SituationWhen Audi rolled into Retina, they sought to deliver a digital shopping experience as innovative as their automobiles.The mobile-empowered consumer can research do their research online, 24/7. In fact, approximately 80% of today’s car buyers come to a dealership knowing what they want. Yet, the process of test driving a car is often still surprisingly analog.Booking a test drive can involve back-and-forth emailing and calling that can take a lot of time and create opportunities for human error or customer abandonment. Audi charged Retina with developing a solution to accelerate the booking process, increase conversions and increase customer satisfaction.SolutionWe developed a powerful yet extremely intuitive chatbot to help customers book a car for a test drive on Audi’s websites or via Facebook Messenger. Like a chat, the bot asks what kind of car a buyer is interested in, and it connects to Audi’s booking platform and their fleet of available cars. A buyer can even carry on a conversation across platforms, beginning the chat on a mobile phone and then picking it back up on desktop, in the same spot!After the chatbot books the test drive, a local sales representative receives an alert and calls the customer to further confirm the appointment. The bot can also offer discounts on the new car or aftermarket services.The chatbot is also an incredible customer intelligence tool, gathering valuable insights throughout the process. With a simple cookie, Audi can see what customers did after booking a test drive. OutcomesCustomers embraced the chatbot for its convenience and effectiveness. In the first month in use, it increased booked appointments by 80%, and customers come to the dealership with the perception that they step into a novel experience with Audi.Audi continues to be one of the most innovative automotive brands on the planet. Thanks to our chatbot, it also delivers one of the most technologically advanced customer experiences available to car buyers.

SituationCisco had consolidated a majority of its marketing functions into a Global Demand Center (GDC) running traditional and digital marketing with the support of a Marketing Automation platform, comprising nearly 40 integrated marketing applications.Its outbound campaign tool, responsible for email and call center campaigns, was no longer keeping up with demand. Cisco was deploying approximately 5,000 tactics a quarter and had over 100 campaign execution specialists running selection, segmentation, nurturing, offer management, lead qualification, lead routing, etc. on ePiphany – a technology past its prime.To handle a very large volume of campaigns, Cisco had selected and purchased Unica three years prior from IBM (now, Unica is an HCL Software). The implementation project, however, was far behind schedule and over budget.SolutionTo bring the Unica implementation/integration project back on track, Cisco looked for an expert with both the Unica technology and implementation of marketing platforms in general.Retina rebooted the entire Unica implementation project from scratch, with clear requirements, an expertly devised architecture, and solid project management methodology.Retina devised separate tracks for the technical (re)implementation, the data integration, the changeover procedures, and the training of personnel with the new technology. Each track was managed based on the assumption that the other tracks will succeed, and progress and backlog was monitored closely, shifting expert resources to the areas in need.OutcomesEven though the original project, prior to engaging Retina, failed repeatedly for three years, we were able to complete the implementation and go live globally within 6 months. This implementation created the largest known implementation of IBM Unica ever, for which Retina was awarded an excellence prize at the Monaco Marketing Automation Summit the same year.

SituationWithin Thermo Fisher Scientific’s portfolio of brands is Gibco, which pioneered the science of cell culture techniques and applications nearly six decades ago. Gibco is the market leader and generally recognized as the industry standard among biotech, academic, and pharmaceutical research professionals.The brand had somewhat stagnated in the eyes of customers and prospects. Though seen as essential and reliable, brand perceptions of Gibco’s innovation waned – as did awareness of Gibco’s extensive value beyond its products, from regulatory guidance to education to hands-on scientific support. Also, Gibco lacked he deep emotional bond its customers have with the brand and their cells, as well as in-market consistency, as disparate marketing campaigns had proliferated different messages and visual approaches.SolutionRetina partnered with Gibco to crystalize its value proposition and brand marketing, shift perceptions, and celebrate the science and personal connections Gibco enables.Internal and market due diligence revealed a key insight: more than products, connections are what Gibco’s customers critically need in today’s complex and uncertain landscape. Our “Connections for Life” campaign challenged what customers know about Gibco, and empowered them with the new knowledge of what they can achieve when they make that connection with Gibco – connecting ideas, cures, and people, across careers and lifetimes.We also created robust brand guidelines and buyer-journey, audience-segmented messaging frameworks to empower marketing teams across Gibco, so they could take the campaign to market, anywhere and everywhere they needed to be.OutcomesThough early to report on in-market impact, the brand campaign has instantly energized and galvanized the Gibco organization globally. Stakeholders from regions worldwide have weighted in to state they “love the execution” and that our work is “simply beautiful” and among “the most complete we’ve ever seen.”