Press releases and an archive of Essence news stories to keep you up to date with what is happening in our world.
If you would like to find out more about anything we have done or what we could do for you then please contact us using the details here.
Essence has completed the design and development of MyProjects for Cancer Research UK. The website is another success story from the charity’s Innovation unit.
The concept of the website is to provide people wanting to help fight cancer with more of a say as to how their donation will be used by giving them a choice of research projects, each requiring funding and aimed at a different cancer type. A person can also choose to set up their own fundraising page, including a personalised photo and message and information on the research project they wish to support further. They can then send a link to the fundraising page out to their network of friends and family, in the hope that they too will donate towards the project and therefore take the project even closer to reaching its funding target . Of course the website also provides scientists with an opportunity to promote the great work they do and keep supporters up to date with research progress.
The website was developed using Essence’s content management system Fig™, built on the robust and rigorously tested Zend Framework.
on 01/11/08
Essence has completed the development of the Give Take Donate website for Cancer Research UK. The website is part of the charity’s longstanding initiative to find new and innovative ways to fundraise. While the website is currently in beta, which means only visitors from certain UK regions can register, the aim is to extend it out to the whole of the UK in due course.
The website encourages individual volunteers to ‘give’ their services or skills to others. In return it is hoped the person who ‘takes’ the service or skill will make a donation to CR-UK. The Give Take Donate website is the platform by which ‘Givers’ can list their skills and services, and ‘Takers’ can search for those offers, take them up and then donate online.
Using social features like friendship networks, feedback scores, references, personal and public profiles and more, Give Take Donate enables people to safely exchange anything from guitar lessons to web design for a donation to CR-UK. Therefore people who may not to be able to afford a monetary donation can still help in the fight against cancer, and people can source services from an ethical, local and self-policed pool – and get the warm feeling of helping a charitable cause at the same time.
The website was developed using Essence’s own content management system Fig™, built on the robust and rigorously tested Zend Framework.
on 15/10/08
Essence has completed the design and development of an iGoogle Gadget for Google that helps keep cricket fans up to date with action from around the world. Anyone familiar with cricket will know that there's a whole heap of statistics and terms associated with the game - from overs to maidens, ducks to googlies, silly point to fine leg and boundaries to centuries - so a lot of thought was put into how best to display game info within the Gadget and make it easy to navigate. Intelligent UI with sharp graphical design makes this Gadget stand out from the crowd. You can add this Gadget to your iGoogle home page.
on 10/09/08
uSwitch.com, has appointed Essence to handle its online advertising account following a three way pitch. Essence will work alongside uSwitch.com media agency Starcom to help improve the impact of online marketing and increase brand awareness across the full range of uSwitch.com price comparison and switching services.
on 20/08/08
eBay.co.uk, The UK's Largest Online Marketplace® has appointed Essence to the direct partnerships account. Following a competitive pitch, Essence will look after both long-term media partnerships and display activity for eBay in the UK. This will include media planning and buying, creative development and - above all - the management of performance to stretching ROI targets.
on 18/07/08
Essence have been appointed the digital agency for low-cost ticketing agent Ticket-Text.com. Essence have been briefed with strategic and creative plans for the company's launch campaign as well as planning/buying across online channels. The launch campaign will include display, search and affiliate marketing.
on 03/07/08
Essence are proud to announce that we have been shortlisted in the NMA Effectiveness Awards. Our design and build of a brand new ecommerce site for The Carphone Warehouse's range of mobile accessories involved a state of the art content management system, extensive use of AJAX to streamline the path to purchase and an intelligent cross-selling engine to match compatible products. The new platform is fully integrated with the mobile phone shop we had previously built for the client. We hope that the judges were impressed by the almost doubling of sales that resulted from the redesign.
This work adds to Essence's portfolio of successful large scale design and build projects across ecommerce, content management, community sites and large scale data management.
on 14/05/08
Essence have created a gadget to track drinking habits of users for Cancer Research UK (CRUK). The functionality allows the users to enter their alcohol consumption into the gadget giving them individual feedback from CRUK experts. The gadget is designed to help inform users of cancer related issues associated with alcohol. You can add this Gadget to your iGoogle home page.
