October 18, 2007 The Forrester Wave™: European Interactive ... · Interactive Agency Web Design...

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October 18, 2007

The Forrester Wave™: European Interactive Agencies — Web Design Capabilities, Q4 2007by Craig Menziesfor Customer Experience Professionals

www.forrester.com

© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Forrester, Forrester Wave, RoleView, Technographics, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Forrester clients may make one attributed copy or slide of each figure contained herein. Additional reproduction is strictly prohibited. For additional reproduction rights and usage information, go to www.forrester.com. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. To purchase reprints of this document, please email [email protected].

For Customer Experience ProfessionalsIncludes a Forrester Wave™

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYForrester evaluated the Web design capabilities of leading European interactive marketing agencies across 18 criteria and found that Sapient Interactive, LBi, FullSIX, and Conchango established early Web design leadership — due in large part to their high scores on Forrester’s Web Site Review and Brand Image Review methodologies. New to our rankings this year, MRM Worldwide emerged as a Strong Performer, along with Satama and Wunderman. Nurun and Euro RSCG 4D rounded out our list of agencies.

TABLE OF CONTENTSWeb Design In Europe Continues To Grow

Sustained Growth Means Growing Pains

Interactive Agency Web Design Evaluation Overview

Evaluation Criteria Emphasize Usability And Branding Capabilities

Evaluated Vendors Are Top-Tier Agencies

We Graded Interactive Agencies In Two Ways

Interactive Agencies In Europe Drop A Grade

For Transaction-Led Web Projects, Four Agencies Emerge As Leaders

For Image-Led Web Projects, Five Agencies Stand Out

Vendor Profiles

Leaders

Strong Performers

Contenders

Supplemental Material

NOTES & RESOURCESForrester conducted Web Site Reviews and Brand Image Reviews of two reference Web sites and evaluated one persona supplied by each agency. We also surveyed the agencies, interviewed their senior leadership, and surveyed two of their reference clients. The agencies included Conchango, Euro RSCG 4D, FullSIX, LBi, MRM Worldwide, Nurun, Sapient Interactive, Satama, and Wunderman.

Related Research Documents“The Forrester Wave™: Interactive Marketing Agencies — Web Design Capabilities, Q2 2007” April 11, 2007

“The Forrester Wave™: European Web Design Agencies, Q2 2006” May 18, 2006

“The Forrester Wave™: Web Design Agencies, Q3 2005” October 6, 2005

October 18, 2007

The Forrester Wave™: European Interactive Agencies — Web Design Capabilities, Q4 2007Sapient Interactive, LBi, FullSIX, and Conchango Are Leaders In The Fieldby Craig Menzieswith Marta Baigorri, Tim van Tongeren, Jaap Favier, and Steven Geller

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http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=40926&src=43561pdf






© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction ProhibitedOctober 18, 2007

The Forrester Wave™: European Interactive Agencies — Web Design Capabilities, Q4 2007 For Customer Experience Professionals

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WEB DESIGN IN EUROPE CONTINUES TO GROW

In the spring of 2006, Forrester reviewed the Web design industry in Europe and found that firms were planning to spend more money on optimizing their Web sites, and that they were actively seeking outside help to supplement their own design and development teams.1

We have now revisited this Forrester Wave evaluation and found the Web design industry continues to be as tumultuous and fast-moving as ever. Web design continues to be an item for serious investment and of ever-increasing priority for firms of all sizes. As part of this review, Forrester asked 22 top European interactive agencies about their revenues from Web design services in Europe, and they reported bringing in a whopping €400 million in 2006. And of the nine agencies included in this Wave review, six reported an overall revenue growth of greater than 15%, with four of these agencies logging increases of greater than 30%. Not a single agency reported a drop in revenue or flat growth from year to year.

When investigating what drives this growth and what has changed since 2006, we discovered that:

· Firms prioritize Web application and eCommerce spending. A recent Forrester report on the IT spending budget outlook showed that 79% of enterprise-class companies in Europe plan to spend about the same or more on Web applications in 2007 as they did the previous year, with 78% of SMBs reporting the same.2 And 31% of IT decision-makers told us that a major theme of their investment in 2007 will be Internet or eCommerce applications. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire: Spending on the IT side of the house will mirror the customer-facing side of the business, often as part of the same project — good news for agencies that offer full-service technology and design practices.3

· It’s all about the redesign. Agencies are reporting that a large share of their business is coming from repeat customers or customers that already have an existing high-end Web site that is returning poor results. Mistakes of the past drive the Web design market in a manner seldom seen in other industries. And the top agencies are having to turn away more pitches for new business than they choose to pursue — all seeking to achieve a greater standard of excellence in a world where today’s firms are having a hard time acquiring and retaining empowered consumers.4

