Natalie C.

Impact is our output. We talk about modern marketing being able to deliver two types of impact - cultural and commercial. How do we move beyond the brand purpose debate and into a more grown up and nuanced conversation about the different types of impact we all create as marketers every day? Come and join us to find out.

33

https://lnkd.in/e72P5pAd There are so many reasons not to advertise on Twitter/X but the issue of advertisers funding dis/misinformation is a key one. In this post, its owner claims that the 'Democrats' (his inverted commas) are installing illegal immigrants in swing states in order to win the US election and abolish future elections, thus eliminating democracy forever. You don't have to be politically partisan to be highly alarmed by the proprietor of any media channel taking such an extreme view. It is hard to trust an advertising vehicle which has the control over which messages to amplify when the owner makes posts like this. Advertisers want to be politically neutral and have no desire to take a stand that alienates people. They also want to avoid funding divisive channels. So talk of 'boycotts' and advertisers wanting to censor free speech shouldn't be taken seriously when such pronouncements come from the most biased of sources.

51

19 Comments

Thanks to Campaign UK for the great coverage of our CMO survey. This was one of the most fascinating findings from the report; a dramatic year on year shift in attitudes to AI and creativity. CMOs are significantly less likely year on year to agree that AI can never create content that moves their audience or represents their brand. But they also want to see creativity across more and more aspects of their business-from CX to Commerce to Sustainability. So I see it more as AI giving extraordinary human creatives super-human ability to scale and adapt. AI not as competitor but as collaborator and copilot. https://lnkd.in/ea49vgan

47

Brand strategy evolution musing of the day: Collaboration. I believe collaboration is one of the hardest things to institutionalise in changing organisations. By its nature, it means finding equitable objectives that serve the greater ‘whole’. Each person in a way, can see what they are or they are not being allowed to contribute. Or the inverse can be true, understanding, that each contribution makes the ‘product’ greater. It’s all about the framing. Turning a meeting of eight minds from a session of thoughts, into a flow of intent, is about a genuine desire to make something holistically better. If each person in the room knows that is the core mission, each suggestion is driven toward this whole, rather than individual contribution. Then each session is about moving something forward as a collective rather than validating something to be right or wrong. In this way, a culture of creativity, or a ‘creative culture’ is the key to collaboration. A culture that is driven to the ‘whole’ to the ‘holistic product’ better understands that collaboration is not an ‘each’ input approach, but a ‘whole’ output approach. If you know what your ‘whole’ is for, you’re better equipped to help your ‘each’ to steer towards the ‘big bounce’ rather than letting the tiny plates spin the wheels. Collaboration needs a 'why'. It needs a coat rack, to hang the egos on, and a clear understanding that without it ‘the product’ is never nearly as well developed. The best brain is the team’s brain, and the brightest brain is the one that understands it needs all brains to make it way smarter than it was before. The more you pull together, the more you push together, the more you change together. The better the result. In the world of strategy or creativity. Collaboration is king.

7

1 Comment

Great article from Martyn Bentley on the importance of measuring and maximising the reach of your marketing investments. #audienceproject #measurement #ROI #reach

7

Latergram alert - but definitely worth the read. April is hands down my favourite month in marketing thanks to all the April Fool’s campaigns. Thank you Campaign Middle East and Ishwari Khatu for considering my thoughts for last month’s issue and always supporting homegrown talent. Curious to know which campaign stole my heart? Check it out: https://lnkd.in/eMsfpvKz (page 8) And if you want a sneak peek, here's the link to my favorite campaign: https://lnkd.in/eExgTZGB

15

Vanity metrics are a waste of time. Focus on the data. The real data. The kind you get from selling products and services. I’m talking about: - Revenue. - Sales volume. - Average order value. Analysing it can help you: - Improve processes. - Understand performance. - Know your customers. #ecommerce #digitalmarketing #marketingagency 

6

3 Comments

There is so much conversation at the moment in marketing around AI and how brands are adopting it, but it's equally as important and gaining a lot of traction in the sales space. Our recent Sales in Focus '24 study showed that AI is a big trend yet there is still quite a bit of resistance and hesitancy by Sales leaders with many reporting they are not sure of its application. Our upcoming mini conference (fully virtual) will showcase how AI is being used by brands and how sales professionals are thinking about it featuring some great speakers. 🎟️FIND OUT MORE / REGISTER -> https://lnkd.in/gi49D9s9 🗎 DOWNLOAD THE FULL FREE SALES IN FOCUS REPORT -> https://lnkd.in/e3y7ka2g #sales #ai #genai #b2b #digital #marketing #webinar #liveevent #advisory #learningevent Arktic Fox Teresa Sperti (GAICD)

