Work // Internet Strategy Audits

Examples of digital strategy development projects done by Novocortex in Automotive, Financial Services, FMCG, Pharmaceutical and Media industries

Novocortex is specialized in digital strategy development. We have our own methodology called the Digital Strategy Audit. This methodology is based on the experience of Novocortex with digital marketing and was developed in co-operation with the Marketingfacts Network. We have selected a number of examples of the digital strategy development projects done by Novocortex since 2005, grouped per industry.

Internet strategy development projects by Novocortex

01 Digital Strategy Audits for Automotive companies

Novocortex is normally hired by large international brands to audit their digital strategy in Central and Eastern Europe. Sometimes we work for local firms that want to defend their market share from global competitors. One of the most international projects of Novocortex was the Digital Strategy Audit for Yamaha Motor in Russia, where we collaborated with Japanese, British and Russian managers. The main objectives were increasing the Yamaha’s visibility on the internet, selling more products digitally, cross-selling snowmobiles, quads and boat motors to Yamaha motorcycle owners. Recommendations made by Novocortex included connecting product pages to the dealer locator, adding accessories to the online product range of Yamaha to increase frequency of client contacts (since people buy helmets and motor oil more often than motorcycles), engaging motor club members in marketing campaigns of Yamaha, organizing a road safety campaign for motorcycle drivers, co-ordinating search advertising campaigns with dealers and so on.

Another strategy development project by Novocortex in the Automotive industry was the Digital Strategy Audit for Mitsubishi Europe in Instanbul. Mitsubishi wanted to expand its market share in the passenger car segment in Turkey with new Colt, Lancer and Outlander models. Mitsubishi was already successful in rural areas of Turkey with L200 and Pajero. But in order to become successful in the passenger car market, Mitsubishi had to target urban population of Turkey. And that required a new media mix with an important role for digital marketing. Novocortex developed the digital marketing strategy for Mitsubishi Motors Turkey in co-operation with the Digital Marketing department of Mitsubishi Europe.

Internet Strategie Audit for Mitsubishi Motors and Yamaha Motor

02 Digital Strategy Audits for banks and insurance companies

Novocortex has vast experience in the Financial Services industry. Our Strategy Director Serge Fenenko worked over 15 years in the Banking industry. In his latest position, he was responsible for development and marketing of digital financial services at the Dutch banking giant Rabobank. That’s why Novocortex is a natural choice for banks and insurance companies that want to increase sales via digital channels and results of their digital marketing campaigns.

Novocortex was hired by Bank of Moscow, one of the Top 5 retail banks in Russia, to conduct the Digital Strategy Audit. One of the main objectives of the Audit was analyzing performance of the bank’s website – its usability, lead generation & conversion, as well as visibility of the site in organic search results of Google and Yandex. Another objective was assessment of previous digital campaigns of Bank of Moscow and development of a new digital marketing strategy for the bank. We made recommendations to the bank how to optimize the website for search engines, how to double conversion & lead generation on the site by building sales funnels and making online forms easy to fill in. We helped the bank to organize brand reputation management processes. We advised Bank on Moscow on digital sales of their retail products and on Life Events segmentation and marketing (e.g. a product line for Russian students, mortgages and consumer loans for young families etc).

Novocortex helped Rabobank International to develop the digital distribution strategy for wholesale banking services. We were hired by Rabobank Netherlands to launch iDEAL, an e-commerce payment system connecting online shops to internet & mobile banking applications of Dutch banks. Since its launch in 2005, iDEAL has become the most popular digital payment method in the Netherlands, with over 50% of all e-commerce transactions paid through iDEAL.

Novocortex assisted PSBank (Promsvyazbank), one of the Top 10 banks in Russia, in developing its digital marketing and branding strategy in the Russian retail market. We analysed client data in order to determine the most and the least profitable client types. Based on this analysis, we developed new positioning and branding strategy for retail clients together with the Managing Board and Marketing Department of PSB. Additionally, Novocortex advised the bank on integrating its website and internet banking to increase conversion and sales rates, as well as on streamlining digital brand reputation management processes across various bank departments.

We performed the Digital Strategy Audit for Intouch Insurance Russia, part of the Royal Sun Alliance Group. Our main objective was to increase efficiency of digital marketing instruments in order to boost sales of car insurance policies by Intouch. We worked together with the Managing Director, Marketing Director and marketing and sales teams of Intouch during the Audit. We made recommendation to Intouch how to expand online and offline distribution channels by working together with dealers of selected car brands and price comparison sites. We helped Intouch to redesign content structure of their website and to develop a new Web Sales module, in order to increase lead generation and conversion on the website. After changes in the site structure and launch of the new Web Sales module, Intouch had to pause their search campaigns in order to accommodate the growing number of sales requests coming from the website.

Internet Strategy Audits for Banks and Insurances

03 Digital strategy development projects for FMCG and Pharmaceutical companies

We conducted a number of digital strategy development projects for FMCG brands and Over-The-Counter drug brands sold via retail channels (and thus, comparable to FMCG brands). We worked together with the owners of FMCG brands in Russia and Belarus (Onega, Abibok, AIU) to help these local brands to enter new markets or to defend their current market share from global rivals, such as Frito Lay and Nestle. For instance, Novocortex developed a brand strategy for AIU, a Russian producer of pine nuts, to launch their products on the European market. We decided to focus on the organic food segment and created a brand story for the AIU pine nuts, grown in distant Siberian forests, harvested by hand and manufactured by a family business, started in the 19th century in Siberia.

When you name your company Novocortex, you end up working for Pharmaceutical companies. Novocortex developed branding and digital marketing strategies for Over-The-Counter drugs in Russia, Ukraine, Croatia and other countries of Eastern Europe. Such as Aqua Maris, the number 1 nasal spray brand in Russia, the revolutionary probiotic for women’s health Vagilac, the motion sickness pill Dramina and many others.

Internet Strategy Audit in FMCG and Pharmaceutical industry

04 Digital strategy development projects for Media companies

Novocortex worked for the Central European Media Enterprises, a media and entertainment company operating 34 commercial and subscription television channels in 6 Central and Eastern European markets, from Slovenia to Ukraine. Novocortex was invited by the management of CME to do a workshop about convergence of TV and digital media. We discussed opportunities of delayed TV viewing and in-video advertising, integration of TV formats and games, ideas how to engage audience of popular TV programmes in marketing campaigns of TV channels etc.

We also conducted digital marketing workshops for Sanoma Media Russia and CEE, publisher of over 140 consumer magazines in New Europe, mainly targeted at women. We assessed digital opportunities for Sanoma Media in new markets and discussed possibilities of digital media and instruments of internet and mobile marketing in Russia and Ukraine.

Internet Strategy Audit in Media industry