· Marketers want greater sophistication. Well-designed sites are key to executing successful Web strategies and to meeting increasingly important online business objectives.5 Most companies just can’t attain the level of research knowledge, technical sophistication, and design capability required to deliver top-tier Web sites. Consequently, they lean heavily on outside agencies to provide full-spectrum services (or to supplement existing internal resources) across the range of customer and user experience research, Web analytics, data analysis and segmentation, persona development, heuristic evaluation, usability, design, development, project management, and testing.6

© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited October 18, 2007


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Sustained Growth Means Growing Pains

The growth of the market for top-end Web design in Europe brings with it some unique challenges. Relatively speaking, these are good problems to have, but if not taken seriously, they can lead to implosion. We found that agencies:

· Face a dearth of talent. Across the board, agencies are reporting severe difficulties in finding talented staff to fuel their clients’ projects and their own natural growth. Some agencies are turning to unique methods to find the people they need, including the use of social networking tactics like blogs and user forums to advertise to and approach potential candidates. This employment climate creates increased pressure on interactive agencies to seriously consider how they recruit, train, motivate, and compensate their staff. The goal? Creating an environment that maximizes staff retention while creating the best possible work on behalf of the client.

· Are going global. Our review included nine agencies in Europe, but we started with a list of 44 firms that met our initial criteria. Six of the nine final agencies consider themselves to be global agencies with significant presence and clientele outside Europe. The global agencies have the scale and scope to employ tactics like “centers of excellence” — a strategy that places focused groups of skill sets in different geographical locations but makes them available to the entire agency network. For some agencies, this creates problems with cross-office consistency and cross-agency collaboration, while small agencies cannot match this raw horsepower approach to a project.

· Must go deeper and wider to excel. The top tier of agencies in Europe has one thing in common: There are no more pure players in the foxholes. To succeed in what is arguably one of the most demanding client-facing markets, interactive agencies have to provide not only greater depth in Web design and all its related disciplines but also demonstrate greater breadth across a whole spectrum of disciplines that clients increasingly consider to be must-have: cutting-edge customer experience; data and usability research; an innate understanding of brand and communication strategy; solid project management and delivery tactics; thorough and unequivocal technical chops; and an organization streamlined to do it all well.

INTERACTIVE AGENCY WEB DESIGN EVALUATION OVERVIEW

We wanted to understand how agencies fare in the face of these challenges and, consequently, how they see the future of their industry and their own businesses. To do this, we employed a mixture of structured Forrester review methodologies and the Forrester Wave methodology to gauge nine top European interactive marketing agencies’ current offerings, strategy, and market presence.



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Evaluation Criteria Emphasize Usability And Branding Capabilities

Building on past research, we developed a comprehensive set of evaluation criteria that we grouped into three high-level buckets (see Figure 1):

· Current offering. We judged the ultimate deliverables from each agency — the Web sites they created — in two ways: First, by how well they support customer goals and, second, by how well they support client brand positioning (see Figure 2 and see Figure 3). We also examined the skills, processes, and tools needed to produce effective sites and client satisfaction.

· Strategy. We examined each agency’s plans for evolving to meet the changing needs of the marketplace, with special emphasis on tactics for making those plans a reality. Our analysis of vendor strategy fell into four buckets: 1) the firm’s current market positioning; 2) its road map for the future of its design practice; 3) its plans for understanding and using changes in Web technology; and 4) its plans for succeeding in the specific industries that it targets.

· Market presence. To benchmark the relative size of each vendor’s Web design practice in Europe, we estimated its revenues from Web design only, the number of full-time equivalent staff dedicated to the practice in Europe (or 100% committed to supporting European work), and its revenue growth.

Evaluated Vendors Are Top-Tier Agencies

Forrester included nine agency vendors in the assessment: Conchango, Euro RSCG 4D, FullSIX, LBi, MRM Worldwide, Nurun, Sapient Interactive, Satama, and Wunderman.7 Each of these vendors has (see Figure 4):

· Significant market presence. All nine firms have the resources to service large global clients, with the smallest reporting 200 full-time equivalent staff dedicated to designing and building Web sites, and several of the firms reporting more than 500. Design revenues ranging from at least €10 million to more than €50 million in 2006 provide supporting evidence of substantial practices, with almost half of the agencies in this review reporting revenues in excess of €50 million for Web design in Europe alone.

· Blue-chip clients. Participants boast a variety of big-name customers and high-street brands that validate their presence in the market. For this report, each agency supplied two B2C clients willing to be interviewed and have their sites subjected to our review process. To ensure candid responses, we promised customer anonymity.



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Figure 1 Evaluation Criteria

Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

How experienced and effective is the firm at applying user and behavioral research techniques?

