Stan Rapp
Sebastian Jespersen
Trendsetters: The Age of Entanglement—Two Innovators Demonstrate a Move Beyond Engagement
Two advertising innovators—Stan Rapp, whose founding efforts in the era of Mad Men insures that global customer experience agency Rapp still bears his name, and Sebastian Jespersen, a Dane whose twelve-year-old digital agency Vertic has made tremendous leaps in the personalization of online advertising—have arrived at a new concept that defines the next generation of marketing ideals. Called Entangled Marketing, the term draws from an effect in quantum mechanics known as entanglement, a phenomenon in which two entities are linked forever.
The men are collaborating on a book to be published in early 2015 entitled Entangled Marketingwhich they define as a new business model that enables companies to create an enduring and mutually-rewarding relationship between the brand and the customer. They discuss how to move past simple consumer engagement to build entangled relationships that mirror the indelible link found in quantum theory. At the core of marketing entanglement is personalization, relevance and value; these elements forge a level of connectedness that not only grows over time, but delivers consistent return on marketing investment. Rapp and Jespersen offer numerous examples of brands throughout the world who get this right, as well as business solutions for those looking to form more lasting consumer interactions in a digital age.
Plus, in an interesting contemporary move that underscores today’s collaborative online environment, the authors are inviting marketing professionals to sign on as “Friends of the New Marketing” at www.entangledmarketing.com to comment on the book’s first chapter before publication. Commentary received, both pro and con, along with any recommended new content, will be considered, while key collaborators will be credited in the Acknowledgements.
Perhaps Rapp and Jespersen seem an unlikely duo given a five-decade span of years between them. (Sebastian Jespersen wasn’t born when Stan Rapp started his first agency). However they demonstrate how innovative ideas can resonate beyond age, background or national origins. Yet, upon closer consideration, one realizes that both have built a strong emphasis on one-to-one marketing. Stan Rapp, over the course of his long career as agency founder, business builder and author, has been dubbed the “Godfather of Direct Marketing,” while Sebastian Jespersen has created break-through campaigns for GE, Microsoft and GlaxoSmithKline that redefined direct marketing by combining awareness and lead-generation through highly customized solutions.
The pair were introduced just two years ago through a mutual friend. They immediately found they held common marketing beliefs and were excited about similar future industry possibilities. Sebastian also remarks, “I was excited to meet a person who didn’t speak in buzzwords and who understood how passion is a fundamental component between brands and customers.”
Both gentlemen will be traveling this week to Copenhagen, Sebastian’s home town, where they will discuss Entangled Marketing at DIGITAL COPENHAGEN. The event brings together the best-known digital minds in Scandinavia with some of the world’s most prominent digital thinkers and practitioners. DIGITAL COPENHAGEN is also the biggest Danish event of the year with a dedicated focus on digital development within media, marketing, advertising, communication and sales.
Stan Rapp has been called a marketing icon and a legend of direct marketing. He was co-founder of Rapp Collins (now RAPP), and later served as CEO of McCann Relationship Marketing and Chairman of Engauge, which was acquired by Publicis Groupe in 2013. Advertising Age named him one of the 101 people who shaped advertising in the 20th century. He is the co-author of six books, including the best-seller MaxiMarketing, published in 1986 with co-author Tom Collins. It includes the first mention of the term one-to-one marketing—decades ahead of its time.
Sebastian Jespersen was born in Denmark. With an early career in management consulting at Ernst & Young, followed CRM consulting at CSC, which included a stint in the Philippines, he is not a typical agency CEO. He sees solutions differently. Jespersen co-founded Vertic in 2002. Today, with offices in North America, Europe and Asia, Vertic is on its way to becoming one of the largest independent digital ad agencies, and perhaps one of the most profitable. Both a digital guru and evangelist, Sebastian Jespersen has successfully taken a start-up from the birth of the online marketing era through to the advertising world’s new internet playground.