See our Gadget Gallery
on 21/04/07
Essence have launched a ground breaking new service tracking the engagement of users across different online channels. Essence's proprietary technology solution enables clients to record every interaction a user has with a brand online, including every marketing click and a user's exposure to banners. Essence have also built a suite of analytical tools to make sense of the mass of information gathered by the service. The service is particularly important in planning cross media campaigns where Essence have shown that allocating budget based on last click only leads to sub-optimal budget allocation. The service has been rolled out to several Essence clients already.
Microsoft recently announced the launch of a similar service in the US but no plans have yet been announced for the UK and European markets.
on 14/03/08
Unlisted London have selected Essence for the web design and build of their new e-commerce site. Unlisted London sell high-end beauty products to a discerning audience and they feel that Essence have the expertise and the enthusiasm to expand their business into the online world. Essence continue to build depth in the design & build arena with increasing levels of expertise in e-commerce, content management, social networking, gadgets and online publishing. This win is another indication of the strength in depth of the agency across all disciplines.
on 11/03/08
Website hosting company Dedipower Managed Hosting have selected Essence to manage display advertising. The media planning and buying brief targets technology professionals with Dedipower's high end Managed Hosting offering.
on 07/03/08
Essence Partner Andrew Shebbeare was quoted on NMA's special insight into affiliate marketing in February. The discussion centred around the value of the last click for Affiliates where Shebbeare said "The most recent click doesn't tell us where we should be investing our marketing budget. We need to log multiple interactions and store the whole story, not just the end of it.". Essence's work on engagement mapping provides detailed analysis on user interaction between various marketing channels.
on 22/02/08
Posed with the challenge of growing volumes from the 'long tail' of TalkTalk's affiliate programme (the 90% of affiliates that deliver little or no volume), Essence have conceived, designed and built a microsite to promote affiliate competitions,TalkTalk Affiliate Stars . The microsite, which also acts as a hub for the TalkTalk affiliate programme as a whole, includes information about the competitions as well as new promotions from TalkTalk, tracking of key sales metrics for member affiliates and access to tips and hints on improving affiliate programme performance. TalkTalk Affiliate Stars is set to be crucial for TalkTalk’s attempts to improve their share of the competitive broadband market by getting the most out of their extensive affiliate network. In its first 3 months, it delivered a 23% uplift in sales from the target affiliate segment.
on 15/02/08
An ROI of 310%? Essence have launched a Multivariate testing service using industry leading platform Offermatica that delivered just that from its first client pilot. The service allows Essence to bring their strong client focussed marketing and media insight to the arena of site optimisation, enabling them to test and optimise individual pages, combinations of pages and components within pages to improve conversion rates and ROI. The first client of the service is TalkTalk.
on 12/12/07
Essence have won the competitive pitch for website creative for a major UK credit card player. A new client and a very exciting programme, we will be working with the client to help them extract more value from website visitors - developing creative test plans and the top-drawer creative to deliver their ambitions.
on 31/05/07
A study by Hitwise has shown that Google Checkout has overtaken PayPal in the UK for traffic travelling to the site. This represents a great achievement for Google considering PayPal previous dominance of the sector. As the digital media agency responsible for Google’s online advertising we are thrilled to see the product succeed.
on 07/01/08
Essence has taken another leap forward in web development, having been selected to fully develop and design a new global online social network. Details are strictly confidential, but the site promises to deliver never before seen functionality and a unique product offering that will engage users with highly relevant information. Look out for the site in early summer!
on 18/12/07
Essence’s online design work has been displayed in a variety of Google Gadgets for iGoogle users. Starting with a Wimbledon 2007 Scores Gadget for the Summer, we continued with a YouTube Gadget that proved so successful that the X-Factor customised it to showcase their TV show.
