With data proliferation, technological innovation and the increasing pressure on organisations growth agendas, are we losing our commitment to fostering a culture of effectiveness? I want to set my stall out early. This isn’t a naïve thought-piece pontificating on how our industry has lost its way, but is more a discussion about rebalancing the scales between art and science, and the value of an effectiveness culture among advertisers and agencies.
We operate within a complex ecosystem and, perhaps more than other functions, can often be seen as ambiguous and abstract. At last year’s Campaign Media360 conference, a consultant revealed that 80% of CEOs do not trust their CMOs. Adding to this challenge, the IPA’s Marketing as an Investment report highlights that marketers must clearly demonstrate the value of their investments to gain credibility with CFOs — something that has traditionally been a weak spot.
This expands to agencies as well, but are we demonstrating this effectively? I don’t think we are. And this is where we fall into the trap of short-termism. We need to generate results, of course, but this also means having the conversation about results which sit beyond short-term algorithmic optimisation of ROIs or ‘Cost Per Whatevers’. It’s about overall effectiveness and that comes in many forms but, importantly, requires a balanced view of the short- and long-term.
This is where we need to agree on the role of data for our organisations
Are we currently using data to justify past actions rather than about learning for the future? We’re in an era of enlightenment in our industry with an abundance of data and information but are we setting the right conditions to measure success relative to our client’s business?
The IPA’s ‘Defining Marketing Effectiveness’ report highlights defining the right metrics and approach to assess effectiveness will be different for every company. To measure effectively is to have a clear idea of what the marketing activity is designed to do. To really understand effectiveness, agencies must understand the client’s operation beyond the marketing function. What are the commercial implications of our media strategy? Are we aligned to our clients’ growth agenda, and how are we creating a measurement framework which captures meaningful business outcomes?
This is about breaking down silos in thinking, and defining the role for data at the beginning of the planning process and not after. This, at least, will start to mitigate against seeing media as a tactical lever to drive growth and create consistent strategy in the marketing engine room, and one that multiple decision-makers within our clients’ business can get behind.
If we want our clients to invest in long-term effectiveness, we need to garner trust in the shortest term, by breaking down measurement silos and working hand in hand with advertisers, so we’re speaking their language of success, not just platform click through benchmarks.
This has a knock-on effect to media creativity, and I believe the tapestry for creativity grows
This is the art of our business. Can we at least agree that brands gain a competitive advantage by its ability to construct powerful emotional bonds with consumers? If we’re all nodding, then how can we ever survive in a short-term world? When we talk about creativity in media, it’s not about replacing the expertise of a creative agency. Instead, it’s about media and creativity working together to create the best possible consumer experience and, ultimately, drive business results.
Media creativity comes in many forms, but for the purposes of this article it’s about utilising technological advancement in better understanding the consumer journey, and distilling the moments of impact where media creativity can play out. We know there’s a perpetual link between creativity and effectiveness, which the likes of System1 have done a lot of work in, but it’s about harnessing innovation in data and technology to supercharge human creativity, and not the other way around.
Effectiveness culture is everyone’s business
That should also be true throughout the supply chain, and I have always thought our media owner partners are underutilised by agencies in this space. Media owners are in a constant loop of R&D; their competitive advantage relies on evolving their area of expertise, and agencies need to harness this by fostering a culture of learning and collaboration at the top of our business; which will ultimately result in not only better output for our clients, but more importantly, more effective work.
The tension between short- and long-term will always be there. It’s incumbent on agencies to demonstrate how effectiveness runs throughout their organisation, not just in media planning but also products and proprietary tools, talent and technology. It’s about how and when we engage with our media owner partners, and it’s about how we create meaningful measurement which reports in our client’s language.
The hope is that will attract like-minded clients, but also inspire those who are still disproportionately valuing the immediate dopamine hit of short-term results to push further upstream.
Featured image: Irina Chishkova / Unsplash