Being at Sapient Nitro’s Industry Analyst Summit recently felt a lot like being a fly on the wall in Don Draper’s office circa 1961. I got to witness clever people displaying fresh new ideas on how to market products that have been around for a while, but by using brand new media channels, they can completely reinvent how consumers connect to those products and brands.

For example, Malcom Paynton (Chief Creative Officer Europe) and Nigel Vaz (Managing Director) delivered a morning session titled “Convergence of Communications and Commerce ” where they shared some of the most recent work they’ve done for several European clients. They’ve helped Unilever unveil an ice-cream vending machine that utilizes facial recognition software. Taking into account that ice cream is so often associated with happiness , these vending machines will only dispense a treat once a customer produces a big enough smile. The viral nature of people hearing about them and wanting to try them out has led to incredibly long lines at outdoor music festivals.

But one of the most compelling stories was how the company completely restructured Ladbrokes, a UK-based betting services company, and in particular, how the brand approached the highly lucrative market of sports book betting. At first engagement in 2011, Ladbrokes’ primary market was males, aged 55+, who visited the company’s brick-and-mortar locations. Stores were a “hangout ” for this one demographic, often filled with smoke, and were less than inviting to younger sports fans.

After some baseline research about what aspects of sports betting appealed to more casual betters (for anyone who’s ever bought into an office pool for the Super Bowl or March Madness, even a nominal bet riding on a game tends to make watching it more exciting), Sapient knew that Ladbrokes new tactic would have to tap into the general public’s desire to feel this excitement, while at the same time, disassociating the brand from the social stigmas attached to hard-core gambling. It wasn’t enough that an enhanced new tool for betting online via mobile phones would make accessibility easier; in order to attain new demographics, the convention of who bets on sports would have to be completely redesigned. It would have to be “fun, ” and it would have to tap into general sports fans’ excitement in the 90 minutes they gather socially before the game begins. The tagline immediately became “Game On! “

To drive home the excitement, and to add a layer of viral potential to the new campaign, Sapient brought on Tiziano Crudeli as the face of the Ladbrokes brand. Most US attendees (myself included) were unfamiliar with Tiziano, an Italian soccer commentator, but a short montage video of his antics while calling games for Italy’s AC Milan team showed him to be utterly fan-lovable: the guy goes truly ballistic any time his team scores a goal. We’re not talking your standard exciting “GOOOOOOOLLLL ” call, here, we’re talking about a man who loses his mind and jumps up and down: his love for the game is funny, endearing, and utterly contagious.

So in a clever set of promotions, here’s how it plays out: A camera pans the audience at a massive soccer stadium, and a routine play (the ball goes out of bounds) ensues. Everyone in the stands sits silently, because there is nothing inherently exciting about what has happened. But just then we see Tiziano jump out of his seat yelling “Bellisimo!!! Magnifico!!! ” at the top of his lungs. He turns to the camera and holds up his smart phone, bearing a message letting him know that he has just won a bet he placed on the number of corner kicks in the second period of the game. It’s brilliant. Better yet, his likeness and voice are right there on the phone, booming out his very words of excitement. Can you imagine how popular such a thing is in the pubs of London during a routine game on a Saturday afternoon, young men shaking their phones at one another in proud boasting over their friends on a bet gone right? Place your bets with Ladbrokes, and one of the most passionate, excitable sports fans in the world is right there with you to help you do your trash talking.

Needless to say, Ladbrokes volume and profit increases have been staggering. Sapient hasn’t just helped them understand and cater to their existing customer better, it has helped them rethink the entire customer base they’ve been missing out on for years – and only because the brand hadn’t yet taken a step back to creatively think about what common traits exist within us all.

For anyone willing to rethink what makes their customers (and non-customers) tick, it really is an exciting time to be in retail.