In a difficult time for the entire communications industry, Starcom MediaVest Group celebrated one of its best years ever both locally and globally. The biggest driver to this exponential growth was the fundamental altering of the relationship between agency and client by its repositioning as a Human Experience Company.

Committed to uncovering human behaviour, and translating that knowledge into meaningful experiences for clients to connect more richly with consumers, Eve Pennington, head of human experience in South African at SMG comments, “Experience is the new powerful communication currency, and it is the future of the media industry as a whole, and SMG is leading the charge.”

The Human Experience Company vision is supported by real structure, real investment, and real products. Clients consider this network the global ‘sounding board’ for consumer insights, resulting in the ability to simplify human understanding and create meaningful brand experiences, for clients in real time.

Two vital resources within the strategy network are a global network of truly connected Human Experience strategists, and primary, proprietary research through the Moms and Youth Human Experience Centres of learning, which unlocks real time global insights of these key audiences.

“We have started with two major demographics – youths and moms - these are common across many of our clients. In 2011, the Youth Centre alone boasted 500 youths, across five countries, while the Moms Human Experience Centre is even more robust and offers 1 200 moms across nine countries that can be requested 24/7/365,” says Pennington.

Multiple new insights into the youth market have recently emerged after investigations were conducted. An example of this is the “always on paparazzi trend and the importance of image in social networking”. The study also demonstrates their attitude and shifting consumption behaviours in response to global economic uncertainty.

The Human Experience discipline is powered by 150 brilliant Human Experience Strategists located around the world in SMG offices. These ‘people experts’, sift through a storm of information with reference to human behaviour and trends, unearthing key findings for clients to better understand their audiences. They also lead customised research initiatives according to client’s needs and requests, and activate Global Sensing Investigations.

In a matter of days, the strategy network can offer a full global perspective on specific topics that a client wants to learn more about. Clients from Coca-Cola to Samsung regularly employ Sensing Investigations to hone in on behaviours and actions that are vital to understanding their audiences, giving them a clear competitive advantage, proven through tangible business results.

Pennington concludes, “Having access to global insights through our global network and the use of our global products provides us with a better understanding into complex human interaction and behaviour, which in turn allows us to deliver more accurate, innovative and competitive campaigns for our clients whether local or multi-national.”