Reactive Perspectives 2014

A collection of viewpoints from
our offices around the world.
2

Introduction
04 – 05
Google’s New Era of Search & Content
06 – 11
What Price?
The Currency of Privacy
12 – 17
Let Your Campaign Buzz with Technology
18 – 24
The Hamburger in Design
25 – 30
Unconditional Project-Rearing
31 – 36
So, You’ve Decided to Go Mobile
37 – 43
Contents
The Welcome
Demise of Art & Copy
44 – 48
Responsive eCommerce:
The Results Are In
49 – 56
Ignoring Risk Management
is the Greatest Risk of All
57 – 61
The Marketer’s Guide to Wearables
62 – 67
Serving Up Content Personalisation
68 – 72
Innovating from Within
73 – 78
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Perspectives 2014
Tim O’Neill
Co-Founder &
Joint Managing Director
There is no turning the digital tide.
Each year our industry brings new
technologies and new ways for marketers
to speak with their audience.
Introduction
Perspectives 2014
4

Introduction
In last year’s Perspectives, we looked
at connected retail, expanding interface
challenges and the value of personalisation
– each one of which has proven to be an
important concept for marketers to grasp
if they want to connect to their customers.
2014 is, unsurprisingly, no different. This
year we look at changes in Google’s search
algorithm, developing for mobile, and
wearables – things we think our clients need
to be aware of and on the lookout for when
it comes to succeeding with new digital
communications. There is a lot of digital
noise out there, and we want to help you filter
through it.
But connecting to your customers is not the
only important relationship your business will
have this year. The way you communicate with
your agency and the way they partner with
you should not be overlooked. We are excited
to delve into the client-agency relationship,
whether it is how we make sure to talk less
and ask more (‘Unconditional Project-Rearing,’
page 31), or how we make sure to regularly
experiment so we always have a stash of ideas
brewing for you (‘Innovating from Within,’
page 73).
I hope you enjoy Perspectives 2014 and, as
always, would love to hear your feedback.
Tweet @reactive with #perspectives2014.
Thanks for reading.
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6
Perspectives 2014
Jules Lau
Head of Content &
Lead Copywriter, Melbourne
Blair Larkin
Content Writer, Melbourne
Google’s New Era
of Search & Content
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Perspectives 2014

7
Perspectives 2014
In August 2013, Google quietly switched on
its new search algorithm without much fanfare.
Aptly named Hummingbird, it revolves around
breaking down searches as questions and then
serving up relevant answers from the multitude
of content they have indexed.
What does this mean for your brand’s
search and content strategy?
7

Google officially unveiled Hummingbird to
the world, just in time for its 15th birthday.
More than just a mere algorithm update (as
Panda was), this was a complete overhaul
of the entire search algorithm, changing
the way Google pulls in search results from
its inconceivably massive database of
information.
At the time of the announcement, Google
called it the next leap forward in search
technology, with Hummingbird affecting
around 90% of all search queries.
But...Why?
The rise of mobile device usage led to two
major insights. Firstly, with voice recognition
applications on mobile devices (Siri, anyone?)
growing in uptake, more people are beginning
to speak their searches into their smartphones
and tablets. Secondly, instead of simply typing
in keywords, more people now search using
whole phrases and questions.
The result? An entirely new formula and search
algorithm to handle these changing search
habits.
While still incorporating many traditional
aspects used in previous algorithms,
Hummingbird shifts from keyword-based
search to semantic search. This means that
now Google can process real speech patterns
and provide more relevant results based on
the searcher’s intent of his query, not just the
keywords he types in the search box.
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Particularly with voice search, which falls
under the semantic search, people tend to do
so with natural language – “I want pictures of
the Eiffel Tower” rather than “Eiffel Tower.”
So now Google will serve up images of the
monument, and not just a bunch of links
related to the Eiffel Tower. They are cutting out
the need to sift through a heap of somewhat
relevant content, thereby making it far easier
and much quicker for a user to find exactly
what he is looking for.
And with a smarter search engine comes the
need for new and clever ways of creating and
marketing content to get higher rankings and
more traffic.
Get Smart…er
Content is King – no matter how much we try
to avoid that overused phrase, we somehow
keep coming back to it. And in the constant
battle around whether content should be
created for search or for users, Google
Hummingbird has laid down the law – it’s for
both.
It’s about creating useful, quality content that’s
directly relevant to what people are actually
searching for. So setting up a blog and filling
it with keyword-dense metadata and on-page
copy just isn’t going to cut it anymore.
Traditionally, brands push out content that is
developed by their Marketing Communications
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team promoting their products and services.
Someone types in a branded search term, say
“Nike Dri-FIT running shorts”, and gets results
directly relevant to that particular product.
But what if the user doesn’t know about the
particular product, and types in “What to
wear when running?” Even if the Nike Dri-
FIT line is perfect for the user, Google would
not rank that highly because content around
that product line does not necessarily meet
the intent of the search. The outcome? A lost
opportunity. And we really don’t want that.
Now marketers need to think about what their
target customers are actually searching for,
and how those queries can be best answered.
It’s the melding of Search and Content, using
the former to identify the user’s needs and
then the latter to meet those needs. Product
promotion can come in later, further down
the page or later in the customer life cycle.
Hummingbird is pushing brands to take searchers
through an engaging and meaningful experience
that spans the entire customer journey – from
awareness and engagement to brand loyalty and
advocacy – not just covering the browse and
purchase model.
So looping back to the example above – if Nike
pushes out content that may not necessarily
promote the Dri-FIT line but addresses some
of the common questions around running
gear, Google will rank it higher up based
on queries and users will be able to find
information directly relevant to their searches
– tips on buying running gear, running gear
10

