Case Snapshot
Client: A leading national FMCG brand in Pakistan (anonymised at the client's request).
Challenge: Brand activations were being run by multiple activation agencies across major cities and smaller towns, each reporting in its own format. Head office had no single, verifiable view of what was happening in the field.
Solution: Collexa, CCI's field data collection and verification platform: one client portal that brings every agency, region and campaign together, backed by GPS, timestamp and photo proof of every visit.
Scope: A nationwide field force of BAs, anchors and supervisors, running campaigns across major cities and smaller towns in both North and South over several months of activations.
Results: One national view of every agency, verified proof behind every visit, and far less time spent chasing vendors for updates.
Many Agencies, Many Formats, No National View
For a national FMCG brand, below-the-line activations are where the brand meets the consumer: sampling at a market, a stall outside a store, a team working through a busy bazaar. To cover Pakistan, the brand worked with several activation agencies at once, each responsible for its own cities and campaigns.
Each agency reported in its own way. Some sent WhatsApp photos, some sent Excel sheets at the end of the week, some sent summaries with very little behind them. Head office faced three problems:
- No proof of execution. A photo in a WhatsApp group does not show where or when it was taken. Nobody could confirm that a team was at the agreed location at the agreed time.
- No common yardstick. With every agency using different forms and definitions, comparing a campaign in the North with one in the South meant manual reconciliation, and the numbers rarely lined up.
- Slow, after-the-fact insight. By the time reports were compiled, the campaign was often over. Problems such as absent teams, missing branding and weak attendance were found too late to fix.
The brand did not need another agency. It needed one system that every agency would use, so the data would arrive in the same shape, with the same proof, in one place.
Why the Brand Chose Collexa
Collexa is built for this exact problem: collecting field data from people the client does not directly manage, and making it trustworthy. Four things mattered most:
- Vendor-neutral by design. Any agency's team can be onboarded into the same client account. The brand owns the view, whoever runs the activation.
- Proof built into every entry. Each submission carries GPS coordinates, a timestamp and photos, with audio where the campaign needs it.
- Data locked after upload. Once a record is submitted it cannot be edited, so what head office sees is what the field captured.
- Works where signal doesn't. Offline capture lets teams record in low-signal rural areas and sync later, so coverage beyond the big cities isn't lost.
Collexa is quoted per proposal, either per campaign or as a full portal subscription. That let the brand match the model to how its activation calendar actually runs.
How It Was Set Up: One Account, Every Agency
The client account was organised to mirror how the brand manages the country: division > region > city > campaign, with North and South divisions at the top. Every agency sits under this one structure, not in a silo of its own.
- Structure first. Divisions, regions and cities were set up to match the brand's internal reporting lines.
- Agencies onboarded. Each agency was added to the account, and its brand ambassadors, anchors and supervisors were registered by role.
- Campaign forms built. Each campaign got its own custom form, so a sampling activation and a branding check capture the right data in the same consistent format.
- Tasks and visits assigned. Field teams receive their assigned tasks and visits in the Android app, which removes ambiguity about who should be where.
- Attendance switched on. Selfie attendance records time-in, location and a selfie at the start of every shift.
With this structure in place, the agencies and their teams were onboarded within a couple of weeks.
From Scattered WhatsApp Reports to One National View
The biggest change was not a single feature. It was that everyone, from the brand manager to each agency supervisor, started looking at the same picture.
- The national dashboard shows KPI tiles, campaign status (Active, Completed, On Hold), a North vs South comparison, city cards and a GPS activity map, all on one screen.
- The Agencies view places each agency's campaigns, and its BAs, anchors and supervisors by role, side by side. Agency performance becomes a fact rather than a debate.
- Live monitor and attendance show who has checked in and where, while the activation is still running, so problems are fixed the same day.
- The data viewer lets the team filter by region, city, agency or campaign and export to Excel for its own analysis.
- Campaign-level Power BI reports turn each campaign into a ready-made performance summary, with no manual consolidation.
Because every record has GPS, time and photo proof and is locked on upload, review meetings with agencies moved from "what happened?" to "what do we do about it?"
Results
- One portal for every agency: multiple activation agencies now report into a single client account, in the same format.
- National coverage, one view: campaigns across major cities and smaller towns in both North and South are visible on one dashboard.
- Verified execution: every visit by the nationwide field force of BAs, anchors and supervisors carries GPS, time and photo proof, locked on upload.
- Faster insight: reports that once took days to compile became visible on the dashboard as soon as data synced.
- Less chasing: the brand team spends far less time chasing vendors for updates and more time acting on what the field shows.
The outcome for the brand: agency reviews are now grounded in shared, verifiable data rather than competing spreadsheets.
Lessons for Brands Running Multi-Agency Activations
- Own the data layer, not just the contract. If each agency owns its own reporting, you will never get a national view. Put every vendor on your platform.
- Standardise forms before you compare agencies. Fair comparison needs the same questions, definitions and proof requirements for everyone.
- Insist on proof, not photos. GPS, timestamp and locked records separate verified execution from a nice picture.
- Plan for low signal. Rural and peri-urban activations matter. Offline capture keeps them in the dataset.
- Add independent checks where stakes are high. Pair platform data with CCI's Back-Checking, in-store Mystery Shopping, or a Retail Audit & Store Census to validate what the field reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Collexa manage activations run by different agencies?
Yes. Several agencies can sit under one client account, organised by division, region, city and campaign, with an Agencies view comparing them side by side.
How does Collexa verify that a field visit actually happened?
Every entry carries GPS coordinates, a timestamp and photos (audio is optional), and data is locked after upload so it cannot be edited.
Does Collexa work in areas with poor mobile signal?
Yes. The Android app captures data offline and syncs when a connection is available.
Is Collexa only for Pakistan?
No. CCI manages it from its Karachi head office with regional heads covering Pakistan, but the platform works anywhere field teams operate.
How is Collexa priced?
Pricing is quoted per proposal, either per campaign or as a full portal subscription. Request a quote.
See Every Agency's Field Activity in One Portal
Running activations through more than one agency? Book a Collexa demo or request a proposal, and we'll show you a national view built around your structure.
