Marketing Week April 2020

APRIL 2020

marketingweek.com

THINKING, BEHAVING AND WORKING DIFFERENTLY DURING THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS I N S I D E Marcomms under the spotlight 12

Helen Edwards on maintaining perspective 16

MW April 2020 Cover_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 1

Mark Ritson: The importance of marketing leadership 18

Colin Lewis on coping with career upsets 20

New ways of working 22

25/03/2020 17:25

#MWMasters

A CELEBRATION OF STRATEGIC EFFECTIVENESS Extended entry deadline: 1 May 2020 Have you worked on a project that you consider a marketing masterpiece?

Enter it into the Marketing Week Masters awards to receive industry-wide recognition for your successes.

ENTER NOW

marketingweekmasters.com

EDITOR’S LETTER

Our promise to you during the coronavirus crisis have spent a lot of time looking out the window of whatever room I have been working in this week. Suddenly arrested by thoughts of the consequences of the coronavirus crisis on my life, my head begins to fill with what-ifs, perhaps-whens and what-abouts. Equally, I think about opportunities, life’s joys and resetting priorities.

It has proven overwhelming on occasion. But then comes the instinct to return to the task in hand and make sense of immediate needs.

I am sure you have experienced the same mix of emotions and trains of thought about your personal and professional life. The enormity of the situation we are in demands deep thought. There is no precedent in our lifetimes for what is happening or what might occur in the coming weeks and months. We are all learning day by day.

Marketing Week’s core purpose is to try to help you navigate the modern marketing world with the aim of aiding you to do your job that little bit better. We can do so by pointing out failings, and by acting as a critic and industry conscience. We can also champion the wins, highlight what good looks like and celebrate effectiveness.

There is no shortage of hot takes on what the future may look like despite the fact that no one, if they’re honest with themselves, really knows.

Marketing Week is no different. The team, including our contributors, will be focusing on helping you through the here and now, and the near future. Stories of best practice, doing things differently, contingency and adjusting to meet the evolving needs of the situation we all find ourselves in will dominate our channels in the coming weeks and months.

The issue you are reading now is just the beginning of this. We started work on it before enforced remote working, before lockdowns. We, as you all have, reset to focus on making sense of what matters. From meeting the challenge of new ways of working, to tackling the marcomms challenge; from navigating your career in a crisis, to keeping a much needed perspective; from ‘thoughtful’ innovation, to the role brands should play, there’s plenty in this issue.

And there will be plenty more in the days, weeks and months to come across all of our channels.

While you are scenario-planning, reprioritising and taking stock, we will be there to help you in the best way we possibly can, by offering you news and insight that allows you to make better decisions.

To this end, if you would like to share with us your stories about what’s working and what’s not, then I would love to hear from you. Sharing experiences, the catharsis of knowing someone else is challenged by the same things as you, can be of immense value. My email address is russell.parsons@centaurmedia.com for anyone who would like to get in touch.

While you are busy serving customers, colleagues, kids and family, we will continue to do our best to serve you.

Stay safe.

I

GET IN TOUCH WITH OUR EDITORIAL TEAM email firstname.surname@centaurmedia.com Editor Russell Parsons News editor Sarah Vizard Features editor Lucy Tesseras (on maternity) Acting features editor Charlotte Rogers Writer Matt Barker Writer Matthew Valentine Senior reporter Ellen Hammett Reporter Molly Fleming Digital content producer Torera George Commercial content editor Michael Barnett Creative lead Lex Guerra Editorial production PA Media Ad production Wendy Goodbun Managing director Richard Breeden Group managing director, Xeim Steve Newbold Subscribe at marketingweek.com/subscribe, call 020 7292 3716 or email customerservices@marketingweek.com

COMMERCIAL Discuss your business needs and find out how we can help provide you with marketing and recruitment solutions Director, Xeim Labs James Wilson Client partnerships director Jonathan Todd (4642)

JOIN THE CONVERSATION marketingweekmag

MarketingWeekEd

MarketingWeekEd

Search: Marketing Week

+44 (0)20 7970 4000

Printed at Buxton Press Published by Xeim Head Office: 10 York Road, London SE1 7ND