An Events Calendar and Politics gadget were also released that keep the user up to date with all news and activities from their chosen organisation or political party as well as providing key information. And there are lots more on the way..
on 10/12/07
Essence’s digital creative team have pioneered a new video format that keeps adserving costs to a minimum, finally making low cost video format ads possible. Traditional video formats involved large adserving costs due to the size of the media but now Essence can deliver video at the same cost as our static advertising. See it in action
on 21/11/07
The online productivity suite Google Apps has expanded its marketing into Russia and Turkey after a successful pilot campaign. Essence now manages advertising from Madrid to Vladivostock. This expansion represents an exciting future for the online marketing agency as it shows the ability to perform at a multinational level and to maintain our exceptional standards of acquiring cheap and effective media.
on 16/11/07
Essence have been awarded a multinational marketing brief from a leading video game publisher to promote their online store – a site selling games in download format direct to PC. This company represents an exciting new win for Essence with massive global reach and a wide range of opportunities in a new sector.
on 07/11/07
With mounting interest in the environment, a great new innovation is Google’s Carbon Footprint Calculator. It separates itself form others in the field by integrating with Google Maps to create a national Carbon Footprint Map. Users can upload their footprint and compare it with others across the UK. As Google’s digital media agency, Essence is managing the online marketing of this product across a range of display channels.
on 31/10/07
Today Essence have launched a brand new accessory shop for the Carphone Warehouse website that we continue to manage, selling everything from iPods to bluetooth headsets.
With AJAX searches and compatibility checks, strategically placed cross-sales and an intuitive content management platform the new site paves the way for increased sales and a better customer experience. By delivering in time for the Christmas rush, the site has seen a substantial uplift in sales.
on 22/10/07
Essence have added to their web design credentials by launching the website for the new product from Carphone Warehouse – MyMobileDrive. This is an integrated device that incorporates a wide range of functions from Sat Nav to MP3, Hands Free to Wireless Internet. The website includes 2 flash demos to display the product and was launched a month before the release of the product.
on 01/10/07
Essence have brokered the first ever display advertising on price comparison site uSwitch exclusively for the Carphone Warehouse Group. This deal represents a groundbreaking achievement for Essence and the Carphone Warehouse Group as it provides a clear boost for the client in a deeply competitive industry. To secure the deal, Essence have worked with other representative agencies to coordinate activity across TalkTalk, Carphone Warehouse and AOL Broadband brands.
on 01/10/07
Geek Squad, a company that offers PC and technology support, has selected Essence to help out with their online marketing. Essence will combine banner marketing with pay per click search activity to promote both brand awareness and direct use of a Geek. As another member of the Carphone Warehouse family, including the continuous management of both the Carphone Warehouse website and the TalkTalk online marketing campaign, the Geek Squad contract shows the continued trust placed in Essence by this firm.
on 06/08/07
Essence are bringing Carphone Warehouse’s latest product innovations, Swap.it and Back to School, alive online. The unique Swap.it deal allows customers to change their handsets halfway through an 18 month contract making sure that they can keep up with the latest phone releases while Back to School emphasises the safety features available on their products.
Essence is planning, buying and managing the online display campaigns across a range of targeted audiences to compliment an integrated campaign across traditional and online media.
on 25/07/07
Our old office was getting a bit cosy
Essence have moved to the 3rd Floor of The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX. We're sandwiched between Waterloo Station and the South Bank.
on 23/06/07
What do you do when new players emerge that fundamentally change your market?
The arrival of comparison sites such as Moneysupermarket and Confused.com has fundamentally changed the traditional insurance brokerage market. Essence undertook a detailed review of all of Zurich's digital capabilities and identified opportunities to deliver a minimum 21% improvement in online ROI
on 30/05/07
Essence have planned, bought and executed a campaign to promote Google Maps for Mobile. Users can enter their mobile number into banners to be sent a WAP push message with a download link to a Java application for their phone. By cutting out several steps in the path to download, Essence significantly boosted conversion compared to standard click-download-install calls to action. And because all our systems are integrated, we were able to track response at the most granular level to drive cross-channel optimisation decisions. Try it here
on 09/05/07
Essence delivers another first in cross channel understanding.
