Our announcement in November that we would be launching a new kind of global creative network with US media and marketing giant Meredith saw us at the heart of some of the biggest news of the year. The move saw us bring together our global reach and full house of creative services with Meredith’s in-depth insights into the digital, CRM, data and mobile fields. It also marked a big step forward for the industry, as the first cross-category collaboration between a marketing agency and a media company.

This marked the end of an amazing year of firsts for us here at iris (see creative section: ‘Creative Work in 2011’). At the beginning of the year, we announced Ian Millner’s Chairmanship of the Marketing Agencies’ Association – a position which saw him step up to the plate to become even more of an influential figure in the industry. In July, Ian and the MAA launched the first ‘Marketing4StartUps Week’ in conjunction with Start-Up Britain, which sparked a wave of free events across the country for the UK’s entrepreneurs.

In May, we launched our unique social media division and the industry’s first of its kind, under our social media proposition ‘Urgent Genius’. Our global Urgent Genius HQ, which we launched due to the success of our Urgent Genius Weekender creative competition in February which saw Microsoft and Google take part, is able to produce content in hours and minutes for clients such as Sony Ericsson and adidas, breaking down the boundary of client approval processes.

In addition to launching new disciplines such as Urgent Genius, the merging of our internal disciplines last year really paid off, with our specialist expertise speaking for itself this year. We triumphed in not one but two of Marketing magazine’s leagues, taking 3^rd place nationally in their UK experiential leagues and 4^th place in their digital leagues, topping some of the UK’s leading agencies such as M&C Saatchi and Dare.

As the official agency behind the London 2012 Olympic Mascots, we unveiled their new online home for them this year, which saw fans all around the world able to create their own customized digital mascot. We also launched supporting activity for them, including the screening of our bespoke mascot motion-sensor games on interactive 40ft screens across the UK, allowing fans to compete live against users from other cities.

We deepened our global relationships with clients including Philips, RBK, Heineken, Barclaycard and Shell.

In October, we launched iris Ventures, our business incubator consultancy, which allows us to give marketing and strategic advice to individuals and companies looking to take their products and services to market.

We attracted more of the industry’s big-name talent this year, including acclaimed producer Jane Rattle as our new head of broadcast production, overseeing all of our TV and animated content-driven work for clients like the FA, adidas, Volkswagen, LOCOG and Orange, as well as Wunderman’s Graham Rhodes as managing partner and head of our Barclaycard account.

We also repositioned some of our best talent and this included sending our man and wife duo Simon and Claire Humphris to manage our Manchester office as it won more projects from clients like adidas. We also appointed our former Sony Ericsson client lead Tom Crossley as our new head of people. Tom’s been leading the charge on kicking off a range of brand new cultural initiatives this year and maintaining the agency culture that iris is famous for.

Globally, we’ve been very busy, entering three new countries and notching up some impressive new appointments such as becoming the regional experiential and sampling agency of record for Coca-Cola across APAC and being appointed to create through-the-line campaigns for Emirates. In April, we officially launched our Amsterdam office, which now works with clients including Google, Heineken, Philips and Hertz. In November, we launched our 220-strong operation in Indonesia, which saw our headcount in Asia grow to over 400 overnight and next month, we’ll officially be launching our Mexico office to support our fast-growing Latin American operation.

And onto next year, we’ve just been told we’re the UK company with the most panels accepted at global interactive festival SXSW – only Microsoft has more. So hopefully we’ll be able to give you more great news in 2012.

Quit UK The year began with an innovative new approach to helping smokers keep their New Year’s resolutions.  Sedentary leisure activities index highly amongst long-term smokers and reading tops the list. So in partnership with booksellers and Kindle we placed this motivating message where it would hit the hardest, before the final chapter of novels, resulting in a 240% increase in calls to the Quit line.

Heineken How do you become up-market when you’re already mass market? How do you make Heineken the drink of choice in high-end bars and nightclubs?  Instead of just advertising, we created a unique packaging solution  – an ultra-light aluminium bottle that lit up under UV light, led consumers to destinations and became a talking point in the world’s most fashionable high-end venues. The Star campaign has increased sales in over 40 markets.

VW The Amarok is Volkswagen’s first pick-up. But how do you launch a new entrant, with a smaller more intelligent engine, into a macho category where brute force is everything?  Our solution was to link knowledge with power in a ground-breaking content event, using 4 Amaroks to demolish a 140 tonne chimney in seconds – gaining over 130,000 YouTube hits and £1.5 million of media within days and generating a 12-month waiting list.