Russell Parsons, editor - russell.parsons@centaurmedia.com APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 3

leader_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 3

25/03/2020 11:08

CONTENTS APRIL 2020 6 ANALYSIS Are brands living up to their purpose during the coronavirus crisis? n times of crisis, innovation is I

jump on the like to see a

needed more than ever. Now,

“The number of different innovation 8 DIGITAL THINKING and shift to a more thoughtful mode projects is definitely ofDigital innovation? services have a new level of slowing down. People Data shows that the spread of the virus is responsibility, says Ben Davis causing marketers to rethink planned are then pouring a bit product launches. More than half (55%) of UK marketers have paused product or more money into service launches as fears about the impact fewer things” of the coronavirus pandemic build, with the global coronavirus pandemic growing in severity, is it a time for brands to refocus energy

things that a beliefs, and consumers a

The futur grocery is br

learn from t Grocers coul way tech com

small scale w and then ma wide-scale r

10 MARKETERS WHO MATTER Phil Kohler, Aviva

according to an exclusive survey of 887 UK brand marketers conducted by Marketing Week and its sister title Econsultancy.

Sainsbury its Taste of t year saw 11 e

WW’s Anna Hill on her move into wellness insight, but we’re looking to develop the As companies new product after tworethink decades at Disneystandout ideas that have real energy and magic,

pipelines, brands from BrewDog to Zara are using their innovation capability to create new products intended to fight the spread of Covid-19.

The Scottish brewer is using its

12 ANALYSIS

distilleries to make hand sanitiser, which is being given away for free by charities to those in need. Sanitiser products are also

14-week list trial, snackin of chorizo th

where we can shape something special.”

This switch to sustainable innovation has been experienced by former director of

alcohol, reso given a full l When ma

propositions, innovation, customer experience and insight at Aviva, Phil Kohler. Businesses, he says, have learnt the lesson that throwing

Brands team that will sta wide variety

lots of darts at theamid wall doesn’t Why brands need to think long term thenecessarily guarantee a bullseye. coronavirus pandemic being developed by gin makers Verdant The days of brands thinking the grass is Spirits and 58 Gin, while luxury fashion house LVMH has switched production at three of its perfume and cosmetics factories

HELEN EDWARDS to16 produce hand sanitiser.

Zara-owner Inditex is experimenting with converting part of its textile manufacturing

the compan carbon zero

always greener in another market, and believing they can turn it into a cash cow, are

To date, m shoppers ha

over. Instead, innovation that is focused on the core business will offer the best returns.

“The number of different innovation

the portfolio listed, the te customer da

is definitely slowing down. People are Irreplaceability is a brand’sprojects ultimate goal

capacity in Spain to produce hospital gowns for use in the medical emergency.

The ability of brands to pivot towards

26 30

meaningful innovation, at a time when the news agenda is evolving hour by hour, is the result of a wider movement over the past year towards more thoughtful innovation.

Last summer, alcoholic beverages company Diageo explained that it was engaging in less innovation than three or four years ago owing to the strength of ideas in its pipeline, which allows the company to be more “choiceful”.

Global head of innovation, Michael Ward, leads Diageo’s team of 150-plus innovators across research and development, finance, marketing, commercial and supply chain.

He believes marketers should think like cultural anthropologists and use sensory science, backed up with insight, to understand how consumer trends will evolve in both the near- and long-term.

“We’re focused on driving sustainable innovation – strengthening the big brands of today and seeding those of tomorrow,” says Ward.

18 MARK RITSON

things,” Kohler explains.

“In total, we are probably spending a bit less but the moves people make tend to be a bit more considered and slightly bigger bets, rather than, ‘Let’s throw a thousand things out there and hope one takes off’. That lottery ticket approach has burnt through quite a lot of money and time. People are being a lot more thoughtful about where they want to

There is n product is a s a “fair amou “The conc speak to the very open wi limited resou early and the them availab

In a crisis, great brands build equity

20 OPINION

innovate and it’s more closely tied to their core business.”

Colin Lewis Careers won’t pick upCOPYCAT where they FORGET INNOVATION As the approach becomes more thoughtful, left off brands are being forced to think about the

purpose of their innovation and avoid any Tanya Joseph Brands must help rebuild society unnecessary jumping on bandwagons.