8

🌟 Big News in UK Marketing! 🌟 We’re witnessing the highest marketing budget growth in a decade! 📈 Q2 2024 saw a remarkable net balance increase to +15.9%, reflecting strong optimism across the sector. This is the 13th consecutive quarter of growth, showcasing the industry’s resilience and adaptability. 🚀 Event marketing, direct marketing, and main media budgets are on the rise, and confidence in financial prospects is at its peak in nearly three years. What strategies are you finding most effective in this thriving environment? I am definitely seeing the events and DM booming in conversations I am having. #Marketing #BusinessGrowth #UKMarketing #MarketingTrends #IndustryNews

8

4 Comments

Not everyone likes to hear this I know but standardisation and getting the fundamentals right are key to the success of retail media. Let’s work together as an industry to make this happen

14

I had the honour of judging the IPA Effectiveness Awards last week, 3 surprising things I learnt: 1. Distinctively Dull Some of the best cases proved that dull but distinctive creative can be highly effective. Previous analysis of IPA winning papers has shown campaigns that get talked about, so called fame campaigns, do significantly better. But this isn't the only way. Being distinctively dull can clearly work. Byron Sharp and Ehrenberg-Bass Institute should be proud, distinctive assets really do matter. It's hard not to be swayed by more interesting creative work but as Simon Broadbent who founded the awards once wrote "these are effectiveness awards not creative awards". 2. Hidden Performance You could read a lot of the papers and think performance marketing didn't exist. In a few papers it seemed to be omitted from the paper to make the story about the brand investment appear stronger. In reality, this meant that the judges were left wondering what was missing, which undermined the impact of the papers. To misquote Simon Broadbent these are effectiveness awards not brand awards. Some papers, however, were based purely on performance marketing and a few of them were brilliant in proving its potential effectiveness. 3. Learning Learning Most MMM analysis was not backed up with experimentation. Regional hold-outs and incrementality testing were rare. A surprise given this is a cross section of the most effective work. Often the measurement in the papers appeared to be used for validating impact rather than illuminating learning. Simon Broadbent said papers should use evaluation to help dictate future actions. The rare papers that did so really stood out. It was an absolute honour to read about some seriously effective work, thanks to my fellow judges for some great debate, Charlie Ebdy and Jo Arden for the invite and Alexandra Green for hosting! Also, big shout out to Sarah Newman from the APG for recently posting the 1982 guide by Simon Broadbent on how to win an IPA Effectiveness award, it's amazing how relevant and helpful it was for judging today. My favourite tip from Simon: "Successful advertising is not easy to make and the papers should not make it seem as such". Bravo!

217

33 Comments

We’ve scaled 22 brands to £10 million (and counting!) and 3 to over £100 million. We’re all about turning big spends into even bigger wins. 💰 Our 360° Growth Matrix allows us to achieve maximum results consistently. We consult across these key areas to maximise results: 🏆 Market Leader Positioning Brands often lack clear market leader positioning. It’s a BIG part of the reason that most e-commerce brands don’t scale and it’s massively overlooked by founders. Positioning is everything, especially for success in saturated niches 🚀 💰 Financial Forecasting You need to know your figures inside and out. Cashflow management in e-commerce is hard, so planning and forecasting is everything. We get to know your operating economics using our tools, then our team is able to forecast all the important figures: NCPA, monthly ad spend, ROAS, MER - the lot. 🌱 Organic Marketing So many brands are too reliant on paid ads. We constantly see brands come to us with engagement rates on the floor, barely any organic revenue and full reliance on paid ads as a result. Our team consult across core platforms to drive conversions, with 20m+ followers on TikTok across our agency clients, we have a trick or two up our sleeve 👀 🔍 CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) Massively overlooked by 9/10 agencies and in-house teams, yet one of the most important aspects of e-com. We have an in-house CRO expert constantly auditing our brands websites to maximise conversion rate, you’d normally expect to pay $1000+ per audit - but it’s completely FREE with our services. 👩‍💼 Influencer Marketing Our formula for influencer marketing drives sales like no tomorrow. Our brands have had deals with Alix Earle, Vanessa Hudgins and SO many more using the strategies our team developed. This is really just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much we cover in order to provide maximum value to our clients - we’re so far from being ‘just an ads agency’ it’s insane. Make sure to follow me learn more.

