Cultural salience can help brands in struggling categories

Culturally salient campaigns that drive conversation and receive media interest are a powerful way for brands in declining, stagnant or low-growth campaigns to drive growth, finds a new study. 

The Weber Shandwick Collective (TWSC), in partnership with the Institution of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), examined over 340 campaigns submitted to the IPA Effectiveness Awards between 2010 to 2020. The study draws on data from 60 product categories and includes global, regional and local campaigns across the business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors.

Key findings 

• Culturally salient campaigns, which earned coverage in consumer-facing media and generated conversations, saw higher-than-average performance across sales, profit and market share.
• 78% of these campaigns were in categories facing “tough market conditions” as they were declining, stagnant or witnessing low growth.
• In such conditions, finding ways to stand out (and potentially steal market share from rivals) becomes a key goal.