22

Sainsbury’s Future Brands team nurtures new brands in categories from grocery and drinks to cosmetics and gifting, offering them the chance to be stocked in the supermarket on an exclusive basis. Over the past 18 months, the team has been contacted by more than 800 brands, although not all of these ideas hit the mark, explains Milena

22 NEW WORLD OF WORK

How brands are adjusting to life in lockdown

“We put the consumer at the heart of everything we do, so we’re not only looking for great innovation ideas that match up with

26 INNOVATION 3.0

26 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

new type of incremental shop the cat

then pouring a bit more money into fewer

Lazarevska, who heads up the team.

“There is a lot of innovation that is just a ‘me too’; because something is a trend let’s

Navigating the shift to thoughtful innovation

APRIL 202

30 INTERVIEW VS REALITY Knowing when to stay in role and when to walk

32 SUBSCRIPTION ECONOMY Have we reached ‘peak subscription’?

34 THREE QUESTIONS I WISH I’D ASKED Facebook’s vice-president of global business and customer marketing, Michelle Klein on claiming your seat at the top table

36 STORY OF MY CV GoDaddy marketing director EMEA, James Eadie

38 THE INSIDE STORY How Wonderbra went stratospheric with its 1994 campaign ‘Hello Boys’ 4 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Contributors and contents_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 4

25/03/2020 17:26

IN THIS ISSUE

SAVE THE DATE

21 April 2020 Marketing Week Mini MBA Next course begins mba.marketingweek.com ANNA HILL

PETER FIELD

UK general manager, WW (formerly Weight Watchers)

Marketing consultant

“Creativity is massively important.

Whether that’s through our stories or our brands, we have to find ways to surprise and delight people because we are a brand of heritage.”

“The unique characteristic of this is, because we all have a common enemy in Covid-19, everyone is coming together and the community response is a different level. Brands should enter into the same spirit.”

p10

p12

1 May 2020 Entry closes for the Marketing Week Masters Awards 2020 marketingweek.com/event/ marketing-week-masters/

7-8 October 2020 MARK EVANS

KAREN SCOTT

Managing director for marketing and digital, Direct Line Group

Senior director of Future Brands, PepsiCo

“[Remote working is] a perfect storm for leaders and particularly for leaders in marketing, given that the role of the marketer is to bring insight into the organisation.”

“Innovation has to be thoughtful, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we will reduce the number of innovations we launch.”

Festival of Marketing, Tobacco Dock, London festivalofmarketing.com

p26

p22

The above events are subject to change

APRIL 2020

DAN ZIV

MICHELLE KLEIN

CEO, Touchnote

Vice-president of global business and customer marketing, Facebook

“I think that the concept of subscription services is going to become second nature to the average household.”

“Diverse opinions and pushing the conversation is what makes ideas and work so much better.”

p32

p34

marketingweek.com

April 2020 Cover illustration: Lex Guerra

THINKING, BEHAVING AND WORKING DIFFERENTLY DURING THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS I N S I D E Marcomms under the spotlight 12

Helen Edwards on maintaining perspective 16

MW April 2020 Cover_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 1

Mark Ritson: The importance of marketing leadership 18

Colin Lewis on coping with career upsets 20

New ways of working 22

25/03/2020 17:25

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 5

Ed_Contributors and contents_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 5

25/03/2020 17:26

ANALYSIS

Are brands living up to their purpose during the coronavirus crisis?

As firms are put to the test in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brands are stepping up and which are missing the mark?

PRET A MANGER’S RESPONSE WILL BE REMEMBERED LONG AFTER THE CRISIS ENDS

BY MATTHEW VALENTINE

ith the world in lockdown, the value of sterling at a 35-year low and people in fear of illness and job losses, attention is turning to the ways businesses are responding to the coronavirus crisis.

Talk is cheap, but effective action can be costly. Brands that have made noise about caring for customers and communities, the environment or other causes, may have to dig deep if they are to keep promises made now that the world is in the grip of a deadly pandemic.

What happens when brand purpose is put to the test, and will customers forgive those brands that don’t meet the mark?

The situation may be further complicated by the events of the recent year. Co-founder and MD of brand purpose agency Verity London, Debra Sobel, says years of political upheaval have reduced trust in politicians to the extent that consumers are increasingly looking to companies to solve societal issues.