2

We’ve scaled 22 brands to £10 million (and counting!) and 3 to over £100 million. We’re all about turning big spends into even bigger wins. 💰 Our 360° Growth Matrix allows us to achieve maximum results consistently. We consult across these key areas to maximise results: 🏆 Market Leader Positioning Brands often lack clear market leader positioning. It’s a BIG part of the reason that most e-commerce brands don’t scale and it’s massively overlooked by founders. Positioning is everything, especially for success in saturated niches 🚀 💰 Financial Forecasting You need to know your figures inside and out. Cashflow management in e-commerce is hard, so planning and forecasting is everything. We get to know your operating economics using our tools, then our team is able to forecast all the important figures: NCPA, monthly ad spend, ROAS, MER - the lot. 🌱 Organic Marketing So many brands are too reliant on paid ads. We constantly see brands come to us with engagement rates on the floor, barely any organic revenue and full reliance on paid ads as a result. Our team consult across core platforms to drive conversions, with 20m+ followers on TikTok across our agency clients, we have a trick or two up our sleeve 👀 🔍 CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) Massively overlooked by 9/10 agencies and in-house teams, yet one of the most important aspects of e-com. We have an in-house CRO expert constantly auditing our brands websites to maximise conversion rate, you’d normally expect to pay $1000+ per audit - but it’s completely FREE with our services. 👩‍💼 Influencer Marketing Our formula for influencer marketing drives sales like no tomorrow. Our brands have had deals with Alix Earle, Vanessa Hudgins and SO many more using the strategies our team developed. This is really just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much we cover in order to provide maximum value to our clients - we’re so far from being ‘just an ads agency’ it’s insane. Make sure to follow me, Jack Oldham, to learn more 📈

1

Great to be at #cogx2024 yesterday - especially loved the session on developing a new skills ecosystem and how universities and enterprise can start to think about solving bigger challenges with interdisciplinary skills, rather than obsessing about computer science quals. Inspired by the comment that in an Ai centred world, ‘soft skills’ become POWER skills.

15

So much gnashing of teeth about the recent UK budget and so little real understanding, especially from adland who are more concerned about their own National Insurance Contributions than the real issue and that's the prosperity of the customers of their clients. Here is my perspective https://lnkd.in/e8Chm_2d

10

3 Comments

This is an excellent visualisation from the DMA (Data & Marketing Association) UK of how integral maturing your approach to measurement is to delivering successful business outcomes. If you're not already planning for it, you should be. It will be one of the most significant drivers of future effectiveness for you.

18

Would you value the opportunity to book a free 30-minute consultancy session with me whenever you want marketing guidance?🤔 I am considering opening up 2 or 3 slots per week for free consultancy to anyone seeking assistance. These sessions come with no strings attached – no sales pressure, just expert opinions and guidance on topics of your choice. Whether you need help evaluating your advertising agency or discussing strategies, I'm here to help! 💬 Your opinion matters! Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts. 🙏 Joshua Strawczynski #Freemarketingadvice #digitalmarketing

2

A few thoughts kindly featured by Performance Marketing World regarding the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) Bellwether Report which gives plenty of reason for optimism 🚀 It’s great to see in the latest IPA Bellwether Report that UK marketing budgets are growing again after the recent economic downturn, which saw nearly half (45%) of businesses changing their marketing priorities according to Acxiom UK research. Data intelligence-led marketing strategies are what give brands the competitive edge they need to maintain customer trust and ultimately feed a businesses bottom-line, but it takes both smart investment and strategy. In today’s hyperconnected world, people interact in real time with brands through multiple offline and online channels, expecting highly personalised and connected experiences with brands that are aligned to their interests and values. In fact, nearly half (47%) of the people surveyed by Acxiom said they are more likely to click on an advert or email if it contains personalised content. These interactions form a priceless cache of data which, with the right investment in tools and talent, can be leveraged to gain valuable insights, create a meaningful customer journey and improve speed to revenue. So for the majority of brands that are yet to truly realise the full value of their customer data, this uptick in marketing budgets should be the trigger to evaluate their customer intelligence strategy to fully maximise marketing ROI. #marketing #customerintelligence #adspend #data #IPABellwether https://lnkd.in/eP9QRMag

32