11
Perspectives 2014
wear and tear, etc. Drop in a couple of product
promotions on the page and voila! An end-to-
end natural shopping experience is created,
engaging the user with useful information,
encouraging him to browse relevant Dri-FIT
products and then head to checkout. Simple
and au naturel.
The point is: create and publish useful,
informative content that answers the questions
your target users are asking. Build your
content around intent, not keywords.
So if you’re a Content Writer, time to celebrate.
Google’s Hummingbird just secured your job
for another few years.
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Perspectives 2014
David Jones
Analyst & Stategist, Melbourne
Brad Paton
Account Director Melbourne
What Price?
The Currency of Privacy
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What Price? The Currency of Privacy
Privacy has always been a hot topic.
But the ease with which data can be transferred
now over the internet, especially with the
explosion of mobile devices, has brought many
aspects of privacy protection into firmer focus.
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At the same time, there is a trend emerging
that suggests people are quite happy to “give
up” certain rights to privacy in return for a
product or service they value.
We are in an era of convenience. There is a
level of expectation in the amount of value
that a product will immediately provide users,
catering to their needs.
Legislators across the globe are attempting
to play catch up with an issue that has
outgrown current laws with the proliferation
of data. Personal information, or information
that could be used to identify an individual,
is being captured by increasing numbers
of organisations. These details are useful
because they can be leveraged to target
marketing materials or profile customers to
identify business opportunities. However,
it also comes with associated risks that
are not always considered up front. In
almost every jurisdiction, the collection and
storage of personal information comes with
responsibilities – the foremost of these being
data security.
In March 2014 new legislation came into effect
in Australia, while similar legislation is pending
in the EU and many states across the U.S.
The focus for most of these legal changes is
not so much protecting privacy, but protecting
data that has been captured – which is good
for the consumer and great for brands looking
to establish trusting relationships with their
customers.
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The information being used as currency can
range from anything as basic as a name,
address and date of birth, to more advanced
personal data like exactly where you are at any
time (geolocation) and what type of activities
you engage in. That information is then used
by the service provider in a variety of ways
to make their website, app or online tool
commercially viable.
In its most simple form, the demographic data
gained from a user signing up to a website is
aggregated and provided to advertisers so that
more targeted ads can be placed in front of the
user. At a higher level, Google and its suite of
products can build up a comprehensive view
of all your online interactions. The content
of a Gmail account can be leveraged to
Personal information is a currency.
A concept that has gained significant attention
online recently is the notion of “personal
information as currency.” People are willing
to trade their personal information as a form
of payment to use what appears to be a
free service. Services like Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Instagram and Google (and its
myriad of “free” services) all rely on this
business model.
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“If you’re not paying for something,
you’re not the customer;
you’re the product being sold”
– Andrew Lewis [1]

details in exchange for something of value.
The key to success is determining what
value is sufficient to entice a user to hand
over their prized personal details.
• The more fields you add to a form (e.g. a
registration form), the less likely the form is
to be completed (lower conversion rate).
• Ensure that your organisation understands
its obligations under relevant privacy
legislation, especially when transferring
personal information across borders. A
collection of international privacy laws
can be found on the Australian Privacy
Foundation website.
identify that you are emailing friends about an
upcoming wedding. By encouraging users to
be signed into Google Plus as they browse,
Google can track what maps a user looks at or
what videos they watch. All of this paints a rich
picture for Google, which their clients can then
leverage.
What does this mean for brands?
Only collect data that is truly going to add
value to your business. There is a temptation
to get as much information as possible, but
unless you are going to use that information to
segment your customers, it has little value.
• It is a proven online business model that
people are willing to give up their personal
16

57% of respondents are fine
with providing personal
information on a website as
long as it’s for their benefit and
being used in responsible ways.
73% of consumers surveyed
said they prefer doing business
with retailers who use personal
information to make their
shopping experience more
relevant.
74% of respondents get
frustrated with websites
when content, offers, ads, and
promotions have nothing to do
with their interests.
88% think that companies should
give them the flexibility to control
how their personal information
is being used to personalise their
shopping experience.
77% would trust businesses
more if they explained how
they’re leveraging data to
improve online experiences.
The Personal Statistics
[2]
[3]
17
References:
1. http://lifehacker.com/5697167/if-youre-not-paying-for-it-youre-the-
product
2. Janrain survey: http://janrain.com/about/newsroom/press-releases/
online-consumers-fed-up-with-irrelevant-content-on-favorite-
websites-according-to-janrain-study/
3. PWC survey: http://www.pwc.com/us/en/industry/entertainment-
media/publications/consumer-intelligence-series.jhtml

Perspectives 2014
Tim Buesing
Creative Director, Sydney
Gabriel Tamborini
Art Director, Sydney
Let your campaign
Buzz with Technology
18

Here’s one recent hot topic you may have heard:
Can technology (not just digital) be the sole
foundation for a campaign? And if so, can only
a technology brand run this sort of campaign?
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Our simple answer: Yes and No, respectively.
It’s pretty clear why gadgets, innovations and
tech stories influence campaigns. Technology
and science are all around us, innovating with
a speed that makes science fiction talked
about as if it’s the weather. Mainstream
media covers it regularly, whether in lifestyle
magazines or featured on the weekly news,
and many of our most valuable brands would
not exist without it.
As marketers we accept that technology is a
brand differentiator. The technical brilliance of
an execution says a lot about how modern and
savvy a brand is perceived, and vice versa for
a campaign’s lack of technical brilliance. Not to
mention – increasing a campaign’s tech-factor
provides a higher cut-through all the buzz out
there, which saves on media spend. Tech is a
talking point, and as a campaign element it is
here to stay.
But before you start seeking out the most
cutting edge technology and connecting it to
your brand, ask yourself this: How do I make
sure this technology is emotional, cool AND
fits my brand’s core idea at the same time?
We have been fortunate enough at Reactive
to succeed in doing exactly that. Last year
we created an interactive robot arm driven
by Facebook users and built for the non-
profit organisation Save Our Sons. Anyone,
anywhere had the ability to sign a petition
calling for support for research for Duchenne
Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) through Facebook
Connect. The robot arm then signed their
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A third component was digital and traditional
PR combined with media thinking – with a
clever use of search and YouTube media, the
campaign reached mainstream television and
radio shows. With over 32,000 Australians
ultimately signing the petition, The Most
Powerful Arm became the most successful
health-related petition in Australian history and
has entered the political debate in the national
Senate.
The takeaways from The Most Powerful Arm
taught us more than a few things about how to
get a campaign to ‘buzz with technology.’ And
they are not just learnings for the non-profit
world – any brand or company can buzz with
technology for maximum impact.
name to a physical petition. It was ‘The Most
Powerful Arm Ever Invented’ and, together with
partner agencies, we targeted the Australian
government to make research on this muscle-
destroying disease a priority.
It was one thing to create a signature-writing
robot (“sign for those who can’t”) connected to
the world’s biggest social network. Adding live
streaming video and posting photos
of the action was an extended challenge.
But the second part was equally arduous, yet
much less visible: getting the human story out
there. Much of it was carried by the inherent
social effect of Facebook and social media
itself. The buzz factor came out of blogs
discovering the story and users getting their
friends to join in supporting the cause.
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When you do get into execution,
please bear these additional
principles in mind:
Get Physical
Try to manifest your creative thought in
a physical shape. We don’t mean in a
metaphorical way, but in an actual physical
piece of technology. People are constantly
fascinated by new technology and physical
objects. It also gives mainstream media a nice
visual to report on. So go on, build a bridge
between the digital and physical world.
Stir an emotion
Connect your campaign with a deep-rooted
emotion. Empathy with children and their
parents is one such emotion. The real hero in
Technology shapes the idea, and the
idea in turn shapes the technology.
What does this mean in a brand-agency
relationship? As a first, appreciate that this
approach costs time and money before any
campaign idea is formed. Reactive invests
heavily into its own innovation capabilities
through global Research & Development
(R&D) Days, a time for our teams to explore
ideas that do not always get the attention they
deserve.
As a client, we have at your ready a catalogue
of ideas and prototypes which we can meld
together for your needs. Developing the actual
execution in an agile process, the very first
idea of how to use a technology might not
become the final delivery.
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Reward Immediately
There are a million other things people could
do online. We kept them on our page by
introducing live streaming video from the
robot’s location. Users also saw an accurate
counter of minutes and seconds till the
signature was going to be written.
Go Mobile
This might seem like a no-brainer, right?
Everyone has a smartphone these days, and
it has become a constant companion. But
yet, quite often we see campaigns which
have little or no mobile consideration. In our
project we focused rather heavily on mobile.
It was a live installation that allowed people
to stand in front of the arm, sign the petition
our campaign was Jacob Lancaster, a
19 year old who is suffering from DMD. He is
an incredibly brave young man, helping future
generations who will benefit from the clinical
research. To get that level of emotion across
in our campaign, we not only featured Jacob
in our intro video but also trained the robot to
write in Jacob’s handwriting.
Set a goal
By announcing an ambitious but achievable
goal of 20,000 signatures, we gave the
campaign a story arch. It showed everyone a
finish line and created positive suspense. The
fact that we achieved and surpassed the goal
added to the excitement.
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measure the impact the project had on the
company or brand. There are inevitably plenty
of campaign goals to measure, but do not
overlook that successful tech campaigns will
also lower internal resistance to new ways of
doing marketing. At Reactive, we appreciate
this shift and can identify future supporters for
our new work as we continue to experiment
and innovate. Technology is just the start of an
idea, and the buzz around it should never stop.
on their phone and then watch the robot sign
the petition with their very own name. Even
though only a few thousand people actually
saw the robot installation for real, close to half
of all traffic to the website came from mobile
devices.
As a principle you should involve digital and
mainstream PR from a very early point. The
more PR colleagues and online influencers that
understand the project, the more momentum
it will gain. Be ready to iterate the idea and
execution, even after launch. Expect curve
balls and you’ll be able to react in time to
keep the project buzzing. Be aware of new
approvals and the process required for it.
After briefly enjoying the successful launch of
any campaign, it is important to immediately
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Perspectives 2014
Tim Kotsiakos
Executive Creative Director,
Melbourne
The Hamburger
in Design
25

