Five key priorities for delivering effective advertising

WARC today releases ‘Anatomy of Effectiveness: 2022 Edition’, a white paper giving brand marketers, advertising agencies and media owners a fresh perspective on the five key building blocks of effectiveness.

Why it matters

Much has changed since WARC published the first Anatomy of Effectiveness in 2019, David Tiltman, SVP Content, WARC, observes: “We’ve had a pandemic that saw budgets switch out of brand investment into performance marketing; we’ve seen the rise of ‘retail media’ platforms that are reshaping the media landscape; and with the impending death of the cookie we see a growing lack of confidence in advertising and media measurement.

“This updated edition of our white paper draws on new thinking and the latest evidence to present the key building blocks required to deliver commercial impact today.”

Five priorities

• Invest for growth

Understanding how factors such as brand size, campaign investment and category dynamics will determine effectiveness are key first steps when it comes to setting budgets and agreeing on objectives. Getting the right framework for investment is crucial if a campaign is to meet its potential.

• Balance your spend

Set the right framework for investment to ensure sustainable success. Whether it is long-term effects vs short-term sales impact, brand-building vs performance marketing, broad reach vs active in-market buyers or upper funnel vs lower-funnel, plan for effectiveness across different timeframes, messaging, audience types and buyer journeys to deliver maximum growth.

• Plan for reach

Campaign reach is becoming harder to achieve as media consumption fragments. This is forcing marketers to reconsider long-held assumptions about reach and frequency management. Factors to be considered include brand objectives, media selection and consumer purchase habits.

• Be creative

Creativity makes a difference and is the most powerful weapon under the marketer’s control. There is widespread evidence that creativity delivers increased effectiveness when it is distinctive, engaging, emotional and has some longevity. Recent research cited in LIONS’ State of Creativity 2022 study claims only 8% of agencies feel confident in convincing clients to invest in high-quality creativity and 12% of clients feel confident in convincing the CFO to invest in high quality creative.

• Plan for recognition

Advertising must be associated with the brand behind it, if it is to work. Planning for recognition involves creating shortcuts in consumers’ minds that make brands more memorable, impactful and easy to recall. Failure to brand communications properly is a common pitfall. Investing in and nurturing distinctive assets will enable quick recognition.

The white paper, launched in conjunction with WARC's Anatomy of Effectiveness hub, features new case studies, expert opinions and over 20 'Evidence' decks. WARC clients can read the full report here. A sample edition is available for all.

Highlights from the white paper will be presented to Cannes Lions attendees today as part of a full week’s worth of content curated by WARC, together with the world’s leading effectiveness experts, covering strategy, media, creative and digital commerce. For more details on WARC x Cannes Lions, click here. 

Employee comms becomes a CMO priority

Communicating with a brand’s employees has long been relegated to corporate newsletters or town hall meetings, but CMOs are increasingly looking to their own employees for inspiration as the brand values become more of a recruitment consideration.

Why it matters

Increasingly, marketers need to work with other functions within the organisation – such as human resources – to further the aims of the whole business.

“This is a key area where brand can play in terms of attracting future talent,” said Ty Heath, Director, Market Engagement, The B2B Institute at LinkedIn, following her presentation at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. “People see how powerful your brand is and want to work for your brand, which lowers your cost to have them join and helps them stay at your company much longer. 

“All in all, it’s something marketing can bring to an organisation in partnership with the human resources team,” she said. 

What CMOs are saying on the Croisette

“By opening up meetings to 300-400 people – optionally – for full transparency, authenticity [becomes] our internal medium and agenda….it increases employee engagement, their perception of being part of it and being able to contribute to discussions” – Attila Cansun, CMO, No7 Beauty Company.

“The question you always have to ask yourself as an employee is: do the organisation which I work for and my values align to each other? And sometimes they don’t. If they don’t, that’s okay, you can pivot out. For us, it’s about always having conversations” – Sandra Lopez, CMO, Microsoft Advertising.

“In a world where consumer expectations and employee expectations are constantly changing … you’ve got to move with it, you can’t just sit there and be upset that they did” – Lindsay Radkoski, VP - National Marketing, Wendy’s USA.

“There’s one more stakeholder not to be forgotten: HR. We are in the deepest war for talent ... So where’s our position? How do we stay attractive?” – Christian Deuringer, Head of Global Brand Communications, Allianz.