Do the firm’s reference personas demonstrate best practices?

Does the firm follow best practices for using personas throughout the project life cycle?

Does the firm’s Web design approach focus on user input and feedback?

Does the firm have the skills needed for world-class Web site design?

How well does the firm ensure consistent processes and quality of work across its physical locations?

How well does the firm work with other services firms on shared engagements?

Do the firm’s reference Web sites make it easy for users to complete their goals?

Do the firm’s reference Web sites support and differentiate the clients’ brands?

How do clients rate their satisfaction with the firm for the evaluated Web site design project?

User research

Persona creation

Persona application

Design process

Skills and staffing

Cross-office consistency

Collaboration abilities

User experience

Brand Image experience

Satisfaction of reference clients

CURRENT OFFERING

How clearly does the firm think about and communicate the value of its Web design practice?

Does the firm have a clear, credible road map for the future of its Web design practice?

Does the firm have a clear, credible plan to take advantage of emerging Web technologies?

Does the firm have a clear, credible plan for succeeding in specific industry verticals?

Market positioning

Clarity of vision

Emerging Web technologies

Industry focus

STRATEGY

How many full-time equivalents does the firm have dedicated to its Web site design practice in Europe?

What were the firm’s Web site design revenues in Europe in 2006?

By what percentage did the firm’s 2006 Web site design revenues in Europe change from 2005?

How many offices does the firm have in Europe?

Billable staff as of Q4 2006

Revenues (2006)

Revenue growth (2006 over 2005)

Number of European offices

MARKET PRESENCE



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Figure 2 Forrester’s Web Site Review Criteria

Source: Forrester Research, Inc.43561

2. Is essential content available where needed?

1. Does the home page provide evidence that user goals can be completed?

3. Is essential function available where needed?

4. Are essential content and function given priority on the page?

5. Are category and subcategory names clear and mutually exclusive?

6. Do menu categories immediately expose or describe their subcategories?

8. Is the task flow efficient?

9. Are hyperlinks clear and informative?

7. Are items classified logically?

10. Are keyword-based searches comprehensive and precise?

11. Does the site use language that’s easy to understand?

13. Is text legible?

14. Does text formatting and layout support easy scanning?

15. Do page layouts use space effectively?

12. Does the site use graphics, icons, and symbols that are easy to understand?

17. Are interactive elements easily recognizable?

19. Does the site accommodate the user’s range of hand-eye coordination?

16. Are form fields and interactive elements placed logically on the page?

18. Are interactive elements consistent?

20. Does the site present privacy and security policies in context?

21. Do pages provide location cues?

23. Is contextual help available at key points?

24. Does the site help users recover from errors?

25. Does the site perform well?

22. Does site functionality provide clear feedback in response to user actions?

Value

Navigation

Presentation

Trust



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Figure 3 Forrester’s Brand Image Review Criteria

Figure 4 Interactive Agencies And Their Locations In The EU-7


1. Does the site’s content support brand positioning in a manner that is consistent withother channels?

3. Do the site’s language and tone support brand positioning in a manner that is consistentwith other channels?

4. Does the site’s imagery support brand positioning in a manner that is consistent withother channels?

5. Does the site’s typography support brand positioning in a manner that is consistentwith other channels?

6. Does the site’s layout support brand positioning in a manner that is consistent withother channels?

2. Does the site’s functionality support brand positioning in a manner that is consistent withother channels?


UK Other EUSENL ESFR DE IT

Conchango

Euro RSCG 4D

FullSIX

LBi

MRM Worldwide

Nurun

Sapient Interactive

Satama

Wunderman



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We Graded Interactive Agencies In Two Ways

The best vendor for any Web site design assignment depends on many factors, but most engagements fall into two broad categories that help focus the selection process:

· Transaction-led Web projects. These are typically eCommerce initiatives that concentrate on maximizing conversion rates and minimizing service costs. To achieve these business goals, clients need an agency that can craft a great user experience, one that makes it easy for target customers to find information and place orders. High Web Site Review scores earned by reference sites provide solid evidence that agencies can do this kind of work effectively. We scored reference sites on 25 criteria, each graded on a scale ranging from -2 (severe failure) to 2 (best practice). Total scores could therefore range from -50 to 50, and passing all tests would result in a grade of 25 or higher.

· Image-led Web projects. These are typically brand-building efforts that require standout creativity to differentiate a product or service from its competitors. To meet their online branding goals, clients need content and function that reinforce brand attributes, well-written copy, and distinctive visuals. High Brand Image Review scores reveal agencies that can deliver on these needs. We evaluated site support for brand against six criteria, each graded on a scale ranging from -2 (severe failure) to 2 (best practice). Total scores could therefore range from a low of -12 to a high of 12, and passing all tests would result in a grade of 6 or higher.