Take a close look at some of the apps you
use on a regular basis. You will probably notice
a number of interaction patterns that didn’t
even exist five years ago.
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Like so much else in digital, the rate at which
the User Interface (UI) of applications has
developed recently is rapid.
Applications are designed for regular use, with
a shorthand of icons and hidden gestures
that create a simple looking interface. But the
knowing user is always rewarded with access
to extra features and content with a swipe of
the finger (kind of like a secret handshake) —
being ‘in the know’ with apps relies mostly on
learnt behaviour and a language of commonly
used interaction patterns.
The ‘hamburger menu’ icon and the ‘pull down
to update’ gesture are recent examples of
interaction patterns that we take for granted.
Another example is the Apple OS password
failure screen that shakes left to right, as if to
say ‘sorry, but no’ in a subtle nod to actual
human behaviour. And then there is the pinch
to zoom out, the swipe to scroll … I could go
on.
Applications are used much more widely
thanks to the prevalence of smart phones
and tablets. Instead of Word Processing and
Spreadsheets, users are spending their
app-time connecting with friends, sharing
photos, trading second hand goods, or
whatever else they may choose. People no
longer use their Internet time to just browse
websites, but to use all sorts of apps that
connect them to the Internet.
The fact that the design of applications has
increasingly been impacting the design of
websites should come then as no surprise.
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Common Tropes
The websites that look more like applications
tend to incorporate any number of the
following tropes:
• Discreet navigation that is sometimes
identifiable by a simple (usually a
hamburger) icon that:
-- When clicked, produces an overlay with
giant typographic menu options or;
-- Reveals menu options in a ‘drawer’ from
the side, top or bottom of the interface.
• A general preference for big icons (instead
of words) for navigation, or icons that reveal
words on rollover.
We now have an audience that has been
exposed to a variety of new interaction
experiences. This, along with more
sophisticated website production techniques,
has allowed digital designers and developers
to liberate themselves from orthodox
interaction patterns and employ a host of other
new ones. In the past these patterns were
relegated only to design applications.
Desktop UI is fast becoming much like
something you would expect to download
and install. There seems to be a growing
emancipation of the pioneering days ten to
fifteen years ago, when there was a bigger
appetite for challenging convention.
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why and when should you adopt this sort of
approach?
Going All Appy
When and why to adopt an app-style approach
seems to differ from company to company.
Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between
genuine decisions that make the lives
of the users better, versus simple aesthetic
choice. But the most obvious reasons for an
app-inspired approach to design seem to fall
under one of five reasons:
1. The audience visits the desktop experience
frequently, will quickly learn the interaction
patterns and benefit from the conveniences
they provide.
• An interface that scrolls in an unexpected
way (for example, horizontally).
• An interface that organises content into tiles,
which can be reshuffled by the user, or by
the organic nature of the content itself.
These tropes are featured on a variety of
different websites – everything from news
media (NBCNews) to social networks
(Myspace) to consumer products (Wacom)
and website design services (Squarespace).
Not all are the types of desktop experiences in
which you would typically expect an app-like
approach.
These tropes also seem to extend to short-
lived marketing campaign sites and branded
microsites. Which presents the question –
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Find the Balance
Now more than ever, the opportunities to
produce the best work are prevalent. Every
project needs to find the balance between
expectations (from the user and the client),
and the exploration of new ideas and methods.
But it’s really only now, with better production
techniques and a more literate audience, that
we are beginning to see a new wave
of best practice interactivity emerge.
A website that looks like an app is just one of
the many liberations resulting from this new
design era. The web is about to keep getting a
whole lot better.
2. The desktop experience needs to be mobile
first, and therefore inherits many of the
mobile interface quirks by default.
3. The desktop experience intentionally
mimics an existing app UI (so as to induce
all the positive feelings associated with the
usage of an application experience).
4. The experience needs to express a sense
of creativity or innovation.
5. The experience needs to be unique and
offer a point of differentiation.
Choices around the UI impact the success
of the user’s experience, which impacts their
perception of the brand, product or service.
A poor desktop experience generally equates
to a poor brand experience.
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Perspectives 2014
Brett Thompson
Senior Account Director, Sydney
Unconditional
Project-Rearing
31

This year I became a parent for the first
time, learning very quickly some of those
lessons life waits until now to share.
32

