Eight months after Nitro Group acquisition, company adopts one brand to represent its fully integrated, multi-channel marketing and commerce offerings to clients

Legorburu and Clarke share leadership responsibilities worldwide

LONDON – 19 February 2010 – Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE) today announced that its Sapient Interactive and SapientNitro divisions will go to market as a single brand, effective immediately.  The strategy is designed to capture increased demand for the company’s comprehensive multi-channel marketing and commerce services. The unified SapientNitro offering will be co-led by Gaston Legorburu, former head of Sapient Interactive group, and Chris Clarke, founder and former head of Nitro Group (now SapientNitro).  More details about SapientNitro are available at the new www.sapientnitro.com.

“In the eight months since our acquisition of Nitro, we have seen increased interest from our clients in our unique brand-led, digitally-centric customer experience offering. We knew that we had created something special in connecting our brand-led capability with our digital marketing and digital commerce capability. Interest has been stronger than we had anticipated, and today’s moves are meant to capture that demand,” said Sapient President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Herrick.

“In response to demand and early successes with clients such as Coca-Cola, Mars, and Target, we’ve accelerated our strategy of multi-channel marketing and multi-channel commerce,” said Gaston Legorburu, co-executive director and worldwide creative officer of SapientNitro.  “Clients need creative, tech-savvy, brand stewards who think holistically across the customer experience. Our clients have been receptive to the new breed of customer experience company we’re creating – digitally led, but integrated across channels and powered by strong technology. Technology is fundamentally changing how consumers interact with brands. We can help our clients be in the channels appropriate to their customers’ preferences.”

Due to increased interest, the businesses will go to market as a single brand entity – SapientNitro  – allowing all clients to take advantage of the full suite of marketing and commerce services.  The SapientNitro name represents the integrated capabilities, with a focus on creating customer experiences that help clients to grow their businesses and fuel brand advocates – across brand strategy, digital, print, radio, and television. Said Herrick, “We’re one team, one P&L, one culture, and one purpose. Now, we’re excited to go to market as one brand too.”

“We decided to drop the word “interactive” from our name because the division between traditional and digital no longer exists – the lines are blurred. It’s a digitally-centred, highly inter-connected world now,” continued Legorburu. “To have brand strategy, digital, traditional, and commerce under one roof is a huge differentiator for us.”

With the July 2009 acquisition by Sapient of Nitro Group, Sapient combined the largest independent interactive services firm with an award-winning, brand-led advertising network. Since then, Sapient has integrated the interactive and above-the-line businesses to capitalise on new opportunities for its multi-channel marketing and commerce offering and has delivered its integrated value proposition to global clients such as Celebrity Cruise Lines, Foot Locker, Mars, and others.  Earlier this year, the company was awarded the re-platforming of Target.com for the retailer’s 2011 holiday season.

SapientNitro picked up nine Cannes Lions awards in 2009, was named Leader in web design and digital strategy and execution by Forrester Research and was deemed “Agency to Watch” by Ad Age (25/01/10).

“SapientNitro represents connected capabilities our clients haven’t seen in other partners and, when they see it, they want it from us,” said Chris Clarke, co-executive director and worldwide creative officer of SapientNitro. “We’re in a strong strategic position to lead the markets we operate in. Gaston and I look forward to working together to capitalise on the momentum we’ve achieved and to making 2010 a great year.”

SapientNitro has approximately 4,500 people in 35 offices worldwide. According to Ad Age, it is the largest independent digital player by revenue.

About SapientNitro
SapientNitro, part of Sapient, is the world’s first customer experience company.  We create and engineer highly relevant experiences that accelerate business growth and fuel brand advocacy for our clients.  By combining multi-channel marketing, multi-channel commerce and the technology that binds them, we influence customer behaviour across the spectrum of content, communication and commerce channels, resulting in deeper, more meaningful relationships between customers and brands. SapientNitro services global leaders such as Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Mars, Singapore Airlines, Target and Vodafone through our operations in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. For more information, visit www.sapientnitro.com or follow us on Twitter @sapientnitro