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"We try not to get a lot of clients, but to develop the best work for the client that we can."
That philosophy, according to Nurun CEO Jacques-Hervé Roubert, has led the Montreal-headquartered company to land and retain some of the same clients for 12 years. Roubert points out that has been no small accomplishment given that the digital landscape of the past decade included the steep cliff of the dotcom bust.
Nurun, a Quebecor Media company, which employs approximately 800 people in 13 cities including New York, Shanghai, Madrid, Paris and Turin, posted revenues of $82.8 million in 2007, up from $74.7 the previous year. Since its formation in 1985, the company has worked with clients from L'Oréal and Groupe Danone to Home Depot, Microsoft, Equifax, Renault, Telecom Italia and Louis Vuitton.
Roubert attributes his company's success to its willingness to reevaluate and reinvent itself; a process Roubert says takes place on an annual or biannual basis. The idea, he says, is to be flexible -- and prepared. "I can't tell you what the most important thing is going to be in three years, because it's always changing. But I can tell you that we have to be ready," Roubert says. To that end, Nurun has formed a global laboratory research team consisting of 12 employees across North America, Asia and Europe. The group also partners with research institutions such as Georgia Tech's Mobile Technology Lab.
While Roubert admits his company's standing is relatively weak in the United States when compared to other, more established domestic digital giants, he describes the American market as "a priority" for 2008 and 2009. Roubert clearly expects that his company's international expertise will pay off in New York. After all, the company estimates that at least 70 percent of its work is bilingual, meaning Nurun adapts its campaigns for at least 23 languages, translating its sites as well as striving to make them culturally appropriate.
Roubert also looks to Nurun's work in China and France as key to understanding the global digital market. With an office in Guangzhou in addition to a base in Shanghai, Roubert says Nurun has learned a lot about the mobile market from China's hundreds of millions of mobile users. And in France, where Roubert says the emphasis is less on ROI and more on creative, Nurun has gained insight on how to drive a brand rather than just encourage sales.
Nurun's 2007 highlights include: W3 Award (Silver, retail microsite: Home Depot Canada Father's Day Dad-Alyzer), Webaward (Shopping Standard of Excellence: Home Depot Canada Father's Day Dad-Alyzer); Webaward (Outstanding Website: Frontier Airlines Best Low-Cost Carrier Campaign Landing Page); IAC (Best Retail Email message campaign: Home Depot Canada Perfect Home Email Campaign); IAC (Best Retail Online campaign: Home Depot Canada Welcome Email & Site).