INTERACTIVE AGENCIES IN EUROPE DROP A GRADE

Our findings are very similar to those from our 2006 Forrester Wave evaluation of the European Web design market and our 2007 Forrester Wave evaluation of the Web design capabilities of US-based interactive agencies.8 But we did notice a marked decline in the overall quality of the Web sites put forward for our review. However, we uncovered glimmers of excellence as well. We found that:

· Scores from our Web Site Reviews were above average. Web Site Review scores for sites that the agencies submitted largely determined each firm’s current offering ranking (see Figure 5). The 18 reference sites in this review earned an average score of only 6.5 — a failing grade, but still more than five points higher than the average score of all sites Forrester has reviewed to date.9 However, this score is also down from a score of 12 in the 2006 European evaluation and 17 in the 2007 North American version of this Forrester Wave. Only a single agency site scored higher than the passing grade of 25 points, and one site clocked in at a disappointing low of -11.

· Scores from our Brand Image Review are better, but there are still a few failures. In all, slightly more than half of the client reference sites we reviewed earned a score of 6 (pass) — demonstrat-ing much better average agency performance for online branding work than for usability work (see Figure 6). However, not all agencies excelled at this type of project: Scores ranged from an



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impressive 10 to a disappointing -7. These results were consistent with our findings in our evalua-tion of North American interactive agencies.

· Strategies were strong and clear but not uniquely differentiated. We found very little differentiation in how the agencies saw themselves and described their unique selling propositions — a problem we saw in both our previous evaluations. This lack of uniqueness would be frustrating for prospective clients going through the agency acquisition process and would push elements like working culture, management style, track record, and design credentials to the fore. But we also saw agencies with a clear idea of what the future holds for them and their industry — the phrases we heard most often were “brand awareness,” “full service,” and “understand the customer and the rest will follow.” All noble and worthy goals, and as it turns out, they also make good business sense.10

Figure 5 Forrester Web Site Reviews Of Agency Reference Sites


-15 -10 -5 05 10 15 20 5025 30

PassFail

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Satama

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-50



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Figure 6 Forrester Brand Image Reviews Of Agency Reference Sites

For Transaction-Led Web Projects, Four Agencies Emerge As Leaders

Our analysis of how well Web design agencies serve the market for transaction-led Web projects reveals an industry characterized by four Leaders, three Strong Performers, and two Contenders (see Figure 7).

· Sapient Interactive, LBi, FullSIX, and Conchango lead the pack. Sapient Interactive’s top-scoring reference Web site propelled it into the lead, supported by a solid reference persona and the strength of its proprietary working and collaboration methodologies. Following a hair behind is LBi, which fielded the next-best Web site and a second great Web site, a truly impressive persona creation tool, and a rigorous best-practice approach to user experience. With two very respectable Web Site Review scores and a stunning performance on its Brand Image Reviews, FullSIX has ranked well in both its current offering and its strategy. Conchango rounds out the Leaders in spite of one disappointing Web Site Review — recovering on the sheer strength of the highest client satisfaction score (tied with Satama) and demonstrated best practices in user experience research, persona creation, and staffing models.

· MRM Worldwide, Wunderman, and Satama are Strong Performers. Just south of the Leaders is MRM Worldwide, which, despite a very poor showing on the Persona Review, produced the third-best Web Site Review score and received best-practice marks for its data-driven research


5

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capabilities and design process. Both Wunderman and Satama suffered from poor Web Site Review scores, which pulled them out of the Leader’s category. Wunderman had the second-best client satisfaction score plus top marks in how it works with emerging technologies and a solid positive score on its Persona Review. Satama tied with Conchango for the highest client satisfaction score and also took top marks for its plans to use emerging technologies and showed a particularly special and innovative approach to staffing — it’s no surprise that this firm was recently voted one of the best places to work in Finland.11

· Nurun and Euro RSCG 4D are Contenders with great potential. Nurun had the highest persona score in the review, a solid strategy, and is well on its way to demonstrating a best practice in its proprietary working processes for ensuring cross-office consistency. However, it has work to do on its user research and persona application. Euro RSCG 4D shows great promise with some excellent brand work and a good performance in its design process and overall strategic thinking, but it scored below average on one Web Site Review and its persona work.

This evaluation of the transaction-led Web design market is intended to be a starting point only. Readers are encouraged to view detailed product evaluations and adapt the criteria weightings to fit their individual needs through the Forrester Wave Excel-based vendor comparison tool.

Figure 7 Forrester Wave™: Interactive Agencies For Transaction-Led Web Projects, Q4 ‘07


Go online to download

the Forrester Wave tool

for more detailed product

evaluations, feature

comparisons, and

customizable rankings.