Frijj In March we created the ultimate sales promotion for Frijj giving consumers the chance to win a human being for a day. Win Warren was Frijj’s most successful promotional activity ever, selling over 9.5 million bottles.

Speedo is globally renowned as the competitive swimmer’s choice. To help democratize the brand we created a unique content platform  – Unforgettable Swims – a digital community where all swimmers could tell their stories. We launched it in May, introducing the human side of the world’s greatest living swimmer, generating over 160,000 visitors in the first month.

VWCV In June we unveiled VW’s first Commercial Vehicles brand TV campaign for over 5 years. The 60 second spot defied “functional” category conventions to deliver an emotive reminder of the long and trusted bond between owners and the world’s greatest van brand, evoking the era when the brand became an icon.

VW is now the UK’s most desirable van brand and has moved from fourth to second in the category.

Adidas The new adidas predator boot gives players outstanding control of the ball. So to launch it we gave fans total control of some of the world’s best footballers. Call The Shots used films and social media to create an online phenomenon resulting in over 20 million online interactions.

Frijj Hot on the heels of Win Warren we developed the world’s first LOL detecting game. You LOL You Lose uses facial recognition technology to test your tolerance of the unexpected and prepare you for the introduction of 3 exciting new limited edition milkshakes.

Philips Following on from last year’s Steam And Go campaign, we created another iconic print and digital campaign for the launch of the new Philips Fidelio Sound System.  The work, featuring Liam Gallagher, was so impactful it doubled distribution and created an 80% increase in sales in online outlets.

Wonderbra And we finished the year with another spectacular for Wonderbra – a social media campaign that culminated with an iconic bungee jumping poster that was projected onto Battersea Power Station and picked up by press all over the world.

Oh and while you’re here, we thought we’d give you a sneak preview of our first ‘first’ for 2012 for Quit UK – the ‘Age Yourself iQuit app.

But 2011 saw us take this to a whole new level. We’ve accumulated market-leading clients in most categories and this year it has been about extending our relationships with them throughout the network. We also added some even more amazing names to our roster, including the following…

In January, we announced we had been appointed by the Football Association to create the official launch campaign for the new Women’s Super League. They then tasked us with creating an integrated campaign for their well-known Respect programme, which saw us create and launch our own football league.

In February, global stationery brand Avery Dennison charged us with handling all the comms for a number of their global departments going forward.

In May, we won the pitch to create a global campaign for wine brand Lindeman’s. This saw us launch an integrated campaign across TV, digital, press, retail, experiential and PR this October.

In June, we revealed the news that we would be working with our old friends the COI again. The 3 year contract will see us deliver two key youth partnership campaigns next year for the Home Office – ‘Frank’ and ‘Teenage Relationship Abuse’.

In July, Reckitt Benckiser who we work with in the US, appointed us to work on 3 of its brands. Durex picked us for the important job of connecting them with their youth audience globally; Vanish wanted us to develop a global digital campaign for them including a new website and Cillit Bang have asked us to take them into the realms of F-commerce with Facebook.

In August, we passed the test when we were appointed to work with AQA – the largest education board in England. We created a new online tool which is now being implemented across the UK to help teachers do online revision with their pupils.

Also in September, lipcare brand Lypsyl appointed us to launch a new range, drawing on our experience in youth to target a younger female audience.

We were also busy extending our relationships with our existing clients, winning more business from clients including…

Philips – In March, we were awarded the brief to launch the UK Fidelio Docking speaker and developed the well-recognised integrated campaign featuring Liam Gallagher.

In May, we were appointed lead agency to manage the launch of PerfectCare a revolutionary new Steam iron.

In April, we were appointed lead agency to launch the latest Sonicare toothbrush and developed an integrated campaign across TV print and digital for Europe and US markets.

Also in Q1 we were selected to run the integrated campaign for ThinkLink a new Home phone with crystal clear sound.  The campaign was launched in retail and digital channels.

Adidas – In September, adidas awarded us its Team GB football retail and PR account.

Heineken – In June, we were appointed to raise awareness of Heineken’s position as official lager sponsor of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Phew! What a year.

The film is designed to make teenagers think twice about smoking by dramatising its physical effects. Smoking ages smokers’ skin by around 20 years and the ad uses a provocatively exaggerated visual effect to get this fact across, depicting a girl getting visibly older as she inhales. The ad will be screened at cinemas across the country before the new Seth Rogen movie 50-50, starring Joseph Gordon-Hewitt as a young man dealing with cancer.