Ads in a relevant context boost favourablity and intent metrics

Increased consumer attention for contextually relevant ads leads to greater purchase intent and brand favourability, new research from Integral Ad Science shows.

Why it matters

With a cookieless future on the horizon, marketers are seeking alternatives to maintain and improve their advertising ROI. The Ad Context & Attention study from IAS, using eye tracking technology from Tobii, highlights the role that context may play in this regard.

Takeaways 

• Contextual targeting strategies yield stronger consumer attention: The in-context ad was the first page element consumers noticed. It took just 0.4 seconds for consumers to notice the in-context ad vs. 1.0 seconds to notice the out-of-context ad when viewing the article. 
• Contextually relevant ads boost brand favourability and consumer purchase intent: Purchase intent was 14% higher among consumers who viewed the in-context ad. This ad also generated a 5% higher brand favourability compared to the out-of-context ad. 
• In-context ads generate higher memorability and increase brand recall and awareness: Consumers were four times more likely to remember a brand, unaided, after seeing an in-context ad versus an out-of-context ad. In general, in-context display ads were more likely to be considered interesting, easy to read, clear and informative.

Key quote

“Desired outcomes can be significantly influenced through contextually relevant ad placements. There is a massive opportunity for brands … to amp up the power of their campaigns and affect the bottom line ” – Tony Marlow, CMO, IAS. 

Sourced from IAS

Luxury experts hope for downturn not recession

An “economic slowdown”, driven by volatile factors like the war in Ukraine, is forecast by 59% of luxury experts in a recent survey to lead to a downturn in the industry, compared with 41% who think a full-blown luxury recession is coming.

Why it matters

Periods of financial stress cause many people to choose not to make bigger-ticket purchases. And even affluent shoppers often decide against conspicuous consumption when the economy is facing tough times. Luxury brands must find the right equation to serve their target audience while providing a level of indulgence for active category buyers.

Takeaways

• Though spending on necessities such as food, housing, and technology is projected to remain steady through economic crises, the luxury industry could see significant effects. This was according to a survey conducted by the research firm the Luxury Institute of its Global Luxury Expert Network (GLEN) members, a group of industry leaders around the globe, including chief executives, senior executives, consultants and industry  experts.
• A luxury downturn or recession will have differing effects on separate luxury sectors. For example, watches and jewelry are expected to take a medium hit in the event of either scenario, and luxury real estate is in a precarious spot as well, for most demographics excepting the highly affluent.
• In contrast, wines and spirits, beauty and health and wellness are all categories that experts predict will face minor hits during a downturn or recession, given their increasing value as necessities for millennial and Gen Z consumers.
• Experts view department stores as the most vulnerable institutions operating in the luxury category, due to their “historically high overheads, high inventories, and low margins”.
• A potential recession could have particularly outsized effects in Europe, given the pressure placed on commerce by the war in Ukraine. In North America, the effects will presumably be less, but still felt.

The big idea

“Downturns and recessions spawn major opportunities. This may be the worst of times; if you act with courage, skill, and conviction, you can make it the best of times” – Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute.

Sourced from Luxury Institute

"Creative data" can improve ad effectiveness

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help brands understand “creative data” at scale, and so identify the shared traits of their most impactful ads.

Why it matters

“Creative data” is a new frontier for brands that are seeking to maximise the impact of their communications. Through assessing a sizable volume of ads, artificial intelligence can unlock insights regarding the precise creative elements that are most associated with success.

Takeaways

Anastasia Leng, CEO of CreativeX, a firm that deploys AI to assist brands in enhancing their ads, discussed this topic in a session held by WARC at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2022:

• AI software can analyse the content of huge numbers of ads at a granular level – say, logo placement, music use and diverse representation in casting – and help brands delineate the granular features of their communications output. (WARC subscribers can read more here.)
• At the micro level, she explained, this “creative data” reveals numerous tiny details about an ad – information, Leng conceded, that is of limited worth in isolation.
• Undertaking such an investigation at scale, however, yields significant insights, and can help develop automated tools for brands to quickly determine if their creative has the desired traits.
• Major advertisers like consumer goods firms Nestlé and Unilever, as well as brewers Heineken and Anheuser-Busch InBev, have leveraged this approach and yielded significant results.

The big idea

“Creative data is basically an untapped asset class. We all have it – we all have a ton of it. We sit on it. And it’s ours. But we haven’t been able to actually harness it and cluster it” – Anastasia Leng, CEO, CreativeX.