RiskyBets Contenders

Currentoffering

StrategyWeak

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Conchango

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Figure 7 Forrester Wave™: Interactive Agencies For Transaction-Led Web Projects, Q4 ‘07 (Cont.)

For Image-Led Web Projects, Five Agencies Stand Out

We also assessed how interactive agencies serve the market for image-led Web projects (see Figure 8). We did this by increasing the weight of their Brand Image Review scores until they equaled the weight of their Web Site Review scores. Using these new weightings, we found that:

· Leaders stay in the Leader category, and Wunderman joins the party. Wunderman was clearly underachieving in the Web site reviews but registered the second-best score on the Brand Image Review, with scores of 9 and 8. FullSIX shot into the lead position on the strength of its superb


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CURRENT OFFERING User research Persona creation Persona application Design process Skills and staffing Cross-office consistency Collaboration abilities User experience Brand Image experience Satisfaction of reference clients

STRATEGY Market positioning Clarity of vision Emerging Web technologies Industry focus

MARKET PRESENCE Billable staff as of Q4 2006 Revenues (2006) Revenue growth (2006 over 2005) Number of European offices

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All scores are based on a scale of 0 (weak) to 5 (strong).

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10/10 Brand Image Review performance, while Conchango, LBi, and Sapient all dropped slightly due to average Brand Image Review scores.

· Nurun joins the Strong Performers. Nurun, whose solid Brand Image Review scores far exceed its Web Site Review scores, peeked up into the Strong Performer category, although it is still far behind MRM Worldwide and Satama in terms of its scoring on the strategy portion of the review.

· Euro RSCG 4D moves up but stays a Contender. An increased emphasis on the Brand Image Review performance shows how much better Euro RSCG 4D has done in this area, but its low scores on the Web Site Review and the Persona Review kept it from moving into the Strong Performer category.

This evaluation of the image-led Web design market is intended to be a starting point only. Readers are encouraged to view detailed product evaluations and adapt the criteria weightings to fit their individual needs through the Forrester Wave Excel-based vendor comparison tool.

Figure 8 Forrester Wave™: Interactive Agencies For Image-Led Web Projects, Q4 ‘07


Go online to download

the Forrester Wave tool

for more detailed product

evaluations, feature

comparisons, and

customizable rankings.

RiskyBets Contenders

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StrongPerformers

Conchango

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Figure 8 Forrester Wave™: Interactive Agencies For Image-Led Web Projects, Q4 ‘07 (Cont.)

VENDOR PROFILES

Leaders

· Conchango. Based in the UK, Conchango focuses on creating Web sites from a strong user experience research process and a fully integrated, digitally manifested brand image. In the Leader field for the second Forrester Wave in a row, Conchango delivers using the Agile methodology and a highly collaborative approach, with the capability to deliver solid brand image sites. Conchango also received the highest customer satisfaction score (tied with Satama).12


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STRATEGY Market positioning Clarity of vision Emerging Web technologies Industry focus

MARKET PRESENCE Billable staff as of Q4 2006 Revenues (2006) Revenue growth (2006 over 2005) Number of European offices

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All scores are based on a scale of 0 (weak) to 5 (strong).

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· FullSIX. Based in France but with seven other offices across Europe, FullSIX has matured significantly since our 2006 review. Still offering a dedicated user research organization, it has also kicked its design practice into gear, producing the two highest scores for both of its brand-driven Web sites, as well as two very respectable user experience-led sites. FullSIX would be a great choice for companies looking to build great brand-led sites with a user research approach.13

· LBi. Now one of the largest players in Europe, with 16 offices and a raft of high-street brand names in its portfolio, LBi has bedded down from the merger of LB Icon and Framfab. LBi was a Strong Performer in our previous review and has shot forward into the Leader category this year, with impressive Web Site Review scores and solid marks on both the Brand Image Review and Persona Reviews. A company can’t go far wrong with LBi on the case.14

· Sapient Interactive. Once considered only a technical consulting company, Sapient Interactive has demonstrated a seriously advanced Web design practice, receiving the highest mark in our Web Site Review, and the only reference Web site to receive a passing grade for user experience. It also received high marks on both Brand Image Reviews and persona creation, making it a top choice for both transactional and brand-driven projects.15

Strong Performers

· MRM Worldwide. As the name implies, MRM Worldwide is one of the most global agencies in this review, with 12 offices in Europe and another 24 worldwide. Slightly hampered by a poor showing in our persona and Brand Image Reviews, MRM Worldwide is still a Strong Performer based on its very respectable Web Site Review scores and solid capability in data-driven user experience research. Companies with their own data seeking a highly usable Web site will do well with MRM Worldwide.16