Any parent knows these lessons –
namely:
• The true meaning of spare time.
• The importance of routine.
• The value of un-broken sleep.
Like any new thing, these lessons come with
literature, and like many new parents I spent a
great deal of time reading up, thirsty for any bit
of information I could find. It was one particular
book on a more unconventional approach to
parenting, however, that challenged me to
consider its lessons on an entirely different
level.
The book was called Unconditional Parenting.
And author Alfie Kohn promised on the cover
a provocative challenge to the conventional
wisdom about discipline. Published in 2005, it
divisively encouraged parents to move away
from the traditional model of punishment and
reward, (‘conditional parenting’) to a more
collaborative approach of teaching through
love and reason (‘unconditional parenting’).
Central to Kohn’s argument was a problem
he found in most parenting books that begin
with the question “How can we get kids to do
what they’re told?” and then proceeds to offer
techniques for controlling them.
Holding a mirror to the agency-client dynamic,
it made me reflect on those moments when
communication failed. This new outlook
on parenting made me think – what if it
was conditional processes that were to
blame for agency-client failures? Would
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[4]

parties in a project to consider the whole
when reviewing the parts that make it up.
This is a bigger-picture view that can often
get lost in the day to day management of the
complexities of digital.
6 Steps to Unconditional
Project-Rearing:
1. Be Reflective
“The errors hardest to condone, in other
people are one’s own” – Piet Hein
Be introspective and willing to give yourselves
a hard time, both as agency and as client.
The qualities that particularly irritate some
people about others turn out to be unwelcome
reminders of one’s own least appealing
character traits. This is something particularly
projects run smoother if they were managed
unconditionally?
At its simplest was an observation that
relationships – of any kind – are at their most
ineffective when reliant on conditions, be they
incentive or penalty. And it is no secret that
conventional project management techniques
can be weighed down with conditions
intended to contain and control.
There are many techniques for managing
digital projects, each of which have their
merits and all of which would benefit from a
more unconditional approach to the terms,
conditions and human interactions that
make them work most effectively. Be they
governed by waterfall or agile methodologies,
Unconditional Project-Rearing asks all
34

project and don’t let minor setbacks derail
the momentum or morale.
4. Change how you see, not just how
you act
When an agency does something
inappropriate, conditional clients are likely
to perceive this as an infraction. Infractions
naturally seem to call for consequences.
Similarly, when a client does something
inappropriate, agencies often react
with penalty. Unconditional clients and
unconditional agencies are apt to see the
same act as a problem to be solved, not just
punished.
5. Be authentic
Communicate as people and be genuine.
timely to remember when communication
breaks down and relationships are challenged
during high-pressure periods.
2. Reconsider your requests
Perhaps when your agency or your client
does not do what you are demanding, the
obstacle is not with them but with what
you are demanding. Before searching for
a new method to convince someone to do
something, we should all first take the time to
evaluate the value or necessity of that which
we are requesting them to do.
3. Keep an eye on long-term goals
Keeping a sense of perspective is paramount
to longer-term successes. Have a collective
vision of what you want to achieve from a
35

Remember that people respect those that can
be candid about their limitations, speak from
the heart, and confess they don’t always have
the answers.
6. Talk less, ask more
Create a sense of safety and listen without
judgement. People fearing judgement are
less likely to speak openly, and therefore less
likely to give you the information necessary to
understand the source of the problem.
References:
4. Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to
Love and Reason, Alfie Kohn, Simon and Schuster, Mar 28, 2006.
36

Perspectives 2014
Antony Clements
Developer, London
So, You’ve Decided
to Go Mobile
37

If you’ve decided to transfer your business
into the mobile space, you’re already
making the right first step. But what’s next
and what do you need to know?
38

No one could help but notice the presence of
Samsung’s Galaxy phone during the Oscars
in March 2014. Mobile is present throughout
our daily lives and products like the Galaxy or
Google’s Nexus continue to improve rapidly,
gaining market share and providing users with
options beyond Steve Jobs’ iPhone.
But the iPhone still reigns – even at the
Oscars, with Ellen swapping the Galaxy for
an iPhone backstage. For years, techies have
argued that the success of the iPhone is based
on Apple’s decision to simply make mobile
another extension of using the existing Internet
and their aim to deliver this “real internet” in
our hands.
And their strategy succeeded. The iPhone
brought proper internet browsing to mobile
devices, which helped pave the way for the
popularity of responsive design today. As a
consumer, you now expect a website to adapt
to the device you are viewing it on.
In 2008 Apple changed things, once more:
The App Store was launched. For the first
time, third-party developers could publish
native applications. By last October, Apple
had approved more than 1 million apps for
the App Store, with users downloading almost
three billion apps in the month of December
2013 alone. Some argue this is why the iPhone
is a success – third party, native applications
opened the door for everyone to get involved.
And everyone has. App Store monthly
revenues are four times greater than its nearest
competitor, the Google Play Store (though it
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[5]
[6]

device’s camera or GPS, and then also storing
data to be viewed offline. Web applications
can be built once and are available anywhere
via the web and device browsers.
Alternatively, native applications fully integrate
into a platform and provide a familiarity to
users with minimal effort.
For many app publishers, when building a
native app, the first decision to be made is
whether to build a purely native application
or a hybrid application. Both have their
own benefits and disadvantages, and there
certainly isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” solution.
Many factors can affect the decision,
including: business needs, app requirements
and development timeline.
should be noted the gulf between the two is
closing).
If you’ve decided to transfer your business into
the mobile space, you’re already making the
right first step. But what’s next and what do
you need to know?
Options
There are two pathways on to a consumer’s
mobile device: through the web browser via
a web application, or through the App Store
with a native application.
With the rise in popularity of the HTML5
standard for developers, mobile web
applications can offer users a rich experience
by tapping into some cool hardware, like their
40

iOS HTML5 Standard Cross-platform tools
iPhone Operating System, the name
given to Apple’s mobile and tablet
platform. Any operating system (OS)
is software that manages the computer
hardware it runs on and provides
services to the programs that run on it.
HTML, or HyperText Markup Language,
is used to make web pages and other
content viewable via a web browser.
HTML5 is the fifth revision of the HTML
standard.
These enable developers to write
code once and publish the code to the
different platforms (OS) by bridging
the gap between standard web
technologies and mobile devices.
Web Application Hybrid Application Native Application
An application that runs within a web
browser. It can be made to look like a
native application on mobile devices.
An application that is wrapped in a
native application using the operating
system’s web browser control. Hybrid
applications are a type of native
application built with cross-platform
tools that can be published to many
different application stores.
In a mobile context, a native application
is an application that has been
developed for a specific operating
system (such as iOS or Android).
Native applications are made available
to users via the operating system’s “App
Store” and will typically look and feel
like the operating system it runs on.
Words to know
41