“The intelligent brands, the competitive brands, are the ones that realise they need to activate their purpose now,” says Sobel. “They need to communicate effectively and be authentic. In the long term, they will gain.”

Pret a Manger took decisive action from the off, closing seating areas to operate on a takeaway-only basis. It also extended support to NHS workers, offering them free hot drinks and discounts.

CEO Pano Christou announced the move in his blog – including a personal story about his son’s anxiety owing to asthma – and the message rapidly gained public

W

support. At the weekend, anticipating more draconian measures, Pano temporarily closed operations altogether, saying: “Pret’s first value is ‘happy teams, happy customers’ and my priority is always to protect our teams as much as we can.”

MAKING PURPOSE COUNT Nationwide was among the brands that announced early opening for elderly and vulnerable customers to help them socially distance from others. Now trying to keep branches open for “absolutely necessary” visits, the building society is offering help to get people banking online.

“We understand the current situation is likely to hit the elderly and vulnerable the hardest, not only because of the higher risk of

catching coronavirus, but also through potentially feeling isolated from the wider world should this issue continue for a longer period,” says Nationwide branch network director, Mandy Beech.

The virus has caused a perfect storm for supermarkets. It has fallen to grocers to shield elderly and vulnerable customers from the panic buying taking place, while also trying to protect their staff who are dealing with massive demand, supply shortages, aggressive customers and risks to their own health.

Asda, Sainsbury’s and Aldi, for example, have put limits on how many of each item customers can buy.

Morrisons has introduced guarantees on sick pay – including to those staff who are self-isolating rather than ill – as well as

6 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Analysis_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 6

25/03/2020 14:45

expanding home deliveries to those in need and committed to pay small suppliers faster.

The grocer is looking to recruit more pickers and drivers, creating 3,500 new jobs in the process, and has created a range of simple-to-order food parcels, including options for vegetarians.

“We expect the days, weeks and months ahead to be very testing and we are determined to do our bit,” says chief executive David Potts.

“These measures will support our very hardworking colleagues, enable us to provide more food to more people in their homes and create opportunities for people whose jobs are affected.”

These are all examples of companies judging their actions well, says Sobel.

“The problem with purpose is that you have to get it right, because otherwise you will be accused of piggybacking, or a kind of purpose-washing to try to promote your own brand,” she adds. “That’s not good, purposeful marketing. That’s not good marketing, to try and profiteer off the back of this [crisis].”

After an outcry over the way he was perceived to be treating employees, Musk responded to social media pressure by saying the factory would be turned over to help make medical equipment if needed.

Virgin Atlantic felt the public’s wrath after announcing a number of early measures in the crisis – including telling staff to take eight weeks’ unpaid leave following a sharp drop in customers.

Chairman Peter Norris also called on the government to arrange an emergency bailout for the airlines of £7.5bn.

An 80% reduction in flights has meant grounding around three-quarters of its fleet, but the behaviour of the airline felt at odds with Virgin Atlantic’s self-styled identity as

commenting on the potential bailout of a company they associate with a high-profile billionaire owner, during a time when the NHS is likely to struggle with treating the numbers of sick people.

Since then, Richard Branson has pledged to invest £215m across his Virgin business to protect jobs. In a blog post he says his companies, which span travel and leisure, and employ 70,000 people in 35 countries, are in a “massive battle to survive”.

“Our people have and, will always be, my number one priority,” Branson added. “It is their future job security and their well-being that I am 100% focusing on in these frightening and unprecedented times.”

the “fun, friendly, fabulous choice that made travel attainable for everyone”.

Consumers shared their frustrations with Virgin Atlantic on social media,

However, Sobel believes people will remember the first reaction from Virgin Atlantic, in the same way they will remember the generosity of Pret a Manger.

MISSING THE MARK Equally dangerous could be action that leaves firms looking uncaring.

Electric car maker Tesla was accused of breaching a demand from the local sheriff’s department to conduct only minimal operations at its California factory.

Tesla was apparently still building cars at the plant until late last week, albeit with a smaller workforce than usual. This response seemed to contradict founder Elon Musk’s mission, who in 2019 said what drives him was the “fundamental goodness of Tesla”.