· Satama. Based out of Finland, Satama also has offices in Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Satama showed great strengths in the way it works, collaborates, and gets the best from staff. Its work, however, was below average in both the Web Site Review and the Brand Image Review. Despite these results, it received the highest customer satisfaction score (tied with Conchango), which Forrester attributes to satisfied employees acting as advocates with a high-service attitude.17

· Wunderman. With the best possible pedigree in traditional direct marketing, Wunderman has become a real presence in the Web design field as well. Wunderman put forward two Web sites that were mediocre on user experience, but it received fantastic scores for its brand image effectiveness and a solid positive on its persona creation. With its data pedigree, Wunderman is a great choice for companies seeking to leverage existing data to create a compelling and professional brand-led Web site.18



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Contenders

· Euro RSCG 4D. A truly global agency, Euro RSCG 4D has 21 offices across Europe and a further 20 worldwide. Euro RSCG 4Dis best known for work that has garnered many design awards — this came through in our reviews with strong performances on Brand Image Reviews; unfortunately, very poor scores on one user experience-led Web Design Review and its persona design let it down. Companies looking for brand-led design and a global Web presence would do well with Euro RSCG 4D.19

· Nurun. With six offices in Europe and another six worldwide, Nurun has a good presence in the European Web design market. It suffered from one poor score on the user experience-led Web Site Review — a fact made up for by the highest Persona Review score in this review and a solid performance on its Brand Image Reviews. Nurun would be a good choice for companies seeking foreign-language Web sites and sites that require a presence in both Europe and North America.20

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

Online Resource

The online versions of Figure 7 and Figure 8 are Excel-based vendor comparison tools that provide detailed product evaluations and customizable rankings.

Data Sources Used In This Forrester Wave

Forrester used a combination of four data sources to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each agency:

· Reviews of reference sites. Each agency provided two Web sites that exemplify its very best work. We graded the sites using Forrester’s Web Site Review methodology to determine the quality of their user experience.21 We also graded the emotional and experiential aspects of the sites using our Brand Image Review methodology.22

· Reviews of reference personas. High-quality personas help guide site design by aligning agencies and clients behind a common vision of target user needs and goals. Each agency offered up one or more examples of the customer profiles or personas that they use and described the research that went into creating them. We evaluated the personas using criteria derived from our ongoing research into persona best practices.23

· Vendor surveys and interviews. Skills, design methodology, vision, and tactics in support of vision provide insight into how the agency operates today and how likely it is to thrive tomorrow. To expose these factors, Forrester surveyed the vendors. Once we analyzed the completed surveys, we conducted phone interviews to explore areas of differentiation, gather more details, and seek clarification where necessary.



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· Customer reference surveys. We contacted two customer references for each agency in this review and asked them to complete a short eight-question survey. We used the results of these surveys to: 1) verify that the agency did the work that it claimed to have done; 2) understand the process that the agency followed to produce the site; and 3) get client satisfaction ratings in four key areas: business results produced, process, timeliness of delivery, and cost.

The Forrester Wave Methodology

We conduct primary research to develop a list of vendors that meet our criteria to be evaluated in this market. From that initial pool of vendors, we then narrow our final list. We choose these vendors based on: 1) product fit; 2) customer success; and 3) Forrester client demand. We eliminate vendors that have limited customer references and products that don’t fit the scope of our evaluation.

After examining past research, user need assessments, and vendor and expert interviews, we develop the initial evaluation criteria. To evaluate the vendors and their products against our set of criteria, we gather details of product qualifications through a combination of lab evaluations, questionnaires, demos, and/or discussions with client references. We send evaluations to the vendors for their review, and we adjust the evaluations to provide the most accurate view of vendor offerings and strategies.

We set default weightings to reflect our analysis of the needs of large user companies — and/or other scenarios as outlined in the Forrester Wave document — and then score the vendors based on a clearly defined scale. These default weightings are intended only as a starting point, and readers are encouraged to adapt the weightings to fit their individual needs through the Excel-based tool. The final scores generate the graphical depiction of the market based on current offering, strategy, and market presence. Forrester intends to update vendor evaluations regularly as product capabilities and vendor strategies evolve.

ENDNOTES1 Forrester evaluated 10 leading design agencies in Europe across 18 criteria and found that Conchango is the

leader of the pack — thanks to its Web site design and corresponding brand-positioning capabilities and its user-centric design focus. AKQA and Agency.com are close behind. LB Icon and Wunderman are Strong Performers but lack some of the rigorous user research, testing, and development of personas that the Leaders display; Pixelpark, Creuna, and Satama Interactive just made it into this category: All three have work ahead to gain solid user insights and integrate this into their design process to beef up their current capabilities. FullSIX does solid user research and has a clear strategy but just falls into the Contender category because of a lack of persona creation and low user experience scores. Nurun came in last for the same reasons and lower scores on strategy. See the May 18, 2006, “The Forrester Wave™: European Web Design Agencies, Q2 2006” report.





