Taking a data-based approach has led to victory for the Shanghai-based agency as it overcomes China-specific challenges and adapts to brand demands.
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Category: Performance Agency of the Year
Key clients: Colgate, Darlie, Guangfa Bank, Honor, Huawei, IM Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Perfetti Van Melle, Pernod Ricard, Prada, Three Squirrels, Under Armour
New clients this year: Abbott Pediasure, Fotile, L’Oréal Travel Retail, Ports
Highlights: Wavemaker China believes in the power of data. The agency aims to use data resources to deliver sustainable growth for its clients, analysing campaigns to optimise content and product solutions.
Wavemaker China CEO Jose Campon said: “Only by constantly questioning our beliefs and trying to see beyond the immediate can we always stay relevant.” This is done via ‘Performance Branding’ — Wavemaker’s approach to performance marketing which goes beyond ROI to create a full consumer journey.
It helps Wavemaker’s partners grow with the agency’s fully integrated tech, improving clients’ data analysis capabilities across multiple platforms. This powers innovative solutions and ability to plan ahead of challenges to deliver the growth that often exceeds expectations.
Evidence of the success of this approach can be found in the agency’s retention rate. Among its clients, 103 of 106 — or 97% — chose to stay with Wavemaker in 2022. The success rate at pitches stands at an impressive 70% across the year.
One of the agency’s biggest innovations in 2022 was in smart working, using Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to drive its Wavemaker Intelligence Engine. Laborious tasks were automated using RPA — elevating the level of work, while allowing human talent to focus on creativity and transformation. This resulted in average savings of 40% on data operation and reporting time, and a 0% error rate in data reporting.
Perhaps the largest challenge facing Wavemaker was China’s data protection legislation — the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL). The agency developed a tech-based solution combining privacy computing algorithms and AI-aided prescription modelling to reckon with targeting and marketing operations. Brands were able to perform data learning without the risk of sharing sensitive data with a third party, in a PIPL-compliant manner.
Case studies: Wavemaker helped Henkel Loctite accelerate its digital transformation and connect with consumers seamlessly by building its presence across the digital platform ecosystem. Wavemaker made Henkel Loctite the first chemical industry brand to enter Alibaba’s ecosystem and feature an ad on JD.com, and helped Henkel reach wider audiences through broad media ecosystems by using insights on media behaviour and big data algorithms of B2B users.
By setting both brand and performance measures to achieve effective end-to-end growth for its brand and performance, Henkel Loctite was able to see significant lifts across its campaign objectives. As a result of Wavemaker’s efforts, Henkel Loctite’s brand exposure exceeded the KPI by 60%, exceeded the estimated number of leads 14-fold, and increased its ROI on JD.com by 94% during 2021’s “Double Eleven” shopping festival.
Judges say: Wavemaker China impressed the panel with its data-oriented solutions to brand demands. The agency received particular praise for its “well-rounded” and “thorough” approach.
Wavemaker China also won a silver award for ‘Data Analytics – Greater China.’
