Insight will lead the way for Cagney

UK-- Market research agency Tree recorded a rise in gross profits and revenue in 2008, but has had a “slightly disappointing” start to the new year, according to figures released by parent company Cagney today.

Cagney CEO Steve Mattey hinted at a change in direction for the marketing services group, saying that he wanted to re-align the firm as “a business delivering communications led by insight and technology”.

He said: “There is an enormous proliferation of data about people and their behaviour - web usage, purchasing habits, transactional information, personal data to name but a few. Harnessing this data to understand people and reacting to it with intuitive and natural communications is the future for marketing.

“Communications will be judged on their effectiveness and impact on sales in this economy more than ever. I welcome that. We will be a business that at its heart will let insight and technology drive our creativity.”

Tree's gross profit for 2008 rose from £2.2m the previous year to £2.6m, while revenue was up from £2.7m to £3.5m.

Despite the disappointing start to 2009, Cagney said it was optimistic for the coming year. Mattey said: “Tree has traditionally performed well when clients are challenged to demonstrate the effectiveness of their marketing spend, and that should stand the business in good stead at a time when companies are examining every penny of their expenditure.”

Meanwhile, Cagney said it was still in discussions with an unnamed company about a possible takeover bid.

Author: James Verrinder