“The problem with purpose is that you have to get it right, because otherwise you will be accused of piggybacking”

MORRISONS “DETERMINED TO DO ITS BIT”, SAYS CHIEF EXECUTIVE DAVID POTTS

Debra Sobel, Verity London

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 7

Ed_Analysis_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 7

25/03/2020 14:45

DIGITAL THINKING

BY BEN DAVIS

Editor, Econsultancy

Digital services have a new level of responsibility his is the first article I’ve written for Marketing Week since the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. (What a stupid opening sentence.)

I’m not sure what I can write, at this moment, about marketing or digital technology. (There’s another sentence that seems full of small-minded conceit.)

So, I thought I’d just record a few inconsequential moments where marketing, ecommerce and tech have crossed my mind, fleetingly (outside of work), over the past few weeks. The main one has been talking to my family about the big demand for online grocery shopping – important for many of

T

those advised to strictly self-isolate.

Today, my mum has been on Messenger warning me that she has been having issues checking out on Asda’s website unless she uses Microsoft Edge and, elsewhere, that if I try Ocado, I should expect a one-hour wait in my browser upon logging in.

Suddenly my mum is an online grocery power user, and yet she had never done a click-and-collect order until this week.

After the outbreak is contained or a vaccine is developed it will be interesting to see how the demand for online grocery has shifted. For many veteran online shoppers, slowly wandering the aisles once this is all over is actually a strangely comforting thought.

DIGITAL ETHICS My conversations with my mum made me feel a bit silly about some of the things I’ve written about customer experience in the past. Most likely, the details of your experience don’t matter at a time like this – we just want access to the services that we need. It’s a bit like when people queue online for Glastonbury tickets – the wait is inconsequential if the tickets are eventually secured.

I’m being a bit disingenuous, of course.

There are many businesses struggling at the moment, such as in fashion, where dwindling traffic may push the minutiae of conversion up the agenda again. Speaking of traffic, I was most impressed by Wired’s article on its approach to coronavirus coverage, specifically this paragraph: “We’ve never taken the business of ranking top for certain search terms lightly – it does,

DISNEY+ WILL BE LIKE ANOTHER PARENT DURING THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS FOR THOSE WITH YOUNG CHILDREN

after all, bring in a huge chunk of our readership. But in the midst of a pandemic ranking for coronavirus-related search terms comes with a huge responsibility. As such, key pages we rank for, including our coronavirus explainer and mythbusting pages, are being regularly updated with the latest information and advice.”

Ethics comes into sharp relief in testing times and the danger of being seen to exploit a crisis, or even worsen that crisis, is present at the level of SEO – not just in journalism – as well as in more obvious areas like pricing, or even whether your store should be open. On a related note, it says a lot that, beyond Amazon, streaming services and the supermarkets, the only brands I can remember registering with recently have been those engaging in efforts to fight the pandemic – whether it be LVMH manufacturing hand sanitiser or Pret a Manger offering free hot drinks and discounted food to NHS staff.

In normal times, brand purpose might be a controversial topic, but it’s not controversial to say a real commitment to helping people is the most admirable thing a brand can do right now.

Of course, as the social distancing continues, many people’s only desire is a distraction, and with my wife now looking

“ It’s not controversial to say a real commitment to helping people is the most admirable thing a brand can do right now” after a newborn and a toddler who can’t go to nursery, we have pinned unrealistic hopes on Disney+, which launched in the UK on 24 March. If all goes well, the streaming service will become the Baloo to my two-year-old son’s Mowgli.

And, though it seems silly (again) to write about all this now, when I signed up for a special-offer annual subscription, it was via an Instagram ad – a first for me. I was no doubt targeted after I had viewed a Disney offer my wife had sent me in Facebook Messenger. Instagram even offered to remember the email address I signed up with (no, thank you). It was all so effortlessly easy to welcome another proxy parent into our household. God bless television.

8 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Tech and Trends_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 8

24/03/2020 10:01

MARKETERS WHO MATTER

Anna Hill, WW

After two decades at Disney where she climbed the ladder to become UK marketing boss, Anna Hill decided to swap entertainment for the world of wellness with a switch to general management at WW (formerly Weight Watchers) ou would think leaving a job after nearly two decades at the same company would be tumultuous, but for Anna Hill, leaving Disney after 19 years was actually a “relatively easy” decision.

