Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

Article • WARC Best Practice, May 2019

Current reading and thinking on the topic of segmentation; a crucial element of marketing, segmentation identifies relevant consumer subgroups, focusing and directing communication strategy.

How to use segmentation effectively

Article • Merry Baskin & Laurie Young, WARC Best Practice, July 2016

This paper provides an overview of segmentation and the way in which it is used to identify groups of potential customers who are clustered around common, identifiable traits, and to understand how they may best be reached and how they will respond to different messages and appeals.

Why audience targeting could be a waste of marketing budget

Article • Josie Tutty, Event Reports, Event Reports, Mumbrella360, June 2019

A new study from the Melbourne Business School (MBS) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) revealed a barrage of inefficiencies around adtech, particularly when it comes to third-party audience targeting.

Nescafé Dolce Gusto: Inspiring Coffee Corners

Case Study • Alvaro Bretel, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2019

Nescafé Dolce Gusto used an inspirational, personalised multi-channel campaign to grow sales, improve penetration and increase its cultural relevance in the Middle East.

Marmite: Gene Project

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2019

Marmite, a salty spread brand, launched the Marmite Gene Project to reverse declining sales by bringing it back into the breakfast discussion in the UK.

Mark Ritson provides effectiveness insights from 50 years of the Effie Awards

Article • Stephen Whiteside, Event Reports, Marketing Academy US, April 2019

Analysis of thousands of case studies entered into the Effie Awards offers some valuable learnings for marketers when it comes to making a tangible impact with their work.

How age shapes response to CSR ads

News • 14 June 2019

Millennials may have different motivations for supporting corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts than older consumers, with important implications for advertising in this space, a study in the Journal of Advertising Research (JAR) has ...

How do human attitudes and values predict online marketing responsiveness? Comparing consumer segmentation bases toward brand purchase and marketing response

Research Paper • Stefan Scheuffelen, Jan Kemper, and Malte Brettel, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 59, No. 2, 2019, pp. 142-157

This study considers online-marketing and -advertising effectiveness as well as consumer-segmentation research.

Toyota AYGO: Telling More Personal Campaign Stories On The Fly

Case Study • Marketing Society UK, The Brave Awards, Highly Commended, 2019

Car manufacturer Toyota’s hyper-personalised and a creative use of media formats improved cut-through, resonance and overall performance of the launch communications for the new Toyota AYGO across key European markets.

Precise targeting foiled by imprecise data: Why weak data accuracy and coverage threaten advertising effectiveness

Article • Alice K. Sylvester and Jim Spaeth, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 59, No. 2, 2019, pp. 133-136

This article discusses the threat of weak data accuracy to targeting and advertising effectiveness in the United States.

Formula 1: Unleashing the Greatest Racing Spectacle

Case Study • Case Studies on WARC, Winner, Luxury, Lifestyle & Fashion, 2019

Formula 1 (F1), the racing league, increased ticket sales by 30% as a result of its locally nuanced activations around the world.

MassMutual taps power of personas

News • 30 May 2019

MassMutual, the financial-services provider, enjoyed success in moving beyond a one-size-fits-all communications model and tapping a slate of consumer "personas" based on particular mindsets among its target audience.

What Market Research Can Learn from Alexa & Siri: Exploring the ways Savvy Consumers have innovated in their lives and how market research practices can follow their lead

Research Paper • Young Ham, Jason Dodge and Rebecca Southern, ESOMAR, Asia Pacific, 2019

Kantar, a media company, shares tangible examples of ways researchers, marketers, and advertisers alike can tap into innovative consumers and leverage the ocean of data they are generating.

Sequent Partners find faults in coverage, accuracy of multicultural-marketing data

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, ARF AUDIENCEXSCIENCE, April 2019

Research by Sequent Partners and the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing (AIMM) found significant gaps in the data used to inform multicultural campaigns.

Barclays takes an asset-led approach to data

Article • Brian Carruthers, Event Reports, Marketing Week Insight Show, March 2019

Barclays’ approach to data analytics involves focusing on existing analytic capabilities and where they can best be deployed, and then ensuring that project output can be repurposed or reused.

LendingTree turns to lifetime value

Article • Reed Karaim, Event Reports, KNect365 Marketing, Analytics and Data Science (MADS) Conference, April 2019

LendingTree, the financial services company, has found that a shift to focusing on customer lifetime value has helped inform its marketing and broader strategy.

Proof Inc.: Fraud=Fraud

Case Study • SABRE Awards, North America, Associations, Gold, 2019

Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), a nonprofit organization for insurance companies, made more Canadians aware of the repercussions of benefit fraud to deter them from committing any fraud.

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI): How EPRI Electrified 2018

Case Study • SABRE Awards, North America, Energy & Natural Resources, Gold, 2019

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a nonprofit research and development company, increased brand awareness and share of voice in the US by launching a data-driven campaign at its Electrification 2018 conference.

What we know about marketing to Generation X

Article • WARC Best Practice, May 2019

Generation X is often overlooked by advertisers, however brands must reflect the independent spirit of this demographic in order to engage them, as many Generation X-ers do not recognise their depiction in contemporary advertising.

What brands need to know about targeting gamers

Article • Brian Carruthers, Event Reports, Advertising Week Europe, March 2019

Advertisers shouldn’t think in terms of gamers as a target market – they need to get more granular and understand the different segments within this audience.

Discover Boating: Welcome to the Water

Case Study • Vanessa Williams, WARC Awards, Entrant, Effective Content Strategy, 2019

Marine industry association Discover Boating used social media content to increase sales of boats in America.

Baby Dove: Big Steps to Success

Case Study • Clarysse Estremadura, Steph King, WARC Awards, Entrant, Effective Content Strategy, 2019

Infant personal-care brand Baby Dove used a data-led digital campaign to grow its brand business and launch in the Philippines.

Nescafé Dolce Gusto: Coffee Corners

Case Study • Alvaro Bretel, WARC Awards, Bronze, Effective Content Strategy, 2019

Nescafé Dolce Gusto used an inspirational, personalised multi-channel campaign to grow sales, improve penetration and increase its cultural relevance in the Middle East.

Mega Image: Mega slices of life

Case Study • Cătălina Ciocîltan, Claudiu Trușcă, WARC Awards, Entrant, Effective Content Strategy, 2019

Mega Image, the leading urban Romanian supermarket chain, increased its customer acquisition following its E-Shop platform launch by using a coherent and relevant content digital strategy to raise the target audience's engagement rate.

Sony PS4 Pro: TNT Play Football Party

Case Study • Dmitry Anureev, WARC Awards, Entrant, Effective Content Strategy, 2019

PlayStation (PS), the console brand owned by Sony, sought to boost sales in Russia by appealing to a younger audience through their interest in gaming and the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Segmenting consumers