Culturally salient campaigns deliver stronger results

Campaigns that are culturally salient, measured in terms of consumer conversation and media coverage, typically outperform in terms of the business effects they achieve, a new study has found.  

The Weber Shandwick Collective (TWSC), in partnership with the Institution of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), based its study findings on over 340 campaigns submitted to the IPA Effectiveness Awards from 2010 to 2020. It draws on data from 60 product categories, including 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 over extended periods of time, outperformed on various metrics.
• That included delivering stronger than average results across profit, market share and sales.
• Twenty-six percent of culturally salient campaigns in the study reported halo effects – that is, growth in demand for an advertised product helping boost demand for a brand’s other products – versus 15% of campaigns that did not generate media interest or drive consumer chatter.