“Twenty years is obviously a long time and I had a fantastic time, but I always felt that if I got to over 50 it would be pushing 22 years there, and I wouldn’t have been pushing myself, I’d have limited myself,” Hill explains. “I ultimately do want to work for another 15 to 20 years, so I felt like I should take a leap now.”

The marketing veteran swapped her role as vice-president and CMO at The Walt Disney Company UK, Ireland and Nordics to become UK general manager at WW (formerly Weight Watchers). Hill says that the shift to general management has been an exciting one, but can be tricky.

She admits to struggling at times to leave the marketing teams alone, but recognises that this is an area she is “trying to lean out of”.

“I’ve wanted to have a chat with everyone and peek in and say something, as that’s to a greater extent where my natural experience lies. It has been a learning for me personally to know where to step back and where to step in,” says Hill.

She is just six months into her role at WW, which is undergoing a significant change. In September 2018, Weight Watchers rebranded to WW in a bid to focus on wellness and the company is continuing to work through its brand journey. “Weight Watchers was just

Y

Managing a transformation

PORTRAIT: JOEL KIMMEL

BY MOLLY FLEMING

10 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Marketers who matter_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 10

25/03/2020 11:10

about weight. What WW allows us to do is say, ‘Yes weight is a core component of what we offer, but we are really looking overall at health and wellness’. We need to keep that heritage, but also push that this is a technology-driven health and wellness brand,” she explains.

“My weight has changed [because of WW], but more importantly my BMI has gone down.

I’ve been going to the gym so my fitness has increased. There are so many different metrics that I can put down to part of this programme, which are more than just weight.”

Marketing is the main channel for changing consumer perceptions as WW attempts to expand beyond its core audience of middle-aged to older women. Hill explains that while this female audience is really important, the brand knows that losing weight is very much on the agenda of men and they want to be engaged in a different way, as do younger people.

“We want people to look at our brand, see we are as focused on health and nutrition as we always have been, but also see that we are an app in their pockets which can help them lead healthier lives – whether that’s through meditation or encouraging them to do more activity,” Hill explains.

NEW WAYS TO CONNECT To reach new audiences WW is focusing on three key pillars: mindset, fitness and nutrition. Central to the experience are the weekly meetings where members get weighed

“I did a lot of partnerships at Disney – there’s value in working with other brands to achieve goals”

and share wellness tips. These meetings are something Hill is keen to maintain, but also “demystify” for those outside the WW core demographic and to explain, among other things, that no one stands in the room shouting out people’s weights.

While a lot of people think WW is geared towards meeting in person in community centres, Hill and the team are keen to promote the new ways of engaging with the brand. They then measure success across a variety of metrics.

“We’re looking at brand and brand affinity, but we’re also looking at sales, as you can imagine. Our traffic is really important. How do we bring existing, but also new, audiences to our app? We also look at our conversion and how do we educate them on the brand, and then covert them to become a member?” she explains.

“Creativity is massively important. Whether that’s through our stories or our brands, we have to find ways to surprise and delight people because we are a brand of heritage.”

WW focuses heavily on search and social, utlising member-created content, while working with influencers to reach new audiences is also vital.

Partnerships are another key element of the strategy and something Hill is familiar with thanks to her days at Disney.

“I did a lot of partnerships at Disney – there is value in working with other brands to achieve your goals,” she states.

With this in mind, Hill has established a partnership team that connects with meditation apps, restaurants, gyms and retailers to expand WW into more consumers’ lives.

LEARNING CURVE Hill credits Disney for the “safe environment” it provided for her to learn the skills associated with running a business. She also believes that a strong grounding in marketing has made her a better general manager.

“Being a marketer is really important as it is ultimately about looking at the customer. I have a real affinity with customer experience, so that has helped,” she says.

“We have to find ways to surprise and delight people because we are a brand of heritage” While her two decades at Disney were a fantastic experience, Hill feels she is more driven by WW’s purpose.

“There were a lot of great things we did at Disney, that were ultimately in the entertainment space, whereas WW is much more focused on changing people’s lives, which is something I’m really passionate about,” she adds.

The size of the WW business is “one of the main differences” in comparison to Disney, as is the company culture, which has encouraged Hill to embrace leaner teams and flexible working.