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2 European enterprises have a more positive outlook about 2007 than in the previous two years. Despite the increased optimism, IT budgets show modest growth of just 0.7%. However, there will be more budget available for new investments, as well as for R&D and security. Three major themes for IT organizations are: upgrading the security environment; improving IT’s efficiency; and curtailing IT services spending. Firms expect to increase their spending on software and hardware more than on IT services. Almost 40% of firms apply financial justifications to all projects that involve significant costs. To obtain approval and to make the business case, most firms look at return on investment and total cost of ownership. See the March 2, 2007,

“2007 Enterprise IT Budget Outlook: Europe” report.

The positive outlook for small and medium businesses (SMBs) has fallen; in 2006, 53% of firms reported a good outlook, but that dropped to 47% in 2007. This gloominess translates into a 1% decrease in overall IT budgets. R&D spending will rise to 5% of the total IT budget, but spending on new investments will remain flat at 28%. If we break down the IT operating budget, computer hardware and full-time IT staff consume the largest share, with 23% each. SMBs will spend more on Web applications and security than in 2006. They will also increase their budget for storage products and server hardware. IT services spending will remain static for the majority of the SMB respondents. The No. 1 IT priority of the year will be to replace or upgrade server hardware; the No. 1 business priority will be to improve IT’s efficiency; and the IT services focus will be on curtailing IT services spending. Three-quarters of SMBs use financial justification methods, but in general, medium businesses use methodologies more widely than small businesses. See the March 22, 2007, “2007 SMB IT Budget Outlook: Europe” report.

3 Several of the agencies included in this report told us that collaborations with other agencies are now more common and part of their everyday engagements on client projects. One agency reported that as much as 75% of their projects require them to collaborate actively with another agency, most often a technical services partner.

4 Forrester’s customer experience research helps customer experience professionals and interactive marketing professionals compete effectively in a world where empowered consumers are getting harder than ever to win and keep. Our research spans multiple channels like Web sites, IVR systems, phone agents, email communications, kiosks, and packaging. We look across a variety of industries from both a business-to-business and business-to-consumer perspective, including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and travel. Key topic areas include benchmarking customer experience, building the business case for change, and transforming organization, culture, and process. See the September 12, 2007, “Topic Overview: Customer Experience” report.

5 Business objectives depend on customers accomplishing their goals, like comparing products, making a purchase, or updating their account information. But customers can only achieve their goals when Web sites provide essential content and function and then help users find and consume it. In Q4 2005, we surveyed Forrester’s Customer Experience Peer Research Panel (PRP) about its spending plans for 2006. The overall trend: Panelists want to shift more customers to self-service channels — and they’ve found that improving usability is the most effective way to accomplish that goal. See the February 3, 2006, “Customer Experience Spending Booms In 2006” report.









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6 In 2006, we surveyed members of Forrester’s Customer Experience Peer Research Panel who work on Web sites. Almost three-quarters of our panelists said that they have internal design staff, like usability practitioners and interaction designers, and more than half said that they use an outside agency. Interestingly, 20 of the 45 companies with design staff also use agencies. See the September 13, 2006, “The People Who Make Great Web Sites” report.

7 We initially invited the participants in the 2006 Wave of European Web Design Agencies and an additional 34 companies from the 2006 NewMediaAge Top 100 Interactive Agencies List and the 2006 WON Report. We selected the top 10 companies by estimated revenue earned from Web design work in Europe for European clients. We originally intended to include 10 companies in this report, but one company dropped out of the process too late for another agency to take their place.

8 Forrester evaluated the Web design capabilities of leading interactive marketing agencies across 18 criteria. Our analysis identifies Avenue A | Razorfish, Critical Mass, Organic, and R/GA as Leaders — due in large part to their high scores on Forrester’s Web Site Review and Brand Image Review methodologies. New to our rankings this year, Tribal DDB emerged as a Strong Performer, mostly on the merit of its exceptional online branding work. Other Strong Performers included Arc, Digitas, Fry, imc2, Molecular, and WHITTMANHART. IconNicholson, Macquarium, Sapient, and VML rounded out our list of agencies. See the April 11, 2007, “The Forrester Wave™: Interactive Marketing Agencies — Web Design Capabilities, Q2 2007” report.

9 Since 1999, Forrester has evaluated the experience of more than 1,000 Web sites. During that period, only 3% of the sites received passing scores on our Web Site Review methodology. But things have definitely changed during the past eight years. Scores have increased since 2001; sites provide more value but make it harder to find the value; and B2B sites lag B2C sites more than ever. Looking back at all of our evaluations, we’ve identified eight key lessons learned, including the facts that Scenario Design remains the key ingredient in good site design; good personas fuel great results; and culture, process, and skills matter more than org charts. Firms can learn a lot about the usability of their Web Sites by applying Forrester’s Web Site Review methodology on their own. See the May 11, 2007, “Lessons Learned From 1,001 Web Site Reviews” report.