Essence has been able to isolate both the impact of major display activity on pay per click search volume and the saturation effect within the same audience. In a controlled test of identical homepage takeovers on a major portal the display activity produced a 12% increase in volume from pay per click search over 3 weeks after the takeovers, even after taking into account the increased spend..
on 25/04/07
Essence has been judged to deliver the lowest media rates in the market in a recent external benchmark.
Leading media benchmarking agency Billets decribed Essence rates as “exceptional” and “the lowest in our pool” versus 20 of the UK's top agencies in a study conducted for clients in the telecomms and media sector.
on 16/04/07
b2b campaigns are unusual on online marketing, but with the right media planning strategy they can work.
Our pioneering online b2b campaign launched today, targeting business, marketing and techonlogy professionals, to promote one of the biggest technology developments on 2007 in online retail.
Posted on 16/04/07
Essence have used their proprietary database management architecture to deploy a full product management system into one of the UK's largest online retailers.
The web-based system dramatically shortens time to market and thanks to it's AJAX based interface is exceptionally easy to use.
Posted on 06/04/07
TalkTalk have selected Essence to redesign the www.talktalk.co.uk website. The TalkTalk proposition has changed significantly since TalkTalk first launched its "free broadband" proposition back in April 2006. The redesign project is intended to translate the now broad product set into a simple consumer proposition and to improve web conversion rates.
Posted on 13/12/06
Essence have been appointed to manage display marketing activity for Google UK. Our brief covers media planning and buying, creative services and campaign management for a number of major campaigns. Essence are confident of delivering huge value and are very excited by the opportunities presented for both Essence and the client.
Posted on 10/11/06
The new e-commerce section of www.carphonewarehouse.com has almost doubled (96% increase) on site conversion in an A/B split test of the new design versus the old. The new site, designed by Essence, is expected to deliver a step change in performance to the online business.
Posted on 25/10/06
Essence have been nominated in the 'Best use of Technology' category for a Netimperative Digital Award.
The award nomination is in recognition of our work carried out to develop automatically updating online adverts.
In fast moving markets competitive pricing is essential to maintain an edge. Our solution (developed in partnership with Mediaplex), allows database-driven adverts to be updated when any product offer changes. These changes are then automatically re-served across all the advertising media.
Posted on 29/09/06
The contract for management of the complete online marketing activity for The Carphone Warehouse Group was formally awarded to Essence from the beginning of April 2006. The Carphone Warehouse Group includes the Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk brands, amongst others, and is the largest telecommunications retailer in the UK.
Following the success of The Phone Spot and a pilot phase marketing Carphone Warehouse brand products through the end of 2005 and Q1 of 2006 Carphone Warehouse have confirmed the award of their online marketing account to Essence. The contract includes advisory services, buying, planning and the management of all marketing channels across brand and direct activity.
As well as growing Carphone Warehouse's online success the contract will also mean supporting TalkTalk in their current push to reinvent the UK broadband market with their 'free broadband forever' proposition.
Posted on 17/04/06
In partnership with Mediaplex UK, Essence has developed an innovative new dynamic advertising solution. Using a custom built system developed in-house at Essence the solution works with a variety of advertising formats, including Macromedia Flash®.
The technology is showcased serving dynamic adverts across two mobile phone retailer brands handled by Essence, allowing phone offers changing several times a day to update automatically throughout the advertising inventory.
Posted on 10/02/06
Essence got its events programme off to a great start with its inaugural Autumn event at the ever so slightly funky Soho Hotel, London W1 on 1st October 2008.
Delegates and speakers came together to discuss the changing digital media landscape and how advertisers can benefit from the opportunities presented by those changes.
With Google, eBay and Facebook all in the room, there was a vibrant discussion on the challenges and opportunities available to internet marketers. The audience was also packed with senior marketers from a select group of advertisers including Barclaycard, CapitalOne, O2, TalkTalk, Carphone Warehouse, Electronic Arts, Sony BMG, Sony Computer Entertainment, 3i and Guardian Media Group.