Option Advantages Disadvantages
Web application • Quick development/prototyping time
• Build once, deploy anywhere
• Quicker update cycle
• No access to OS ecosystem: In-app
purchases, push notifications, auto-updates, etc
• Limited or no access to external hardware
• Limited offline storage
Native application • Familiar platform look and feel is
easy to achieve
• Access to all the latest features and
hardware (including external hardware)
• Full integration into the platform ecosystem
• Longer development time if publishing across
multiple platforms
• Knowledge of the platform development tools
and API required
• OS fragmentation*
Hybrid application • App Store penetration
• Use existing html, css, javascript assets
• Shorter development time, developers can
reuse code across platforms
• Relies heavily on the OS web view control
• Difficult to reproduce native application
look and flow
• The cross platform-tool may not support all OS
features (including access to external hardware)
* Operating system (OS) fragmentation is a potential challenge facing all native/hybrid app developers. Each new OS release brings with it a host of new
frameworks, functionality and development tools. The challenge facing app developers is to utilise these whilst maintaining compatibility with older versions of the
OS. iOS fairs better when it comes to fragmentation (compared to Android), with a much higher number of users adopting the latest operating system earlier. Latest
figures released by Apple show that 83% of users are using the latest version of the operating system (iOS 7), with 14% using the previous (iOS 6).
[7]
42

You should use app updates to add new
features to a stable, functional application.
Refine your app, improve existing functionality,
performance-tune, and release. And then
repeat.
Reactive have over four years of experience
developing native apps. Specialising in content
driven applications, Reactive have published
across global markets for global clients –
including Reed Exhibitions, The Stationary
Office, Cricket Australia and Meat & Livestock
Australia.
References:
5. http://www.zdnet.com/apples-app-store-downloads-top-10bn-battle-
for-developers-hearts-and-minds-heats-up-7000024884/
http://mashable.com/2012/11/19/apple-app-store-1-million-
submissions/
6. OS vs Android The Guardian, December 2012. Retrieved January 2014
7. App Store distribution, Apple, March 2014, Retrieved March 2014
Next Steps
Regardless of the application type you’ve
decided to develop – web, native or hybrid –
the next step is to maximise the potential of
success.
The key to a successful application is to focus
on the user experience, and pay attention to
the details. As you decide what to include in
your app, don’t forget – the best apps,
the ones that users access most frequently,
are those that do one thing and do it well.
When it comes to development, mobile
applications are best suited to agile
development methods – iterate and increment
frequently. Focus on stability and security;
stable apps gain positive reviews.
43

Perspectives 2014
Jules Lau
Head of Content &
Lead Copywriter, Melbourne
The Welcome Demise
of Art & Copy

The Welcome Demise of Art & Copy
The death of the tried-and-tested
Art Director/Copywriter team: while this has
been the talk of the industry for some time now,
few have actually done anything about it.
45

Continued proliferation of digital and social
usage has completely upended the traditional
advertising model, and consumers now need
more than pretty pictures and some clever
words on a page to buy into anything.
The 1960s heralded the Creative Revolution,
when Bill Bernbach sat a copywriter and an art
director in the same room and told them to do
what they do best. One of the most influential
figures in modern advertising, Bernbach saw
creative limitations in separating copywriters
and art directors and flipped it around, growing
DDB into a powerhouse that was constantly
churning out amazing advertising.
Those were the good old days of print and
broadcast, during which the most important
skill sets you needed were copywriting and
art direction. But now? Now is the time for
change.
As Apple Once Told Us: Think
Different
There’s little need to explain the business
and customer transformations that digital
and social media have created – they have
been massive, and they have reshaped how
the public consumes information and how
advertisers need to talk to them. No longer a
one-way communication model, consumers
can now look at a product or service and
determine if it makes things easier, if it excites
or inspires them, if it caters to their needs –
and then broadcast their views to the world.
Driven by digital, the media environment of
today is much more fragmented and easily
46

Bring it Back a Full Circle
Let’s be clear – I’m not saying that the art
director and copywriter are no longer needed.
It’s more about being open to evolving the
creative team structure we are all so used to,
thrashing the rules of the old days. We need
to widen that circle to include other skill sets,
integrate them into the creative process and
give them the respect they deserve.
When Bernbach placed the copywriter
and art director in the same room, the two
began producing ideas that revolutionised
the industry. Now, an idea revolving around
words and images simply doesn’t cut it. Say
goodbye to telling a brand story, and hello
to creating a brand experience. It’s about
building an experience that’s well integrated
disrupted – up to 88% of US consumers
are on their mobile devices while watching
TV. There is just so much for the average
consumer to do, and so many platforms to be
on. As users are inclined to share, comment
and check-in more so than listen and learn, it’s
imperative for us as advertisers and marketers
to rethink the way we generate ideas and
present information throughout the brand’s
entire communications ecosystem.
Because we’re no longer talking to a passive
audience. We’re talking to consumers who are
active, who spread their time across numerous
devices and channels, who are desensitised
to the traditional advertising messages that
simply focus on selling. They need more.
47

We do try our best. Along with the art and copy
team, agencies now include UX specialists,
planners, web and app developers, content
and social media strategists, etc.
Being a creative today necessitates the
versatility to work across a variety of
disciplines and a firm understanding that
it’s about generating that one great idea,
no matter where or who it comes from.
We need a variety of skill sets to deliver a
great piece of communication, to produce a
genuinely effective campaign. We need this
team collaborating in a room from the very
beginning, just as good old Bill pioneered so
many years before.
References:
8. http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/goodbye-
art-copy-hello-idea-engineers-101107
and consistent across channels, one which
can grab attention and invite participation, that
provides useful benefits, and generates more
content for our information-hungry users.
A couple of years back, leading industry
publication Adweek carried an article that
pronounced the next generation of the creative
team as ‘consisting of an idea architect and
an idea engineer.’ The idea architect’s role
is to figure out the best way to tell the story –
whether it’s in pictures or words, they are the
ones crafting the brand narrative. On the other
side, the idea engineer is there to figure out the
best way to bring that story to life and build it
into a true experience that is highly relevant
and engaging.
48
[8]

Perspectives 2014
Stephen Foxworthy
Strategy Director, Melbourne
Responsive eCommerce:
The Results Are In
49

Responsive eCommerce: The Results Are In
The debate regarding how best to provide
a mobile-optimised shopping experience
for eCommerce is certainly not a new one.
50

