Report by Simon Bolton, worldwide chief executive officer
Simon Bolton, worldwide chief executive officer
World Cup fever held us in its grip in 2014 and FITCH was at the heart of the action. The dramatic ‘#allin or nothing’ adidas brand campaign embodied what we mean by Experience Signatures – powerful branded interactions, using human rituals empowered physically and digitally.
adidas’ World Cup sales success demonstrates the commercial value exceptional omnichannel experiences can bring to business; you’ll see more evidence of this from us in 2015.
It was an eventful year on many other levels. We were awarded significant new assignments from major clients such as Dixons Carphone, Philips, Procter & Gamble, H&M and Asian Paints.
Both our people and our work were well recognised in major international events and award shows. The responsive identity we created for the Qatar Football Association gave us a Design Lions shortlisting at Cannes.
FITCH was named Design Firm of the Year for the fourth year in a row at the design:retail Portfolio Awards, acknowledging, in particular, the US team’s stand-out work for luxury home appliances retailer PIRCH, with whom we’re building a flagship store in New York this year.
VIVID Homes, the home renovation brand we created with B&Q in China, continues to pick up awards globally, most recently the RDI International Store of the Year’s Toshiba Technology Award for Innovation. With its in-store coaches, online tools and 4-D simulator, VIVID sets the standard for seamless experience across physical, human and digital touchpoints.
Amidst all of this activity, 2014 was also my first full year as CEO of FITCH worldwide. We have consolidated our global studios, creating three distinct regions in North America, Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) and Asia Pacific, led by regional CEOs who will work closely with their management teams and each other to continue to build FITCH’s reputation and business opportunities.