Below you can find presentations from each of the speakers - we’ll shortly be making full videos available too.
Andrew Shebbeare, Partner, Essence
Measuring it all: Andrew tackled one of the hot topics of today – how to unravel the myriad of interactions a consumer might have with a brand...
download: PDF
Spencer Hyman, COO, Last.fm
Spencer had the audience humming to his tune with his thoughts on the impact of disruptive digital players on the entertainment industry...
download: PDF
Stephen Haines, Sales Director, Facebook UK
Stephen dazzled the audience with Facebook’s new instant survey tools which delivered results to the question 'Which bank do you most trust?'...
download: PDF
Kieron Matthews, Marketing Director, IAB
Kieron trumpeted some of the best work in digital today with a showcase of recent examples of true creativity and innovation spanning new video ad formats...
download: PDF
With 100% of attendees who responded to our feedback survey saying they would like to attend future events we clearly managed to hone in on some really topical issues which we will be looking to replicate at future events.
“This was a great event, well done Essence. The previous week I had attended some very disappointing conferences, and I was surprised that the quality of the content and speakers at the Essence event was far far superior - both informative and engaging.”
Interested in attending future Essence events? Register your interest here.
Andrew Shebbeare - Partner, Essence
download: PDF
Measuring it all:
Andrew tackled one of the hot topics of today – how to unravel the myriad of interactions a consumer might have with a brand before
they ultimately interact with or purchase from that brand and how to attribute value to those interactions. He previewed Essence's
proprietary Engagement Mapping technology which helps visualise and understand the paths that audiences take across the full mix of
marketing channels – display, affiliates, pay per click search, natural search, partnerships and integration with offline channels.
With the likes of Microsoft and DoubleClick talking up their latest offerings in this arena, Essence tackle the fundamental issue of how you make sense of the enormous amounts of data Engagement Mapping creates.
This is just the start of the journey – a journey that will ultimately enable the accurate estimation of cross channel effects and the optimal allocation of budgets across channels.
Spencer Hyman - COO, Last.fm
download: PDF
Spencer had the audience humming to his tune with his thoughts on the impact of disruptive digital players on the entertainment industry. He provided an introduction to the technology behind the revolutionary social music phenomenon that is Last.fm, which allows users to listen to their favourite tracks through digital radio channels, customise their music experience and discover new music to suit their tastes based on their preferences and the preferences of people like them. He then went on to explain how this opens up a wealth of new opportunities, from targeting users based on their music tastes to being able to research whether advertisers are picking the right music for their target audience in their latest TV ads.
As one member of the audience put it “Why would I ever buy another CD or download in my life? Why wouldn’t I just listen to Last.fm the whole time?” “Exactly”, said Spencer.
Stephen Haines - Sales Director, Facebook UK
download: PDF
Stephen dazzled the audience with Facebook’s new instant survey tools which delivered results to the question ‘Which bank do you most trust?” in under 30 minutes (not in slideshow). His presentation provided an entertaining view on Facebook, his interview with 24 year old Mark Zuckerberg, the ins and outs of the world’s largest social network and their plans for advertising on the site. For advertisers, he provides not only a description of the opportunities Facebook is now making available to them but some concrete examples of what others are doing.
With the economy on a downward trend the pressure is on Facebook to monetise their enormous user base and traffic. Judge for yourself if they have got it right.
Kieron Matthews - Marketing Director, IAB
download: PDF
Kieron trumpeted some of the best work in digital today with a showcase of recent examples of true creativity and innovation spanning new video ad formats, promoting brands in social media, mobile and integrated campaigns.
Kieron presented the latest industry trends and recent research on how growing segments of the consumer population are adopting concurrent TV and internet consumption – responding, commenting and interacting directly to what they see on TV instantaneously via their PC.
Interested in attending future Essence events?
Register your interest here and we'll get in touch.