The ad will be accompanied by an app created by iris called ‘Age Yourself’ to enable people to see the effects of smoking by blowing cigarette smoke onto an image of themselves on their phone and seeing it age instantly. It will be released in January to coincide with the New Year period, a time when smokers’ traditionally decide to give up smoking as a New Year’s resolution.

Glyn McIntosh, communications director of QUIT UK, said: “The teen market is such a hard market to reach as they believe they are invincible from the effects of smoking. iris have come up with a fantastic campaign which for the first time we believe will really hit home with this audience. The cinema ad is brilliant and something that has the contagious value of an app is perfect for this group as it will not only allow them to see the effects personally but share with their peers – the ideal spokespeople for this audience.”

Shaun McIlrath, iris executive creative director, said “The aging fact is a very compelling disincentive to younger smokers. But we needed deft handling in the execution to deliver it in a hauntingly memorable way. Steve has created a really simple, powerful film that is, at the same time, both engaging and unsettling.”

Director Steve Hudson of Hungry Man, who created the spot, said: “Kids think they’re immortal these days, all you can do is appeal to their vanity.”

The film will also be shown in schools nationwide as part of QUIT UK’s educational workshops.

New York, NY (November 15, 2011) — Since 1949, Saks Fifth Avenue’s world famous holiday displays have delighted children and adults alike. This year, the entire Fifth Avenue flagship comes alive with a dramatic light show projected onto the building; The Snowflake & Bubble Spectacular.  Launching on the evening of November 21^st,  with a performance by the American Ballet Theater, the Saks light display was a revolutionary celebration of technology and fashion.

An updated twist on last year’s theme, bubbles interact with snowflakes on the façade of the New York flagship store through state-of-the-art projection technology. The show comprised of a full 3D model, which will be projected back onto the building to create a brighter, more impactful effect. It used a custom-built 6-projector system and a new soundtrack, composed exclusively for the show.

The technology is made possible through accurately mapping the landmark building’s details into a computer and creating a vivid 3D projection that can appear to change the features of the building itself.  The visual effects include snow gathering up on ledges, bubbles emerging from the windows, and the entire façade appearing to freeze over.

Steve Sadove, Chairman and CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue remarked, “The snowflake has been part of the holidays at Saks for years, and this season we’re building on another festive element from last season: the bubble.  The show is quite an undertaking, using state-of-the-art video technology to animate the entire Saks building. It, along with our windows will be a must-see for everyone spending the holiday season in New York.”

About Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the world’s preeminent specialty retailers, is renowned for its superlative American and international designer collections, its expertly edited assortment of handbags, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics and gifts, and the first-rate fashion expertise and exemplary client service of its Associates. Today, Saks operates 46 full-line stores in 22 states, 5 licensed stores in the Middle East and 2 licensed stores in Mexico City, 60 Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH stores and saks.com, the company’s online store. www.saks.com

London, 6th December 2011: Wonderbra will unveil an integrated campaign this week by iris to launch its Ultimate Plunge bra – the perfect solution for this season’s low necklines. The campaign will kick off with a live stunt at 00:00 hours this Tuesday 6^th December, which will see Wonderbra fans complete a bungee jump in front of London’s Battersea Power Station. Pictures and footage will then be seeded online and in print today to kick start a month-long digital and PR engagement campaign.

Targeting fashion-conscious women aged 18 to 25, the campaign for the new bra – whose clear centre gore and innovative Wonderbra hand structure give a deep, plunging cleavage – will see girls selected from Wonderbra’s fan and online database to ‘take the plunge’ in front of a gigantic image of Wonderbra girl Adriana Cernanova projected onto London’s Battersea Power Station.

From today, girls will be invited to follow the campaign on Facebook and social media forums and will be encouraged to ‘take the Ultimate Plunge Style Challenge’ by entering into a draw to win a style consultation with TOWIE star and fashionista Lydia Bright and a VIP night out in London. Four winners will be chosen weekly starting in December.

New Wonderbra ambassador Bright will also be producing exclusive Facebook content in collaboration with Wonderbra throughout the month, engaging with fans via print and online interviews and online product demos.

Julia Nolan, Marketing Director at Wonderbra UK, said: “The Wonderbra girl is constantly seeking out and sharing fashion and style ideas online so we will be focusing on social media to create buzz and engagement. iris has created a campaign which will excite and inspire our audience, generating talkability to ultimately drive purchase.”