But with mobile sales now capturing
increasingly larger portions of online sales,
eCommerce folk have no choice but to answer
the question of how to approach their user’s
mobile experience. What happened the last
time you landed on a website on your mobile
and the functionality was poor? I would be
willing to bet you pretty promptly exited,
abandoning a potential sale, and have not
been back since.
During last year’s holiday season, there was
a tremendous increase in transactions on
both mobile and tablet across the host of
eCommerce sites we manage, and powered by
Codagenic eCommerce.
Mobile growth Tablet growth
Visits 94% 104%
Transactions 181% 161%
Revenue 215% 114%
*Source: Codagenic eCommerce client sales Dec 2013 vs 2012
With growth like this, the question surrounding
mobile optimisation is no longer ‘if’ but ‘how?’
Companies today have three options for
optimising for mobile sales:
• Responsive web design.
• Native applications.
• Web applications (“M-sites”).
51

experience has shown that eCommerce
businesses benefit the most from responsive
design.
But why?
Email Marketing is here to stay
A particularly strong argument for responsive
web design over apps or m-sites is
eCommerce marketers’ reliance on email.
It remains one of the primary mediums
for keeping in touch with customers. As
customers rely on mobile more than ever, it
is reported that up to 51% of all email is now
viewed on mobile. (See graph, page 55.)
The concern with email marketing is that it
can be difficult to craft landing pages for both
desktop-optimised sites and mobile-optimised
Responsive web design is a process of
making your website content adaptable to the
size of the screen you are viewing it on. By
doing so, you can optimise your site for mobile
and tablet traffic, without the need to manage
multiple templates, or separate content
Native Apps are downloadable applications
installed on your own device that can provide
unique experiences.
M-sites are separate websites that have been
custom-coded for display on a small-screen
device. Generally, the website will detect that
a mobile device is being used and will serve
the m-site in preference to the full website
experience.
Which of the above makes the most sense
is reliant on a variety of factors, but our
52

Managing a dynamic website for optimal
performance in search engines is an on-going,
time-consuming task. As a result, anything
that makes this simpler is a boon for most
eCommerce marketers.
While a well-structured mobile-specific site
can rank as well as a standard website in
search engines, there are many more pitfalls
and technical requirements to optimise an
m-site than responsive web design. These can
include the need to manage multiple domains
or sub-domains, duplicate page content,
canonical URLs and content management
between the different sites. For this reason,
Google recommends responsive websites
where possible and practical.
sites, particularly for high volumes of email
marketing. Responsive web design avoids this
issue, with all content automatically adapting
for the device displaying it. A single page
caters to traffic from all readers, whether on
mobile, tablet, or desktop.
For one Codagenic client, conversion rates
from email marketing campaigns on mobile
devices are more than double their website
average. If consumers enjoy a high-quality
user experience on their mobile, they have
demonstrated they will purchase.
Search Marketing sends customers
your way
Another major traffic driver to eCommerce
websites is Search.
53
[9]

mobile devices, something that can be tricky
to achieve with dedicated m-sites – especially
if the mobile-optimised site is just a slimmed
down version of the desktop environment. This
makes maintenance on the backend easier for
you.
Finally, there are native mobile apps. These
are downloaded and installed on your
device and can provide unique interfaces,
functionality that you do not easily get within a
web browser, and the ability to save personal
details to make transactions simpler and
easier. Apps, however, are generally targeted
to an already highly engaged customer base
who are transacting with you frequently
enough to go to the effort of downloading
your unique app.
Social Media sends customers too
And finally, let’s look at social media.
Social media is a major traffic driver for
popular eCommerce sites. Many retail brands
invest a tremendous amount of time building
social advocacy and communities around their
brands.
The good news is that social media sharing
is effectively free promotion for retailers. The
catch is that nearly all social media interactions
happen on mobiles devices these days. Adobe
reports 71% of people use mobile to access
social media (a very good reason to make
sure your brand is active there).
Responsive web design ensures in-bound
links from social media are all available on
54
[10]

Desktop
Mobile Webmail
*Graphic Source: https://litmus.com/blog/mobile-opens-hit-51-percent-android-claims-number-3-spot
Email reading, by device
55

Content provided by Codagenic.
Codagenic eCommerce is a fully mobile
responsive software platform developed by
Codagenic, a Reactive partner.
If you already have a large, active client base
on your eCommerce website, Codagenic have
developed APIs to enable native iOS and
Android apps to seamlessly integrate with your
eCommerce platform.
But if you’re just diving into mobile for
eCommerce, we think the evidence is clear.
Usability and functionality are directly related
to eCommerce sales. Responsive web design
ensures your eCommerce store offers the best
experience for the widest possible audience
with the minimum amount of management
for you.
References:
9. https://developers.google.com/webmasters/smartphone-
sites/details
10. http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/mobile/adobe-2013-mobile-
consumer-survey-71-of-people-use-mobile-to-access-social-media/
56

Perspectives 2014
Liesl Pfeffer
Senior Project Manager,
New York
Ignoring Risk Management
is the Greatest Risk of All
57

Ignoring Risk Management is the Greatest Risk of All
As anyone working in digital knows, things go wrong.
Sticking your head in the sand and hoping
everything works out perfectly is one option.
For the enlightened digital project manager,
embracing risk management is probably a better one.
58

Last October 1, after a long fight to pass
the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a stomach-
wrenching six (6) total Americans were able
to sign up for Obamacare as a result of the
failed government website. The next day, it
‘skyrocketed’ to 248. What followed was a
very public outcry over the website – how
could Americans be expected to believe in the
ACA if the website didn’t even work? It’s since
come to light that these issues are in part a
result of inadequate project management –
one that failed to fully appreciate the inherent
risk involved with such a massive undertaking.
As anyone working in digital knows, things
go wrong. Probably not on the scale of the
ACA debacle – but nonetheless, unanticipated
missteps can feel just as severe when it
comes to your agency’s reputation and its
ability to deliver.
What exactly is risk management?
At its most basic level, Risk Management
identifies and assesses risks, then sets
out a plan to minimise any impact if (and
when) something does indeed go wrong.
Unfortunately when it comes to digital,
applying risk management fundamentals has
fallen to the wayside – not that it’s anyone’s
fault.
As businesses continue to shift their customer
service efforts online, operating web-based
transactions and storing information in the
cloud, marketing teams have been tasked with
managing them, instead of the IT department.
The risk management practices stringently
applied in IT departments aren’t always being
carried over to the studies and practices
59

rapidly in recent times. Smart organisations
have a senior executive role that manages risk,
and this risk management function is highly
integrated into all decision-making.
In the digital agency scenario, the project
manager typically owns the risk management
function for project delivery and is
consequently the only role with proper training.
However, all members of staff have risks to
weigh and mitigate, and risk management
responsibilities can no longer be relegated
to the act of tracking risks in a spreadsheet
(although that is an essential part of the
process).
Agencies need to give staff the tools
required to manage risk effectively and
invest in educating them in risk management
of most marketers. Marketing departments
rarely have risk management staff or risk
management methodologies that are deeply
integrated into their processes.
The good news: essentially all risks across
the entire digital landscape can be identified,
managed and mitigated through careful
planning. We just need to adopt the risk
management skills and responsibilities that
were previously owned by IT. These include
methods like incorporating risk analyses into
all decision-making, and practising
methodologies such as the ongoing
maintenance of a risk register.
Agencies can learn from enterprise companies
who have been taking steps to increase risk
management processes continuously and
60

