m/SIX Hosts First Multi-Market Black Friday ‘War Zoom’ with Fossil Group EMEA
Fossil Group, Inc. an accessories brand specialising in watches, leather goods, jewelry and smartwatches hosted its first- ever multi-market Black Friday 'War Zoom' last Friday with the support of m/SIX, its agency of record for the EMEA region. Working together, client and agency analysed a number of different data sources in real-time, leveraged against increased consumer demand and activated campaigns in real-time and at pace.
Black Friday marks the most significant day for online sales. With the current global pandemic disruption, and several Fossil Group EMEA retail stores and wholesale brick and mortar distribution being closed due to lock down, sales on the last Friday of November were even more important than in prior years. To ensure that Fossil Group brands effectively capitalised on such an important sales date, m/SIX created a new and unique way to cut through the competition and deliver business results; the first multi-market War Zoom.
The War Zoom is designed to mimic a traditional newsroom. News floors are loud, energetic and full of passion - but all with a laser focus on an outcome. m/SIX wanted to take this approach and use it to bring together agency, clients and insights to enable both to operate at speed.
Traditionally War Rooms are designed for agencies and clients to physically work together. With lockdown restrictions this approach couldn’t work, but m/SIX and Fossil Group EMEA didn’t see this as a barrier, more as an opportunity to create something new.
Operating from one main central location in Switzerland and via various front rooms, bedrooms and offices across the UK, m/SIX and Fossil Group EMEA, alongside social monitoring partners, Pulsar and Fifty, operated the first multi-market ‘War Zoom’ covering four markets: UK, Germany, France and Italy.
The War Zoom was hosted online via Microsoft Teams and Hangouts. An ‘Editorial Board’ was created to ensure both teams had a clear role and each position was mirrored across the client and agency teams. The board featured a unique mix of talent including commercial, supply chain, customer care, product experts and data analysts, all working together with the paid media activation specialists on client and agency side.
Built on a reactive test and learn framework and driven by social, organic, onsite and media trends, this unique melting pot of talent ensured a quick and effective to any scenario - and ultimately drove incremental revenue and sales.
Commenting on the event Antonio Nigro, Fossil Group’s head of commercial EMEA, said: “At a time where a global pandemic is at its peak and online shopping and e-commerce are accelerating, at Fossil Group, we are committed to keep innovating. The War Zoom was one fundamental step on a cohesive and sound digital marketing strategy. One that enabled us to drive a real-time data based digital approach, fostering a virtual environment of collaboration that enabled faster and stronger decision-making along the way.”
“At m/SIX, we pride ourselves on our digital capabilities and our agility to deal with any situation. When lockdown came into effect and cancelled our original plans, we saw this as an opportunity to try something different. Black Friday is one of the most important sales periods for the Fossil Group brands. The War Zoom gave us a chance to maximise the potential of the day using real-time, digital first approach.” said Chris Chivrall, head of customer experience and performance lead for Fossil Group EMEA, m/SIX.
Chris, added: “Proximity to clients is a core differentiator for m/SIX, either through embedded teams or working with clients in more collaborative ways. With Fossil Group EMEA we have the perfect partner to run our War Zoom. Our team was a true mixture of agency, partners and client working closely together as one team. Whilst the pandemic might have brought many restrictions over the last eight months, opportunities like this are truly exciting as we embrace the challenges presented to us”
