Second guessing what people want from advertising can be dangerous and brands need to go back to basics when considering the most effective routes to boosting loyalty and sales.
Small companies can benefit just as much as big conglomerates from gaining insight into their customers and marketplaces when rolling out new ideas. Although market research sounds expensive, there are ways to achieve valuable knowledge without a huge outlay.
Many adverts take us directly into the heart of happiness: they show us families that are happy to be together, lovers who remember how to be grateful, friends who delight in one another’s company. They can be moving precisely because what they depict is so difficult to find in real life. Their emotional power is premised on evoking what is missing, rather than what is present in our lives.
“Marketing provides good payback for shareholders,” declared PepsiCo last week. This was not a statement uttered by one of the soft drink giant’s senior marketers but its chief financial officer Hugh Johnston.
Lorraine Heggessey, who has led transformation at high profile media brands including the BBC, says good leadership is built on communication, because there is “no point having the best strategy in the world if nobody knows what it is”.
Warning of a ‘cultural cringe’ and sense of insecurity within marketing, Professor Byron Sharp is calling on marketers to stop the self-hatred and have more pride in their profession.
Rather than allowing themselves to be pigeonholed as the ‘colouring-in department’, marketers should demonstrate what they deliver for the business, argues Nationwide CMO Sara Bennison.
As marketers continue to be charged with driving faster growth on tighter budgets, businesses should not ignore the opportunity cost of failing to invest in their brand, warns Eve Sleep CEO Cheryl Calverley.