Agencies with staff who are adept at risk
management will see improvements in quality,
efficiency and timeliness of project delivery as
well as increased employee retention. Clients
who are provided the tools they need to
mitigate their own risks will be more satisfied
with increased revenue and savings on project
costs.
With all the web-based and instantaneous
activities being conducted these days,
especially across social media, the reputational
risk for our agencies as well as our clients
is astronomical. As savvy, innovative
marketers, we should be ready to consider
risk management both as a service offering
and a fully integrated element of our business
management approach.
processes. Staff can attend courses at local
colleges or online. In turn, rigorous systems
and processes need to be introduced and
followed. Agency staff need to outline and
implement standard processes that educate
the client and provide the client the tools they
need to own their client-side risks.
Digital agencies, as a global sector, also have
a responsibility to increase our activities that
advocate, educate and protect our staff and
clients on how to manage risk effectively.
Our industry already excels at knowledge
sharing. I predict that educating each other
on risk management through conferences,
articles, meet-ups and other events and
communication channels will (and should)
become more of a focus in the near future.
61

Perspectives 2014
Tim O’Neill
Co-Founder &
Joint Managing Director
The Marketer’s Guide
to Wearables
62

The Marketers Guide to Wearables
As I sit here drafting this, glancing at my wrist
hardware to check how much activity
I’ve done today, there’s no doubt that wearable
computing is exciting new territory.
63

In 2013 it remained mostly a talking point, but
this year it’s hitting the mainstream. January
2014’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
held in Las Vegas saw a plethora of new
wearables being announced, from pretty much
every major electronics company (Sony and
LG among others) as well as many consumer
brands (such as Nike).
In the world of product development,
wearables offer up interesting avenues
for brands to get closer (literally) to their
customers. But what are the opportunities for
marketers, and how do wearables fit into the
broader customer experience?
Taking a look at three of the most popular
types of wearables now and in the future, how
can these be used by brands?
In 2013, fitness bands sold like crazy, led by
the Nike FuelBand, Fitbit and Jawbone UP,
appearing on (slim, healthy!) wrists around the
world. Both Fitbit and Jawbone provide ‘API
access,’ giving marketers the ability to create
their own branded apps using activity data.
Walgreens for example rewards customers
with loyalty points for exercising regularly.
As the cost of fitness tracking wearables come
down, it will be practical for brands to create
their own wearables, supported by their own
branded apps. It’s easy to imagine Weet-Bix,
or any other breakfast brand, giving away a
simple fitness tracker with every three packs
sold, and then giving prizes to the most active
Weet-Bix Kids. Yes – attaching the device to
the family Labrador is cheating!
64

65
Wearables: A Future History
Looking further, smart
glasses (such as Google
Glass) will either be the
must-have fashion accessory
of the year or have fallen flat
on their proverbial face.
Either way, developers,
agencies and brands can
have some fun, creating
truly unique and memorable
experiences.
2015
Fitness bands sold like
crazy, led by the Nike
FuelBand, Fitbit and
Jawbone UP.
Both Fitbit and Jawbone
provide ‘API access,’ giving
marketers the ability to
create their own branded
apps using activity data.
Companies reward
customers with loyalty points
for exercising regularly.
2013
Smartwatches are
appearing around every
corner, with dozens of new
watches announced already.
Samsung’s Galaxy Gear
developer community is
currently invite-only, and
Pebble only launched their
App Store in February.
2014

aisle-by-aisle directions to your predefined
grocery list, and sports franchises can give live
score updates to your wrist.
Looking further ahead, in 2015 smart glasses
(such as Google Glass) will either be the must-
have fashion accessory of the year or have
fallen flat on their proverbial face.
Either way, developers, agencies and brands
can have some fun, creating truly unique and
memorable experiences.
The challenge is getting glasses into the
hands (and on the faces) of customers – not
many brands invest in an experience that only
a small niche of their customers can enjoy.
Notable experimenters include ELLE, The New
York Times, Coupons.com and Evernote, who
have all created Google Glass branded apps.
These days, smartwatches are appearing
around every corner, with dozens of new
watches announced already in 2014. Until now,
brands wanting to jump on the smartwatch
bandwagon have had limited opportunities.
Samsung’s Galaxy Gear developer community
is currently invite-only, and Pebble only
launched their App Store in February 2014.
Consumer interest in smartwatches will be
followed by interest from brands. There are
limitless opportunities for brands to create
branded apps that run on a smartwatch, most
likely in companion with an iPhone or Android
phone app. Mercedes, for example, have
announced a forthcoming Pebble watch app
that will show your car’s fuel level, door-locks
and current location. Retailers can provide
66

Apart from apps, smart glasses are being used
in interesting ways for content creation – New
Orleans Tourism captured exciting sightseeing
footage from Glass-wearing “influencers.”
At Reactive we are busy experimenting with
these new wearables, and presenting practical
and relevant opportunities to our clients. Our
teams are fortunately already more active,
running on time and (shortly) will be able to see
into the future.
67

Perspectives 2014
Stephen Foxworthy
Strategy Director, Melbourne
David Jones
Analyst & Strategist, Melbourne
Serving Up Content
Personalisation
68

Imagine if the websites you visited most
frequently knew you were there before pageload.
Or if the local takeaway restaurant knew that you
prefer Chicken Korma on a Saturday night and
Lamb Rogan Josh midweek.
69

Whether you think this is scary or awesome, it
is the future of content personalisation. It has
proven effective at driving conversions and
many surveys on the subject have indicated
that a majority of users understand the benefits
for themselves. While content personalisation
can be overwhelming, it will be infinitely more
successful if marketers plan well from the start.
What is Content Personalisation?
Content personalisation involves serving
content that is tailored to a specific user’s
interests rather than having a “one size fits all”
approach. There are numerous ways that users
can be profiled or segmented with Sitecore’s
Digital Marketing Suite, Adobe’s Test and
Target, and Umbraco’s Spindoctor all offering
variations on a theme.
Broadly speaking, segmentation of users falls
into one of these four categories:
1. Profiled Personalisation
Information that is known about the user
because they have signed in to the website.
This could include information held in the
customer relationship management software
(CRM).
2. Behavioural Personalisation
Information that is known about the user
because of browsing behaviour that they
have displayed on the site during the current
session or a previous visit.
3. Entry Based Personalisation
Information that can be assumed about the
70

would best sit in order to be most effective.
Going back to the local takeaway restaurant
example, the team would need to consider
what content assets would be required
(banners or text?) and where this content
should sit (header or body?). How many
assets will be required – are there going to be
assets for every meal on the menu, or assets
with the menu segmented into courses?
These decisions have a significant impact on
how much time and effort will be required to
make the content personalisation effective.
For many marketers, it is at this point that
even the simplest proposition can start to look
overwhelming.
But effective planning of a content
personalisation strategy can help avoid
user because of where they have entered the
site (e.g.via a certain landing page, advert,
promotional email,or search term).
4. Objective Personalisation
Information that can be assumed about the
user because of how they are browsing the
site (e.g. IP address, geolocation, device or
browser type).
All of these categories require content assets
to support the personalisation, which is often
not considered early enough in the process.
It’s important to remember that each variation
will require a different content asset to appeal
to the identified segment.
The design and development team also need
to identify where this personalised content
71