10 With more access to information, more sensitivity to price, and less sensitivity to advertising, customers are getting harder to win and keep. Organizations try to woo these empowered consumers with mediocre customer experiences — but it won’t work. Firms need to dramatically raise the bar on the customer experience they provide. How? By adopting what Forrester calls Experience-Based Differentiation (EBD). This enterprisewide effort focuses on three principles: obsess about customer needs; reinforce brands with every interaction; and treat customer experience as a competence, not a function. To succeed with EBD, firms must commit to a multi-year journey. That’s why firms need to make this one of their top corporate initiatives. We expect EBD to make fast inroads in financial services, healthcare, and travel industries. See the January 2, 2007, “Experience-Based Differentiation” report.

11 Satama is differentiated by its unique and innovative approach to staffing. In particular, it follows a “guild” approach to mentoring its people, with senior and junior team members working together and across multiple disciplines. Most notably, Satama has been named one of the top 10 companies to work for in









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Finland, due in part to such innovative company initiatives like employee art exhibits and staff retention policies that address salaries, how to challenge employees, fostering staff inclusion, and how management listens to their staff.

12 View the vendor summary for more detailed analysis on how Conchango fared in this evaluation. See the October 18, 2007, “Conchango Delivers On Brand, Persona, And Customer Satisfaction” report.

13 View the vendor summary for more detailed analysis on how FullSIX fared in this evaluation. See the October 18, 2007, “FullSIX Delivers Best-In-Class Web Brand Experiences” report.

14 View the vendor summary for more detailed analysis on how LBi fared in this evaluation. See the October 18, 2007, “LBi Delivers Standout Persona, Brand, And User Experience-Driven Web Design” report.

15 View the vendor summary for more detailed analysis on how Sapient Interactive fared in this evaluation. See the October 18, 2007, “Sapient Interactive Leads Europe In User Experience-based Web Design” report.

16 View the vendor summary for more detailed analysis on how MRM Worldwide fared in this evaluation. See the October 18, 2007, “MRM Worldwide Delivers Global Web Design” report.

17 View the vendor summary for more detailed analysis on how Satama fared in this evaluation. See the October 18, 2007, “Satama Delivers Customer Satisfaction And Strong Technology Vision” report.

18 View the vendor summary for more detailed analysis on how Wunderman fared in this evaluation. See the October 18, 2007, “Wunderman Delivers Impressive Brand-Led Sites” report.

19 View the vendor summary for more detailed analysis on how Euro RSCG 4D fared in this evaluation. See the October 18, 2007, “Euro RSCG 4D Delivers Strong Brand-Led Global Web Sites” report.

20 View the vendor summary for more detailed analysis on how Nurun fared in this evaluation. See the October 18, 2007, “Nurun Delivers Best-Of-Class Personas” report.

21 Consumers are spending more and more time online, seeking out experiences that are relevant, engaging, and personal. However, many Web sites make users struggle to complete simple goals, have little to no emotional punch, and fail to embrace the diversity of consumers’ wants and needs. To make matters worse, today’s Web organizations must often backburner projects that would improve their sites’ desirability factor in order to fix more pressing problems. As a result, the topic of desirability largely remains a mystery in the user experience community. We’ve explored three tactics for creating desirable online experiences: 1) providing engaging content and functionality, 2) focusing on aesthetics, and 3) incorporating elements of game design. See the August 8, 2007, “Desirable Online Experiences: Taking Web Sites Beyond Useful And Usable” report.

22 Firms spend millions of euros on building their brand through advertising, site design, and online branding. Our heuristic evaluation of 16 large brands in the UK, however, reveals that only one brand creates a consistent experience across different media with a useful and usable Web site. Customer experience professionals must get basic site usability principles right before trying to differentiate through the online experience. See the July 13, 2007, “Building Better Online Brand Experiences” report.















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23 To gauge the current state of personas, Forrester applied its persona evaluation criteria to reference personas provided by 23 interactive agencies. Most of the personas showed significant room for improvement — and problems ran the gamut in both type and severity. But our evaluations also revealed best practices for each of our six criteria among the two personas that earned nearly perfect scores and those that didn’t pass our review. To get the most value out of persona projects, customer experience professionals should ask about prospective firms’ research capabilities, evaluate their reference personas, find out how they use personas during the design process, and assess their ability to help drive persona adoption throughout the organization. See the July 19, 2007, “Best And Worst Of Personas, 2007” report.


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