Valassis, a Vericast business - Best Marketing/Public Relations Solution

Company: Valassis, a Vericast business, Livonia, MI
Entry Submitted By: PAN Communications
Company Description: connect with their ideal consumers using unparalleled predictive intelligence. We turn intent into action by converting billions of signals into meaningful engagement across all channels to drive exponential growth for thousands of local and national brands. Vericast is a leading marketing solutions company, delivering actionable insights and expertise through its Valassis and Harland Clarke print
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Categories - Business Technology
Nomination Sub Category: Marketing/Public Relations Solution

Nomination Title: Valassis, a Vericast business' Illumis™

Illumis™ was launched on September 10, 2020.

Illumis™, by Valassis, a Vericast business, is the smartest integration of intelligence, media and technology in one seamless platform, allowing marketers to directly tie insights-led strategies to high-performing consumer engagement.

Consumers are constantly adapting to today’s realities, embracing new interests, and consuming different media. This shifting behavior, coupled with a landscape that is rapidly evolving, is a challenge for marketers seeking to build integrated strategies responsive to today’s consumer.

Illumis was purposefully built to unify the company’s stack of intelligence, media, optimization, and measurement offerings to then deploy more holistic marketing programs across print and digital. This transformative platform helps marketers keep pace with the evolution of consumer behavior; unifies the disparate tools marketers manage and balance when creating campaigns; and removes silos around data and execution.

The platform offers a competitive, data-informed approach to omnichannel media buying, fueled by the powerful, predictive intelligence of the two-time award-winning Valassis Consumer Graph™. The Consumer Graph unifies massive amounts of data by making 7 trillion daily model calculations to help customers improve marketing strategy, audience targeting, engagement and results.

How we bring our data together to uncover consumer motivation is unique. Using patented analyses and rich text mining on over 110 billion bid stream signals every day, we are able to discover consumer interest as well as a propensity to buy. We have access to 33 billion daily location signals to understand where consumers like to shop and where they live. This data helps to build a more complete, custom audience for each campaign. All the data is anchored to a household for stability and for the ability to scale – to neighborhoods and targeting across channels. With this, Illumis allows advertisers to discover new high-value markets, targets, and ways to reach consumers. It also spotlights the best media – across both print and digital channels – to connect with the right audience to drive commerce. Illumis uses machine-learning for real-time optimization and to continuously learn and improve, sparking further discovery for consumers and growth for marketers.

There are challenges around the fragmented nature of marketing technologies. Illumis’ integrated platform helps to solve those pain points by delivering meaningful multichannel engagement with an architecture that minimizes data loss and unifies intelligence for optimal results.

For example, longtime Valassis Direct Mail Insert client, La-Z-Boy, wanted to drive sales as COVID-19 restrictions lifted and stores reopened, pivoting to digital ads ahead of an omnichannel approach. Predictive data in Illumis revealed high-propensity shoppers in-market, who the company engaged with through Display Ads and Direct Mail Inserts. Illumis also identified prospects outside the trade area who received Display Ads alone. Digital ads extended consumer reach and outperformed industry benchmarks. Overall, the omnichannel campaign influenced $2.4M in revenue and a 15:1 return on ad spend.

“The discussions, the planning, and the next steps were so professional, respectful and smart,” said Kevin Mauldin, La-Z-Boy Owner. “(It) reassured me that Valassis is still an awesome partner.”

Additionally, Forrester conducted a Total Economic Impact™ study that evaluated the potential financial impact and return on investment for brands using Illumis. Forrester developed a composite organization and aggregate three-year financial analysis based on interview data, which yielded a 110% increase in revenue from ads; nearly 4:1 incremental return on advertising spend; and an 83% increase in ROI – all without increasing costs from previous marketing platforms. Details here: https://intelligence.valassis.com/rs/275-QRU-089/images/Forrester-TEI-Of-Illumis-From-Valassis_March-2020_Final_Updated-20200903.pdf

Driving results and building connections comes down to capitalizing on high-impact moments that deliver the right message at the right time to the right consumer – which requires reaching audiences through several, high-impact media formats. A recent Valassis study found when consumers see an ad in both print and online, 45% say it captures their attention; 34% say it makes them more likely to make a purchase. Not only does Illumis help marketers measure what consumers do in these moments, it makes it easier to understand what media drove engagement. Using a closed-loop connection with measurement and campaign insights, marketers can refine strategies and media mix to grow results from campaign to campaign.

Illumis™ website with a video illustrating an overview of the solution: https://www.valassis.com/our-technology/illumistm-driving-marketing-results-accelerating-commerce-valassis/

Valassis Consumer Graph™ website with an overview of the intelligence fueling Illumis™: https://www.valassis.com/our-technology/consumer-graph/

Press release covering the launch of Illumis™: https://www.valassis.com/press-releases/valassis-launches-illumis-integrating-technology-media-proven-to-accelerate-commerce/

More information on the Direct Mail offering La-Z-Boy leverages along with Illumis™: https://www.valassis.com/marketing-solutions/print-marketing/retailmenot-everyday-direct-mail/

Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study – Forrester interviewed four organizations that use Illumis. The companies turned to Illumis to: 1) streamline omnichannel marketing; 2) improve marketing effectiveness for higher sales; 3) report on business impact to prove the value of marketing; and 4) improve strategy with partnership, expertise, and data. Access the full study: https://intelligence.valassis.com/rs/275-QRU-089/images/Forrester-TEI-Of-Illumis-From-Valassis_March-2020_Final_Updated-20200903.pdf