3. After an initial brainstorm, create a
personalisation matrix that lists the content
requirements, areas to be personalised
and what the trigger would be to spark
personalisation.
4. After choosing the best personalisations
on the basis of business objectives, write
stories that can be fed into the development
requirements.
As more and more customers come to expect
catered digital experiences, diving into a
content personalisation strategy should be in
most marketers’ plans – and doesn’t need to
make you feel like your plate is full.
content headaches further down the line.
The following process has worked very well
with Reactive clients:
1. Focus on business objectives. What
is the personalisation seeking to achieve?
Prioritise personalisation that is going to
help drive macro or micro conversions and
overall business goals. Don’t engage in
personalisation for vanity’s sake.
2. Avoid creepy. Is this going to be something
that the visitor is going to find useful, that will
ease their user journey or is it going to make
them unsettled? This comes down to what
content is being personalised and the tone
of the personalised content.
72

Perspectives 2014
Carl Panczak
President & CEO, New York
73

Many companies are asking themselves how
WhatsApp, the Silicon Valley startup that was
created less than 5 years ago, could sell for the
astronomical price of $19 billion.
Or how the digital hospitality brand Airbnb
could have a projected market value higher than
major hotel chains like the Hyatt and Intercontinental.
Today’s startups could be tomorrow’s
global market leaders.
74

So what can we learn from the approach and
culture of these hugely successful startups
to help our own companies become more
innovative?
The speed by which these companies can
innovate products and go to market is largely
based on their operating model: purpose
driven, agile, collaborative, flexible and digital.
At Reactive we’ve been taking steps internally
as well as in partnership with our clients to
help foster a culture of innovation and build
a more agile and adaptive organisation. This
effort allows us to build digital products,
services, and internal capabilities in a more
dynamic way.
Cross-Functional Collaborative Teams
We have structured our business around
cross-functional teams in each of our offices
for over 10 years. Our teams combine
skills from user experience (UX), visual
design, engineering, strategy and project
management, across different levels from
junior to senior. Teams are always built around
clients so we have consistency and focus,
while ensuring that knowledge, expertise and
relationships are grown and maintained.
Over the years we’ve learned how to optimise
this structure, adjusting the mix of skills
when necessary to ensure the right level of
management and expertise, resulting in the
most efficient workflow for our clients.
75

Day we have a whole new range of projects
prototyped for real-world application, ready
to go.
Celebrating Entrepreneurship
Our founders Tim Fouhy and Tim O’Neill
have always encouraged and celebrated
entrepreneurship within the business.
Nurturing and growing talent and promoting
from within the organisation are high on
their list of priorities. Once our first office
in Melbourne was firmly established, we
continued to expand our business and offer
management opportunities to existing staff.
Today, Reactive has four additional offices in
different parts of the world, with three of them
created by employees sourced from within the
company.
Quarterly R&D Day
Three years ago we introduced a quarterly
Research and Development Day (R&D Day).
We stop ‘business as usual’ for an entire day
and form small teams in each office around
the world to focus on a selected area of
innovation. There are specific guidelines or
themes around each R&D Day to help focus
everyone’s energy and ensure great results.
Ultimately R&D Day gives us an opportunity
to experiment with new technologies, such
as Google Glass, iBeacons or touch screen
technology – or build robots! Our teams find it
allows them to investigate and solve problems
that have been stewing in our minds but
never gained the attention they deserve. It is
also beneficial for our clients: after each R&D
76

Ideas From Anywhere
To innovate a company must be open to new
ideas. This requires a flat, non-hierarchical
structure to ensure freedom of expression
and a culture of ‘no idea is a bad idea.’ We
encourage our teams to collectively contribute
to setting goals and constantly look at how
we can improve our processes, become more
efficient, and eliminate waste. We believe
in ‘fail fast, fail often,’ in that we celebrate
experimentation and exploration. It is better to
try something and fail than to do nothing.
Onsite Teams
Something we are doing more and more
with clients is deploying onsite teams to
work collaboratively with their in-house staff
With offices in very different locations
(Melbourne, Sydney, London, Auckland,
New York), it has also become important that
each office operates with a large amount of
autonomy and runs as a standalone company
in its own right. This ensures each office is
financially independent, whilst also remaining
adaptive and responsive to local markets’
specific needs. Of course we still maintain
strategic oversight and common initiatives and
goals, but we strike the right balance between
autonomy and conformity. When a local team
or office develops a new process improvement
or client idea, we have remained unified
enough globally that we can roll new initiatives
across the rest of the business.
77

Some clients are actually embracing agile
methodologies into their marketing process,
which requires our team to be closely
aligned and communicating constantly to
ensure we are able to facilitate fast, iterative
decision making. But most of all it allows us
to be primarily focused on results – not on
unnecessary process.
to deliver projects. This can take the form
of shorter-term engagements to facilitate
technology handovers and training, or expand
to month-long assignments to work on full-
scale implementations. It is easier to avoid
mistakes when teams are collaborating closely
and making small adjustments in direction to
changing parameters.
Agile Process
Agile methodology assumes that the final
result will evolve as the product is built,
and that all requirements cannot possibly
be known, nor accurate at the beginning of
the project. The idea is that getting a usable
product into the hands of your customer early
will yield valuable feedback, and allow the
product to be iteratively refined and improved.
78

We hope you enjoyed this edition of Perspectives.
Please share your thoughts with us @reactive using
#perspectives2014, or find us on Facebook.
Melbourne
Phone: +61 (0)3 9415 2333
Email: melbourne.enquiries@reactive.com
Sydney
Phone: +61 (0)2 9339 1001
Email: sydney.enquiries@reactive.com
London
Phone: +44 (0)20 7550 8200
Email: uk.enquiries@reactive.com
Auckland
Phone: +64 (0)9 309 5696
Email: nz.enquiries@reactive.com
New York
Phone: +1 (718) 801 8040
Email: us.enquiries@reactive.com

Reactive Perspectives 2014

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