Nick Porter, managing partner of iris PR, said: “There is a social pressure for this audience to look good and be constantly updating their image, yet our insight showed many don’t experiment with a new look as they don’t always feel confident to wear it. Our campaign motivates this audience through their preferred medium, digital, and inspires them to be braver with their look. By putting a plunging neckline in context with other fashion and lifestyle challenges, we will aim to encourage Wonderbra girls to be bolder than ever and to ‘take the plunge’.”

iris created Wonderbra’s first ever 3D billboard in 2010, and has previously launched a number of integrated campaigns and product launches for the brand since it began working with Wonderbra in 2005.

As part of a month-long campaign to mark the 26^th Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, it will turn the walls of Euston Station into a nerve centre of live news information, saving commuters the hassle of ‘checking’ the things they worry about every day before reminding them to check their breasts regularly.

Working with iris and the UK’s No. 1 out-of-home advertising company JCDecaux, the charity will cover the walls of London’s Euston station with nine interactive e-motion screens, featuring live integrated news feeds. A global world first in digital outdoor in terms of the number of feeds running live information, the feeds will screen everything from horoscopes to the date and the time in Tokyo and Paris*, detailing the little things consumers are compelled to ‘check on’ every day.

Pink screens will flash up intermittently reminding consumers to check for signs of breast cancer alongside the many smaller things they check every day, featuring the straplines: “You check a million and one things all the time. Make one of them your breasts.”

The campaign will run across the 9 interlinked e-motion digital screens until the end of October, turning the busy station into a real-life news hub.

Shaun McIlrath, executive creative director at iris, said: “Technology has become so immersive that we’re often distracted from what’s important, by what’s immediate. So it’s great to be able to use advanced technology like e-motion to make that point and deliver a care message with real relevance and impact.”

Spencer Berwin, Managing Director – Sales at JCDecaux, said: “This is a fantastic creative use of our newest digital product e-motion. Using live feeds across 9 screens delivers incredible impact to our growing commuter audience.”

In the UK, 130 people will receive a diagnosis of breast cancer today. Breast Cancer Care is here to support anyone affected by breast cancer through its free phone helpline, online forums and expert information. All its services, publications and support are run entirely free of charge.

iris has also been responsible for two other outdoor world firsts this year, launching Wonderbra’s first 3D billboard poster at Waterloo, and unveiling 20 live sites across the UK for LOCOG featuring two of the official games for the Olympic mascots, which iris created.

The office will see iris enter its fifth country in Asia with a 220-strong operation in Jakarta and a field force operation of over 700. The office will offer end-to-end integrated marketing solutions in line with iris’ core proposition which spans advertising, digital, retail, experiential, sponsorship, PR, management consultancy and CRM.

With iris’ headcount in Asia now over 400, the deal comes as a result of both increased demand from some of iris’ biggest clients – including Sony Ericsson and Diageo, just two of the agency’s key clients in the region – and a new phase of growth planned by the Nava+ group. The opening will be a significant move for iris in Asia Pacific following several recent growth announcements, including the appointment of Luke Nathans as regional development director for Asia.

Nathans said: “It’s great to be leading this significant chapter of our Asian growth story. Indonesia is an incredibly important market for any network, its growth potential is extraordinary. But more importantly, some of our biggest clients have a presence there, and they want us to be part of their future. We’re looking forward to working with them and the existing management team, including Brian Estes and Maneha Widarso, to shake up the market and have a bit of fun doing it.”

Ian Millner, joint global CEO of iris, said: “We are the alternative to the traditional global networks. Indonesia is one of the most interesting and rapidly developing markets in the world. We want to give clients an unfair advantage wherever they need us. We can’t wait to work with David, Brian and Maneha.”

David Wibowo, President Director of the newly minted Nava+ group (named after ‘nava’ which means ‘new and refreshing’ in the language of Sanskrit), said: “After 20 years, we’ve built a uniquely strong foundation in Indonesia with offices throughout the country, and now we’re restructuring our services to be the most brand experience-focused, entrepreneurial group in Indonesia.

