The WPP company, headquartered in London, with offices in New York and Poznan, works with brands and marketing agencies to accelerate digital marketing strategies.
In a data and content driven world, marketers and agencies need help with the exploding volumes of content and digital marketing assets they are expected to produce, publish and manage. As customers expect to be met by their brands across all channels and on any device at precise moments of interest, it is imperative that companies and their agencies are structured to deliver this intensely personal customer experience in a low effort and profitable way. Cognifide helps companies to define and execute innovative digital strategies focused on customer engagement and interaction, whilst delivering the required technical platforms to do so in an accelerated manner.
The evolution of marketing from largely art driven to an integrated function that is now more scientific, analytical and realtime is an important shift that requires a new agile way of working and the support of technology tools that Cognifide has experience in providing.
“There’s a burgeoning digital economy here in Africa and we have been impressed by the level of skills and the willingness for organisations to embrace changes that are required for them to accelerate their digital transformation,” comments Miro Walker, Cognifide CEO.
Cognifide has some impressive clients and case studies to draw from, including brands such as Ford, Unilever, GSK, Penguin Random House, HSBC and it is also behind the recent transformation of Absa’s website. Its results-driven approach and proprietary software solutions have worked in many ways, from creating a publisher’s newsroom that enables 300 journalists to publish simultaneously, a reduction of 85% in the time it takes to produce a content piece and reducing the number of developers required from 150 to six by putting publishing tools in the hands of the content producers rather than relying on developers to create digital assets and publish content.
Barkhuizen’s experience as a digital marketing strategist is an asset to the Cognifide team. Previously, she led transformation and enterprise social strategies for companies including Absa, Barclays Africa, Investec and Wyzetalk.
“There’s great appetite for change in local companies, especially as digital transformation becomes a priority for the board. However, despite all the ideals of digital transformation, available technology to make it happen, and moving away from siloed thinking to collaborative strategies, companies are still hesitant to risk the potential for disruption. So, they’re cautiously optimistic, but slow to adopt and this is holding them back,” comments Barkhuizen. “Having worked before with Cognifide at Investec and recently with Absa, it has a way of making this shift to digital seem effortless. I am looking forward to bringing its world class experience here to companies in Africa that are innovative and ambitious in how they want to grow and form deeper connections with their customers.”
