The store launched a reward scheme in 2012 to selected customers called my John Lewis and Proximity will play a key role in developing the programme.

Our remit extends across all direct marketing channels, supporting the John Lewis marketing, database and email teams.

In addition to support on my John Lewis, the agency will be tasked to work on the broader contact strategy, as well as launch marketing for store openings.

A delighted Sharon Whale, Deputy Chairman at Proximity, added: “We are genuinely thrilled to have won the prestigious John Lewis CRM account. John Lewis already enjoys a unique relationship with their customers and we feel privileged to have been chosen to partner with them to take this to the next level”.

Amanda Arthur joins Proximity London to head up Proximity’s 23 strong data & analytics team, running large scale data driven programmes for clients including BBC TV Licensing, Volkswagen, P&G, Kraft and Shell.

Her main focus will be on one of the agency’s largest data assignments, BBC TV Licensing, which Proximity has handled for the past eleven years.

Amanda will report to CEO Mike Dodds and will also sit on the Proximity London board as part of the agency’s management team. She’ll join the agency at the end of May from Havas EHS, where she is currently Data Planning & Analytics Director, driving customer relationship strategies for clients such as E.ON, Diageo, Volvo and Dairy Crest.

She joined EHS in 1998 having previously worked at BT as Database Marketing Manager and, prior to that, at Dun & Bradstreet. The hire takes place as Adam Williamson moves to British Airways as Head of Marketing Effectiveness.

Mike Dodds, Proximity London CEO, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Amanda to Proximity. The breadth and depth of her skills will be an asset to the agency and further reinforce our ability to translate the big data stream into powerfully effective customer communications for our clients.”

Read about it in the press

They will work closely with Oxfam’s Marketing teams to deliver an integrated digital activation strategy with the objective of acquiring new donors and driving income growth. Proximity will also work closely with Rainey Kelly Y&R who are Oxfam’s brand agency to deliver an integrated solution this summer.

Paul Clarke Director of Fundraising and Supporter Marketing at Oxfam said; “We are really looking to drive innovation in how we engage with our supporters and see Digital Channels as a key opportunity. We were really impressed by Proximity’s commitment to understand us as an organisation, by their strength and depth of digital expertise and their application of Behavioural Economics within fundraising. We are really looking forward to working with them and integrating with the good work we are doing with Rainey Kelly Y&R on the brand side.”

Mike Dodds CEO of Proximity said ‘This is a great start to the year. We are beyond delighted to be working with Oxfam and we can’t wait to get to work on driving digital activation and acquisition for them in 2013.”

1. Leap Motion The star product of the show (shipping May and we have it on order)

2. User interfaces are turning up everywhere often to the detriment of user experience

3. The Quantified Self. The rise of Little Data collection through multi-sensory devices; FuelBand, Basis Band, FitBit etc. to drive personal behaviour change.

4. Big data isn’t understood. More sensors, more technology, more sharing, more data, more computational power, but our caveman brains are still catching up

5. Elon Musk Made everyone else feel stupid.

6. FourSquare Doesn’t seem to have progressed since last year.

7. Social data. Why listen to such a small and very specific demographic / psychographic of your customer base?

8. Stephen Wolfram. He could probably solve all of the “big data” questions while juggling knives.

9. Gamification. Like the word or not, gaming techniques and games are still the best way to drive engagement.

10. Space. Privateers and entrepreneurs are boldy going where governments can no longer afford; SpaceX  Xprize

Gabrielle joined the London agency in June 2012 as Deputy Managing Director and Chief Innovation Officer after three years at Proximity Paris, where she was Deputy Managing Director. Over the last six months at Proximity London she has been responsible for bringing in several senior digital figures to the agency, she has also won a number of successful pitches during this period including Clearblue – where the agency was appointed as global digital lead.

Gabrielle will report to CEO Mike Dodds and will work closely with Chairman Lou Barber and Mike to drive the agency’s growth in London and internationally.

Mike Dodds said “Gabi will be a fantastic Managing Director for the agency. She’s a digital native and over the last year has brought an energy and passion to the business that has resulted in great work, client growth and new business success. I look forward to this continuing across the agency under her leadership.”

Gabrielle Moss added “I am thrilled to be taking on this role at such an exciting time for Proximity. Our plans for the coming years will be truly differentiating in the industry and I’m looking forward to realising the vision that the management team have been developing over the last three months.”

Proximity London has joined forces with leading photographer Carl Warner for a direct mail campaign to launch the new Volkswagen Golf.

The piece deconstructs the new car, using car parts to create a beautiful three-dimensional CityScape.

Photographer Carl Warner is often referred to as the ‘Willy Wonka of photography’. He creates stunning scenes from sweets, fresh fruit, vegetables and even smoked salmon. His ability to turn simple objects into beautiful landscapes made him the perfect choice for the campaign’s lead visual.

Tom Wharfe, Marketing Communications Manager at Volkswagen, commented: “When customers make a major purchasing decision, they look beyond the surface gloss to the product truths underneath. Proximity has cleverly created a communication which portrays the depth of changes in the new car.”

Caitlin Ryan, Executive Creative Director, added: “We see Volkswagen as a brand that really prides itself on its design heritage, so for us it was vital that we reflected that in our work. This piece does exactly that.”

In addition to being the most awarded agency network overall, it also took top honours in the digital category for the first time, it was also ranked No. 1 in the film category.

Andrew Robertson, president/CEO, BBDO Worldwide, stated: “Great work works great. It makes money for our clients. I am especially proud of our performance in digital.”

Read the full report www.gunnreport.com

The press has been saying very nice things about the new website we’ve created for Royal Mail and so have our clients.

www.royalmail.com delivers pretty much everything you could want from a mail service in a smooth, well-engineered, intuitive way. A lot of quality thinking – not to mention quality design and coding – has gone under the hood. As Charlie Herbert, Head of Digital at Royal Mail, confirms – “Proximity analysed the way our customers use and relate to our services in exceptional detail, and what the site would have to do to meet all their needs. And then they answered that vision by delivering a project of outstanding quality and style.”

Gabrielle Moss, Deputy Managing Director at Proximity, is also proud of the work – “We know Royal Mail are transforming their business, and setting themselves ever-higher standards. So we knew we needed a site that would deliver high performance – as well as reflecting Royal Mail’s best traditions of service and reliability.”

We’re delighted that Proximity London is ranked No.2 DM agency in the UK, No.9 in the Global DM agencies Top 10 List and No.6 across disciplines.

It’s also great to see our network BBDO named 2012′s most awarded advertising agency network for the 6th year in a row!

The rankings are compiled based on nearly 4,500 pieces of work from 39 industry shows around the world and more than 1,500 advertising agencies.

Click here for the full Big Won report

Again it was the P&G Mission Control campaign that received most recognition winning 3 Golds and a Silver. So many brands simply flounder around on Facebook like unwanted guests at a party, whereas our ‘to do’ list provided something of real value to mums.

The fourth Gold and a Silver were awarded for the launch of Chocolate Philadelphia. It may sound an unlikely combination, but it inspired some great creative thinking.

Outstanding work for Lloyds TSB and Volkswagen scooped us a further Silver and Bronze.

Beyond the DMAs, Mission Control was recognised as No. 3 in Campaign Magazine’s Top 10 DM for 2012.

And, to top it all off, Proximity London was runner up in the DM category for Marketing Magazine’s Agency of the Year Awards 2012.