Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

Article • WARC Best Practice, March 2020

Explores current writing and thinking on the topic of brand purpose, a powerful way to engage consumers and gain preference, it is fast becoming an expectation for some customers.

The convergence of brand purpose and data ethics

Article • Rachael Smith, WARC Best Practice, December 2018

Outlines the six ways to effectively blend brand purpose and data ethics.

Why brands that maintain share of voice in a recession will build long-term equity

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, April 2020

Ebiquity, the marketing and media consultancy, has found considerable evidence that maintaining or increasing adspend in a down economy has significant payoffs.

COVID-19: The creative fightback

Research Paper • Adam Sheridan, Arnaud Debia, Lesley Tian, Lindsay Franke and Rachel Rodgers, Research on WARC, March 2020

Looks at how brands can help people to win the war of COVID-19 to survive, then revive.

During COVID-19, brand purpose demands solutions

News • 31 March 2020

Governments from India to the US have struggled with their messaging around COVID-19, and brands can learn from that, says a Mumbai-based consumer strategy and foresights expert.

Viewpoint: Improving sustainable fashion marketing and advertising – A reflection on framing message and target audience

Article • Biatriz Guedes, Aurore C Paillard-Bardey and Anke Schat, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 62, No. 2, 2020, pp. 124-126

Fashion, as one of the largest industries in the world, causes serious social and environmental issues.

Overcoming fear and creating a sense of belonging: Brand purpose in the time of coronavirus

Article • Kunal Sinha, WARC Exclusive, March 2020

Kunal Sinha shares his insights on how brand purpose can be meaningfully pursued amid a context of fear and uncertainty.

Coronavirus: Global Change Accelerators

Article • WGSN, WARC Exclusive, March 2020

Coronavirus is set to drive a significant evolution in consumer beliefs and attitudes, accelerating a number of strategic shifts and creating a new spending landscape.

Social responsibility – how to do good and make money

Opinion • Cindy Gallop, March 2020

Puzzled about purpose? Worried about wokewashing? Cindy Gallop cuts through the crap. In January 2019, Alan Jope succeeded Paul Polman as CEO of Unilever.

What the rise in social activism means for brands

Article • Heather Dansie and Lisa Cowie, WARC Exclusive, March 2020

Research by Starcom UK and Twitter into the motivations behind social activism, and consumer expectations of brands in relation to issues such as climate change and poverty.

Procter & Gamble keeps a human face on tech-driven “constructive disruption”

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, ANA Masters of Data and Technology, March 2020

Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods manufacturer, is seeking to ensure that a focus on the humans behind digital data is a consistent point of emphasis for its strategy.

Ulta Beauty serves multicultural audiences by facilitating self-expression

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference, November 2019

Ulta Beauty, the retailer, has put diversity at the heart of its strategy, and made sure that it is focused on multicultural consumers across its operations.

Creative 100: a year of accessibility and activism

Opinion • Brian Carruthers, March 2020

Accessibility and brand activism emerged as key features of the top 10 campaigns in this year’s WARC Creative 100 rankings.

The Movember Foundation: The Face of Change

Case Study • Case Studies on WARC, 2017

The Movember Foundation, a charity for men’s mental health, raised awareness of its cause and increased donations in New Zealand through a controversial campaign targeting high-school students.

Flybondi: Fly Ultra Low Cost

Case Study • Case Studies on WARC, 2018

Low-cost airline Flybondi entered the Argentine market by starting a movement for positive change in the country.

Almacenes Éxito: Wednesdays Without VAT

Case Study • Case Studies on WARC, 2018

Retailer Almacenes Éxito increased sales and purchase frequency by siding with consumers in a protest against rising taxes in Colombia.

Asian brands need to put purpose on their 2020 business agenda and get sustainability right

Opinion • Anne Rayner, February 2020

This year’s Valentine’s Day was especially lovely as I received overwhelming interest around a topic that is close to the hearts of many of my colleagues, friends and family.

B2B brands often struggle with purpose

News • 20 February 2020

Marketers in the business-to-business space are often falling short when it comes to developing and activating brand purpose, according to a study led by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).

Edeka, Absolut and Stayfree: when purpose meets action

Opinion • Chiara Manco, February 2020

As consumers increasingly expect brands to be the drivers of change, WARC’s Chiara Manco looks at three brands that embraced activism.

Trends from the Marketer’s Toolkit

Article • WARC Exclusive, February 2020

WARC's US commissioning editor Cathy Taylor discusses the key themes from The Marketer's Toolkit 2020 with a focus on how the America's responded.

China’s cities poised for biggest sustainable mobility shift in APAC

News • 17 February 2020

As many as 36.7 million city-dwellers will change the way they travel over the next ten years and, by 2030, greener means of transport will represent 49% of all trips undertaken within cities, versus 46% for cars (which currently account for 51% of ...

Why B2B brands often struggle with brand purpose – and how to fix it

Article • Stephen Whiteside, WARC Exclusive, February 2020

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) led a survey of business-to-business marketers that sought to understand their use of brand purpose.

The B2B purpose paradox: How purpose powers business-to-business growth

Article • WARC Exclusive, February 2020

Outlines the results of a survey of business-to-business marketers that sought to understand their use of brand purpose.

Sustainability needs a new name

Opinion • Sam Peña-Taylor, February 2020

Sustainability is about survival – the subject needs to overcome the semantic bleaching that makes it a corporate nice-to-have, says Sam Peña-Taylor - a startup is working toward solving the chronic market failure of food waste in the face of global hunger.

Five tips for making breakthrough TV ads from the most effective spots of 2019

Article • Stephen Whiteside and Catharine P. Taylor, Event Reports, FeelMore50, February 2020

System1, the research firm, produced a ranking of the top TV ads from 2019 based on an assessment of their emotional impact on consumers.

Mission & purpose