press release

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Given the title in both Marketing and NMA Marketing League tables for 2009/2010. 

LBi has made number one in the 'Top 100 Marketing Agency league tables 2009/2010' in both Marketing and New Media Age. Founded in 1995 LBi currently employs 350 digital specialists in the UK and provides marketing and technology solutions to a raft of stellar clients including BT, HMV, Waterstone’s, Lloyds Banking Group, Unilever, Electrolux, The Conservative Party and M&S. This year, LBi has expanded its CRM and social media specialisms, made several key hires including Chris Clarke as Chief Creative Officer, and developed a proprietary intelligence platform called the LBi Digital Dashboard to help clients optimise performance across their marketing activities. LBi currently provides leading expertise in combining marketing and technology to provide solutions that span the entire customer journey; strategy and planning, media planning and buying, SEO, PPC, social media and e-PR, creative, user experience, e-commerce, CRM, analytics and managed services.

In spite of the recession LBi has grown in 2009, and deepened relationships with its top clients. Highlights include:
• BT has appointed LBi as its digital agency of record, retained across its consumer and business divisions to improve the performance of digital channels and help BT go to market as a more joined-up multi-channel organisation.
• LBi has been appointed by the Conservative Party as its lead agency to handle digital services including Web development, online advertising and e-commerce in the run up to next year's General Election. LBi has just launched an “Obama style” community called www.myconservatives.com to activate Conservative supporters.
• LBi has become digital agency of record for Electrolux across 20 markets in Europe. Electrolux was also an important win for LBi because it was one of the first pan-European accounts to move away from a traditional broadcast/campaign model towards a continuous dialogue with consumers, using digital channels as the foundation to this strategy. As part of the 2009 work LBi has been developing the CRM strategy and platform. LBi has also integrated this with a digital media framework that will be used to determine what mix of channel and content will be deployed in each market. Campaign highlights have included putting a smart restaurant on top of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and driving traffic to book this venue online.
• HMV Group has extended its relationship with LBi leading to the complete re-architecture and rebuild of e-commerce platforms for both HMV and Waterstone’s. Phase two for both brands , now under way,  will see the development of new experiences for consumers.
• Now into the 13th year of its relationship with M&S, LBi has been broadening its engagement with new tools to help  both parties to determine the effectiveness of their work across all customer journeys at a much more granular level.  LBi has also been involved in high-profile projects to launch new product lines such as such as the Living the Dream collection (aimed at 11–14 year old boys) in conjunction with Lewis Hamilton.  
• LBi is Lloyds Banking Group’s digital partner and recently won the remit to transform the online banking experience for Halifax and Bank of Scotland as well as Lloyds Commercial (small business) customers.

Ewen Sturgeon, CEO, LBi UK says: “We are excited about the progress we have made this year and the increasing number of clients who look to our scale, mix of creative and technology skills and ability to measure return, to help them optimise the digital customer experience for their consumers”. Sturgeon adds: "Innovation is also very much on the agenda as blue chip brands look to innovate through digital — mobile applications are obviously hot right now: geo-targeting and augmented reality, used wisely, have fantastic potential. A bit further out, Google Wave is really interesting. If anyone can usurp email at large scale it's probably Google, and the implications of widespread use of Wave on communication between people and brands are substantial”.

Anil Pillai, MD, LBi UK says: "Next year will be all about taking our partnerships with our top clients a bit further. Our best relationships allow us to deliver the full raft of services we offer and connect ideas across CRM, creative and innovation to help brands get closer to their consumers.”

For further information please contact:
Sarah Van Praagh, Head of PR, LBi
+44 20 7063 6141, sarah.vanpraagh@lbi.com

Imogen Thacker, Marketing & PR Assistant, LBi
+44 20 7063 6155, imogen.thacker@lbi.com

About LBi
LBi is a global digital marketing and technology agency, blending insight, creativity and expertise to solve business problems. The largest genuinely full service agency of its kind in Europe, LBi provides the full range of digital capabilities, including digital strategy, branded content, service design, media, CRM, technology, managed hosting and support services. The company employs over 1,500 professionals located primarily in the major European, American and Asian business centres such as Amsterdam, Atlanta, Berlin, Brussels, London, Milan, Mumbai, New York, Paris and Stockholm. LBi is listed on Nasdaq OMX in Stockholm and NYSE Euronext in Amsterdam (symbol: LBI).
www.lbi.com