Q1 2023 IS ALREADY OVER. I’M SURE TIME IS SPEEDING UP!

As we sit at the intersection of where brands and agencies meet, this affords us a privileged ringside view of the marketing and communications industry landscape. It’s this perspective that enables our consultants to offer up to the minute, informed opinion that we hope is of value to all our clients. And what we observe and learn on any individual project has a broader and often longer lasting relevance beyond the immediacy of the moment.

As such we hope you’ll find something in this edition of Pulse, a collection of observations and insights, speculations and predictions, that will be of use in your current and future marketing challenges.

One thing that’s clear is that change is now the constant steady to keep pace with the rapidly evolving needs and views of customers. I am seeing more structural change within client organisations than I have ever witnessed before. A seamless omnichannel customer experience is basic table stakes in keeping up with customer expectations, but it is certainly not enough to get ahead of your customer and to find and drive real, meaningful growth.

I have seen two pieces of similar research coming out of the consultancies stating that over 95% of B2C and B2B executives believe their customers are changing faster than they can change their businesses. It’s evident that many of us have changed the ways we work, shop and live in the past five years and this is driving real change in marketing’s role. As the voice of the customer within the organisation, the breadth of marketing’s role continues to widen, which is a continuing challenge for marketers. 

1

To be a trusted and supportive partner to the increasingly stretched CMO. We share some pearls of wisdom from senior client marketers who have worked in agencies in previous lives later in this edition of Pulse; it’s quite enlightening.

2

To be a flexible, adaptable partner that can respond to changing client needs. More than ever the ‘navigator’ or business lead in an agency must be an orchestrator who is fully under the skin of the client’s business and able to mix-up the right blend of talent from within their organisation to help solve client challenges.

3

To sell in the business case for creativity and, importantly, unlock the power of creativity with clients to help solve business challenges.

Last year AAR researched over 100 CMOs about the importance of creativity to drive growth. We found there was a real disconnect. While the importance of creativity was evident, very few CMOs were even thinking about engineering the right conditions for creativity to flourish on a sustainable basis.

74% of senior marketers are confident their company sees creativity as fundamental to driving growth

20% said their organisation was highly focused on engineering the right conditions for creativity to flourish

33% said the subject was rarely or never debated