Frederic Colas Chief Strategic Officer - FullSIX Group here's something ironic in today's situation. On the one hand brands are at last re-thinking their communication strategies, profiting from the array of new digital tools and channels that have proven to be agile, effective and measurable. But on the other hand, official brand-communications are gradually losing their effectiveness and credibility – and that affects their ability to influence consumers' choices. A new approach to brands and product choice To make the best possible purchasing decisions, today's consumers have enthusiastically embraced new tools to search for information (email, messenger, search engines, social networks, price comparison sites...). Thanks to these tools, consumers can now access a wide number of sources they see as more trustworthy than traditional corporate communications: first of all, their network of friends (both physical and digital) and their opinions. Secondly, the opinions of other consumers, which can be found on blogs, forums and e-commerce sites, all easily accessible via search engines. Thirdly the opinion of experts, appearing in the press, both on and off line. Of course, word of mouth has always existed – long before the birth of advertising. But in the new digital age it has been strengthened a thousand-fold, in terms of accessibility, long-term effectiveness and organization. The facts speak for themselves: 82% of internet users use search engines to find out information about products – and 44% of them use instant messaging to express their opinion about a brand. Furthermore, research from the London Business School shows that if positive recommendations increase by 7% and negative ones drop by 2%, the brand concerned grows by 1%. From 'Brand-to-consumer' to 'Brand-to-network' The traditional mass media system (where the share of voice was always the most important element), has today been substituted by a totally new digital marketing environment: the "echo-system". Consumers are no longer just an audience to be convinced: they are a real source of communication, organized in networks. Therefore the main objective of brands is to maximize the echo of their messages, leveraging on these consumer networks. Read full version or the second wave of the engagement barometer carried out in April 2009, OTO Research expanded its research model: ISARATM to all channels. This allowed OTO Research not only to establish a ranking of the 102 most committing brands, but it also provided key learnings into the way customers interact with brands in a period of crisis. This barometer demonstrates that the interaction level remains stable, while the search influences are shared equally across every channel (even if the online channel plays a bigger role in this interaction - excluding distribution). On the other hand, the crisis encouraged all customers to become more conservative in their purchasing behavior: indeed, the interest for brands is declining, falling 11 points on average (from 37 to 26%), while trust climbs back from 4 points. Contact us for further details Project Canvas British Broadcasters (BBC & ITV) and Telco (BT) teamed up to initiate a project promoting TV over broadband. What does that mean and what's so interesting about it? Bar Exchange When social networks, British "after work" and ex-FullSIX staff get together, we assist to the birth of the first global social networking site dedicated purely to the drinks and hospitality sectors. Bing! The new Microsoft search engine helps the global giant achieve double digits in the U.S. search market. But, are these curious Bing searchers turning into dedicated converts? Motion control sensor business Wii is now facing two new competitors: Microsoft and Playstation. This is a windfall for the consumers, but what about the game developers? 35 Augmented Reality cases Although augmented reality appeared in the 90's, it's only in the last 12 months that the interactive industry made the best uses of it. See as an example the 35 great applications in video.

Cannes Lions Becky Power, creative director at FullSIX, intervened during the quirky Workshop "Creative Social" ( The Good, The Bad & The Really Really Ugly). Media Evolution The last version of the media evolution video (from 1994 to 2010) is available for download on the FullSIX France website. Watch the video FullSIX China launched for Garnier China "True White SPF26", a mini site dedicated to the UV product education campaign. www.garnierchina.com FullSIX China released the "Ferrari Dealership Extranet", characterized by a new fresh look, along with new functionalities for the dealers. www.ferrariasiapacific.net FullSIX China launched a mini site dedicated to Etam June Newsletter. The site features the legendary story of its spokesperson and also wraps up the reward redemption in April. www.etam.com.cn As part of its new communication campaign, FullSIX France launched the new version of the Malakoff Médéric corporate website. www.malakoffmederic.com FullSIX France conceived a simple and efficient mini site for e.LCL (LCL's online only bank), to present to non-clients its approach and special characteristics. www.e.lcl.fr 6:AM, the media branch of FullSIX is in charge of the acquisition program for the American Express Corporate group (including an online media campaign). The famous underwear brand Wonderbra turned to FullSIX to handle their digital communication strategy. agence7seven, the FullSIX group creative hotshop was chosen by AOC Corbières union to realize its global communication strategy. It is now online on YouTube the 4th episode of the first season of "Green Eyed World" series, created by agence7seven for Sprite. See the episodes

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