The Integer Group® Hires Ben Kennedy as Group Director of Mobile Marketing

DENVER, July 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen estimates one in two Americans will own a smartphone by this holiday season and Google found that 80 percent of those who currently own a smartphone use it to make purchases. Today's shoppers are using their device to research products, comparison shop, find coupons and deals, get information through competitive retailer sites, scan bar codes and QR codes, and access apps for product information and reviews. This is done while shopper's are sharing thoughts and opinions with their social networks in real time. Accessibility on a smartphone is potentially endless and brands and retailers need to know what will and won't work for them.

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Integer's core competency lies in understanding the difference between consumers and shoppers, and how their attitudes and behaviors change along the path to purchase whether that's in store, or on a mobile device.  "When considering mobile, the most important thing is to build an audience centric model, driven by data and insights versus tactics and shiny objects," said Ben Kennedy, The Integer Group's new group director of mobile marketing.

"The key to building an audience is understanding when mobile marketing is necessary. Mobile should only be used if it makes a consumer's life easier, instead of forcing it. Positive mobile interactions at key moments around Integer's Shopper Continuum™ help turn a shopper into a buyer, and ultimately an advocate. Building a universe of advocates will help ensure data drives all initiatives in a personalized and therein, valuable way," said Kennedy.

Kennedy brings an additional focus on digital engagement and mobile platform strategy development as a key offering in Integer's DIGITAIL® practice. Most recently a founding member of Joule, a dedicated mobile marketing agency in the WPP network, Kennedy moved to the United States from England as part of Ok! Magazine's start-up team. Starting his career in the Omnicom Graduate Program working within BBDO and phd, Kennedy has worked with notable brands including Diageo, Sprint, Johnson & Johnson, Volkswagen of America, and ConAgra Foods, and also holds a Law Degree from the University of Huddersfield, England. 

"Clients are looking to agencies, like Integer to step-up and help them integrate mobile across their overall marketing efforts, both from a strategic and development standpoint. Mobile agencies offer a breadth of mobile tactics but are finding that they are becoming increasingly more detached from strategic core marketing objectives. Integer is more prepared to integrate these core objectives as well as location technology, search functionality and transactional capability, linking at every step to meet broader marketing challenges that a mobile agency may struggle with," says Kennedy.

To find out more about The Shopper Continuum™ or to download Integer's mobile white paper "Passport to Purchase: M-Commerce," visit shopperculture.com.

About The Integer Group

The Integer Group (www.integer.com) is one of the world's largest promotional, retail, and shopper marketing agencies, and a key member of Omnicom Group Inc. Integer lives at the Intersection of Branding and Selling® and creates strategic marketing solutions for clients in categories that include retail, beverage, packaged goods, telecommunications, home and shelter, automotive aftermarket, and power sports. Integer has more than 1,200 employees working in U.S. locations as well as international offices in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. Join the conversation on shopping culture and brand strategy at www.shopperculture.com.

SOURCE The Integer Group