives on Powerpoint slides is ultimately just a bunch of pretty pictures. The ability to execute – to bring to life new business models, new ways of engaging consumers, and to do it at meaningful scale is a really hard challenge for many organisations.