“We’re thrilled to work with iris – iris is extremely progressive as an agency and a completely different type of animal in the market. They are doing great things for some of the top brands in Asia. The reason why they are doing so well is because they are continually moving with the times, and doing things that no other agencies are even thinking about yet. That’s what makes them so special. They are an ideal kind of agency for us as they embody that kind of fast-thinking creativity that puts an agency at the top.”

iris, whose other offices in Asia include Singapore, India (New Delhi), China (Beijing) and Australia (Sydney, Melbourne) has added a number of new clients to its roster in Asia Pacific within recent months, most significantly becoming the regional experiential and sampling agency of record for Coca-cola across APAC. It also recently became the Most Awarded Agency in Singapore at the PMAAs last month. iris’ other Asia Pacific clients include Emirates, Audi, Diageo, Heineken, Sony and Tiger Beer.

The leagues, an industry benchmark, are published annually and rank the top digital agencies in the UK based on turnover.

iris’ joint CEO for London, Tom Poynter (formerly iris’ managing director of digital), said: “In Q3 2010, we integrated the 120 strong digital part of the agency into the broader marketing services of iris.  We wanted to be able to offer extraordinary integrated ideas for our clients and in 2011, we have seen the benefits of our efforts – deeper client relationships, more award-winning creative and technology thinking, along with commercial efficiencies for our clients.”

iris’ digital clients include Sony Ericsson, adidas, Philips, Shell, the FA, LOCOG, Reckitt Benckiser, Volkswagen and Wonderbra.

iris came 4th in the table, following digital specialist agencies such as LBi, EMC Consulting and AKQA and ahead of 20:20, Publicis, M&C Saatchi, Dare, VCCP, Poke, Ogilvy Action and Wunderman.

In August, we came 3rd in Marketing’s UK Experiential Leagues.

We are now roughly 800 people across the world, and are increasingly finding ourselves going head-to-head against the big advertising groups.

Over the last couple of years, we have noticed that the consumer world is becoming increasingly driven by digital engagement and that content is becoming more and more important to consumers, and therefore clients.

That is why we have decided to launch a new type of creative network – one that is fit for this ‘always on’ world we now live in. It will combine the global reach and integrated creative services of iris with the scale, content and CRM capabilities of our strategic partner Meredith to offer clients bespoke marketing solutions built around the needs, values and wants of the consumer.

The move will create a new type of agency model that will give clients the benefits of iris and Meredith’s combined assets of more than 4,000 people, with 25 offices across 13 countries.

Meredith is a billion-dollar organisation that publishes titles such as Better Homes, Family Circle and Home Journal, owns many US local TV stations and holds data on 85 million American households.

In addition, they have also built one of the most innovative Marketing Services groups in the US. Meredith Xcelerated Marketing has around 700 people working in CRM, Mobile Marketing, Digital and Healthcare, in New York, Detroit, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

Our global CEO and co-founder Ian Millner says of the move: “This is going to offer clients a real alternative to the traditional agency network model and one that is fit for the ‘always on’ world we now live in. This network is built around the needs and interests of consumers. The more we can make clients look and feel part of consumers’ lives the more value we can create for them. This network is about enabling us to create extraordinary ideas for clients that can deliver exponential results.”

“We believe that the best marketing in the world looks and feels more like ‘participation content’ than the more linear models around marketing communication. Meredith are experts in content and in the creation of ‘value-add’ communities built around consumers. We are bringing these skills together with our creative skills in advertising, direct, digital, retail, PR, social, sponsorship and experiential to give the best and brightest clients in the world all the tools they need to get closer to their consumers,” he continued.

Martin Reidy, President of Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, said: “Joining forces with iris provides a new level of capabilities and resources for MXM, and gives us a leadership position in Europe and the UK, Asia and Australia, and North America as well. iris Worldwide possesses tremendous creative resources and marketing capabilities that align with our strategic goal of providing versatile, cutting-edge solutions to our clients whenever and wherever they need them.”

Both iris and Meredith will retain their global brand identities and continue to offer a broad range of marketing services but will share consumer insights and additional skill sets such as data, analytics, healthcare and mobile with the Meredith range of companies.

Nothing else will change. We will be run in the same way (and by the same people), we will still be called iris, we will remain independent, and most importantly, we will still be driven by our clients and our people.

iris’ global clients include Sony Ericsson, Microsoft, adidas, Heineken, Reckitt Benckiser, Shell, Orange, Philips and Volkswagen, while Meredith’s include Kraft, Honda, Lowe’s, Allergan and Chrysler.

iris presently operates in 13 countries including the UK, Amsterdam, France, Spain, Germany, Australia, India, Singapore, China, the US and Mexico.