LBi London

The first ‘school’ search engine for Barratt Homes

Posted by Imogen Thacker April 14th, 2010

LBi have created and launched the first schools search engine for UK homebuilder Barratt, in partnership with The Good Schools Guide.  This innovative search engine will help prospective home buyers research the best schools in any given area.   This is a first within the house building sector.

According to customer research from Barratt, some 32 per cent of prospective homebuyers say that the proximity to a good school is an important factor when buying a new property.  Using this type of research to create an innovative new addition to the search on the site was an absolute must.  LBi recommended integrating the schools into the existing search to ensure the customer journey was as smooth as possible without interrupting their overall goal – to find a new home.

Visitors to www.barratthomes.co.uk add their location, postcode or the name of the development in which they are interested and then have the option of asking for more information on nearby schools.  The Good Schools Guide provides data to generate a list of the nearest schools.  Parents can filter by age-range (nursery, primary and secondary) or type (mainstream or special needs). By clicking on a school’s name parents can instantly access details such as the number of pupils and the percentages passing exams in English, Maths and Science as well as Key Stage 2 statistics.  For those who want to find out more in depth information, the school’s website and contact details are also listed.

Ewen Sturgeon, CEO for LBi UK comments:
“Strategic customer centric thinking was the key ingredient to this projects success.  We recommended using search in an innovative way to allow customers to really find the information they need to make an informed decision about their new home”.

Tags: client, press release

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Number One in Marketing League Table

Posted by Simon Gill November 3rd, 2009

LBi is proud to announce it is the number one marketing agency in the UK.  Given the title in BOTH Marketing and NMA Marketing League tables for 2009/2010. 

LBi has made number one in the ‘Top 100 Marketing Agency league tables 2009/2010′ in both Marketing and New Media Age ww.lbi.co.uk.  Founded in 1995 LBi currently employs 350 digital specialists in the UK and provides marketing and technology solutions to a raft of stellar clients including BT, HMV, Waterstone’s, Lloyds Banking Group, Unilever, Electrolux, The Conservative Party and M&S. This year, LBi has expanded its CRM and social media specialisms, made several key hires including Chris Clarke as Chief Creative Officer, and developed a proprietary intelligence platform called the LBi Digital Dashboard to help clients optimise performance across their marketing activities. LBi currently provides leading expertise in combining marketing and technology to provide solutions that span the entire customer journey; strategy and planning, media planning and buying, SEO, PPC, social media and e-PR, creative, user experience, e-commerce, CRM, analytics and managed services.

In spite of the recession LBi has grown in 2009, and deepened relationships with its top clients. Highlights include:

• BT has appointed LBi as its digital agency of record, retained across its consumer and business divisions to improve the performance of digital channels and help BT go to market as a more joined-up multi-channel organisation.
• LBi has been appointed by the Conservative Party as its lead agency to handle digital services including Web development, online advertising and e-commerce in the run up to next year’s General Election. LBi has just launched an “Obama style” community called www.myconservatives.com to activate Conservative supporters.
• LBi has become digital agency of record for Electrolux across 20 markets in Europe. Electrolux was also an important win for LBi because it was one of the first pan-European accounts to move away from a traditional broadcast/campaign model towards a continuous dialogue with consumers, using digital channels as the foundation to this strategy. As part of the 2009 work LBi has been developing the CRM strategy and platform. LBi has also integrated this with a digital media framework that will be used to determine what mix of channel and content will be deployed in each market. Campaign highlights have included putting a smart restaurant on top of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and driving traffic to book this venue online.
• HMV Group has extended its relationship with LBi leading to the complete re-architecture and rebuild of e-commerce platforms for both HMV and Waterstone’s. Phase two for both brands , now under way,  will see the development of new experiences for consumers.
• Now into the 13th year of its relationship with M&S, LBi has been broadening its engagement with new tools to help  both parties to determine the effectiveness of their work across all customer journeys at a much more granular level.  LBi has also been involved in high-profile projects to launch new product lines such as such as the Living the Dream collection (aimed at 11–14 year old boys) in conjunction with Lewis Hamilton.  
• LBi is Lloyds Banking Group’s digital partner and recently won the remit to transform the online banking experience for Halifax and Bank of Scotland as well as Lloyds Commercial (small business) customers.

Ewen Sturgeon, CEO, LBi UK says: “We are excited about the progress we have made this year and the increasing number of clients who look to our scale, mix of creative and technology skills and ability to measure return, to help them optimise the digital customer experience for their consumers”. Sturgeon adds: “Innovation is also very much on the agenda as blue chip brands look to innovate through digital — mobile applications are obviously hot right now: geo-targeting and augmented reality, used wisely, have fantastic potential. A bit further out, Google Wave is really interesting. If anyone can usurp email at large scale it’s probably Google, and the implications of widespread use of Wave on communication between people and brands are substantial”.

Anil Pillai, MD, LBi UK says: “Next year will be all about taking our partnerships with our top clients a bit further. Our best relationships allow us to deliver the full raft of services we offer and connect ideas across CRM, creative and innovation to help brands get closer to their consumers.”

Tags: LBi, league table, press release

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QuickLive Lifetime

Posted by Simon Gill October 26th, 2009

QuickLive Lifetime provides the only fully scalable eCommerce platform that will allow an online business to grow from software-as-a-service (SaaS) entry level to multi-million SKU enterprise ownership without the need for costly re-platforming

 QuickLive Lifetime enables businesses to standardise on best-in-class solutions from the outset

Unique stepped approach to licensing, implementation and business services fills a gap in the eCommerce marketplace

QuickLive Lifetime ‘powered by hybris’, a new integrated eCommerce and marketing services platform will be launched tomorrow at E Commerce Expo 2009. QuickLive Lifetime enables businesses to standardise on cutting-edge eCommerce solutions and marketing services from the outset. It provides businesses with the flexibility, functionality, scalability and ability to customise as required to accommodate future growth. It enables them to respond to market and consumer demand as the organisation moves along the ‘maturity curve’ without the need for costly re-platforming. QuickLive Lifetime was developed jointly by hybris (www.hybris.com), a leading multi-channel commerce and communication software vendor, LBi Technology (www.lbi.com), the Technology Division of the largest full-service digital marketing and technology agency in Europe, and Portaltech (www.portaltech.co.uk), a leading UK eCommerce systems integrator and consultancy.

QuickLive Lifetime is offered either on a SaaS or software ownership basis and supports both B2C and B2B cross channel commerce requirements for businesses of all sizes. The highly configurable platform offers rapid implementation and significantly reduces the cost of ownership overall.

It will enable start up businesses to invest in a fully managed, low-entry, low risk solution but will also support the need for customisation as the business grows, without the costly move to a software ownership model. Improved response times, increased capacity for range extension and the introduction of cross-channel capabilities can easily be managed through the virtualised hosting model giving businesses more power, when they need it. Large scale businesses will be able to move from a fully managed to a self managed environment, as they reach maturity. Different ways to maximise service and minimise costs might be considered but re-platforming will not be necessary. The organisation will be able to protect existing configurations and customisations and move to software ownership with an investment in a hybris enterprise level licence.

This “stepped” approach to licensing, implementation support and business services is offered with a scalable fixed monthly fee to fledging businesses and mature organisations alike. This model can be used throughout the eCommerce lifecycle, with customisation, implementation, support and maintenance provided by Portaltech and the virtualised hosting environment together with design and online marketing services – including Web design, SEO, content management, CRM, merchandising and Web analytics – provided by LBi Technology.

Andrew Piscina, UK Country Manager for hybris, said; “We are delighted to be working with LBi Technology and Portaltech to enable businesses to invest in their preferred eCommerce platform and benefit from sophisticated marketing services from the first day of trading. We are pleased to be able to offer a clear growth and migration path from a fully managed hosted solution for start-ups to software ownership on an enterprise scale. We are confident that QuickLive Lifetime will prove to be an extremely attractive proposition for organisations which may be starting small and want to minimise risk but have big plans for the future and want to take advantage of next generation customer experience technologies and services from the outset.”

John Williams, Chief Technology Officer at LBi Technology said; “The QuickLive Lifetime service is a unique offer that allows a business the control, flexibility and functionality changes to drive the growth of revenue within a SaaS “pay as you grow” model. Buying an eCommerce platform is like getting onto the property ladder. In the past, businesses have left behind their investments in SaaS solutions and had to pay huge premiums to set up dedicated platforms that they can shape to their business needs. QuickLive Lifetime solves this problem. LBi is able to deliver world-class hosting and a full range of digital marketing services to complete the service.”

Andrew Walker, CEO of Portaltech, said; “The collaboration with LBi Technology and hybris to deliver QuickLive Lifetime as a stepped SaaS solution not only provides a future proof eCommerce strategy but provides a complete business solution for organisations that want to make fast and successful entrances into the online world, building brands and creating excellent customer experiences that will attract and retain customers in the long term.”

Tags: platform, press release, tech

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