“Flexible working is more advanced here and the culture that surrounds this is that it really doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you do your job,” she explains.

While she has learnt a lot over the past six months, Hill admits that there is still an awful lot to take in.

“The operations side of the business is pretty enormous. We run 5,000 workshops a week. We need to make sure our members get what they want out of it,” she explains.

“Getting underneath that is something I’ve been focused on and that’s been a big learning.”

Really getting into the numbers and analysing the growth opportunity is another element Hill admits she never stops thinking about. “There is so much opportunity for us to grow and I don’t switch off very easily.”

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 11

Ed_Marketers who matter_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 11

25/03/2020 11:10

NEWS ANALYSIS

Why brands need to think long term amid the coronavirus pandemic

The natural reaction to a crisis is to hunker down and protect profitability here and now, but with demand for most brands either through the roof or through the floor, marketers must look longer term if they possibly can

BY SARAH VIZARD

adbury launched its annual Easter campaign on 9 March, a grandfather hiding Easter eggs for his grandchildren. No one at either the brand or its agency, VCCP, could have predicted that such a scenario would soon become a dangerous thing to do.

But the Covid-19 outbreak has changed that, with people aged over 70 ordered by the government to self-isolate for 12 weeks and the rest of the population to stay home wherever possible.

Within 10 days of launch, Cadbury pulled the ad from TV, calling it “no longer appropriate” and saying it was working to replace it with spots “more mindful of the current climate”.

The move highlights some of the challenges marketers are trying to navigate as the country, and the world at large, adapts to the limitations put on normal life by the coronavirus. There are other, greater, risks for many brands, but the question of how to advertise, what to advertise, or whether to advertise at all, are among the concerns.

Marketing Week and sister title Econsultancy surveyed almost 900 UK brand marketers to discover their initial reactions to the coronavirus outbreak. The results (which were collated before the UK went into lockdown) show that more than half (55%) are delaying or reviewing campaigns. Some 60% are also delaying or reviewing their budget commitments.

The scale of the outbreak has forced many companies to issue profit warnings as demand dries up. Shops, pubs, gyms and theatres are among the businesses that have been ordered to close by the UK government, while airlines have cancelled the vast majority of flights and tour operators have effectively ceased trading.

C

“The only sensible course for any advertiser is to be putting money into long-term brand building” Peter Field, marketing consultant

Given the hit to both top and bottom lines, many brands have cut ‘discretionary’ spend, which often includes marketing.

Whitbread, which owns the Premier Inn hotel chain and restaurant brands Brewers Fayre and Beefeater, says it is “eliminating” marketing spend. John Lewis has paused its spring campaign and is reducing marketing spend across the board.

The impact can be seen across the media landscape. It should come as little surprise that outdoor and cinema have taken huge hits as people are ordered to stay indoors and cinemas are forced to close. But in-home media is also struggling. ITV says all categories of business are deferring ad spend during March and April, adding that it is not in a position to provide guidance on the extent of the downturn.

Digital advertising, too, is taking a hit, with Twitter saying brands are pulling spend and putting in place sweeping keyword blacklists to ensure they are not associated with the pandemic. The same is true for news media, with digital audiences up, but brands not following the eyeballs.

Most brands fall into one of three categories: either coronavirus has been

catastrophic for their business, as in the case of airlines, hotels and pubs; it has driven huge demand, as in the case of supermarkets and broadband providers; or there has been a drop in demand, but not a catastrophic one – so most retailers, car makers and bookmakers.

Senior partner at consultancy Gain Theory, Matthew Chappell, says: “In pretty much every case, there are discussions about cutting budgets, either due to lack of funds or due to not wanting to prompt demand beyond capacity.”

IS CUTTING SPEND THE RIGHT CHOICE? With the UK and global economy heading towards recession at the very least, many companies are trying to shore up their top lines by cutting marketing spend. There is certainly little reason for brands to be investing in activity that drives sales activation given that demand has either reduced dramatically or peaked, putting pressure on supply chains.

“We are helping our clients to work out which channels spend should be cut from first and we are seeing the greatest case for cutting bottom of funnel, more immediate response channels,” says Chappell.

This is the polar opposite of what happened during the last recession in 2008/09 when most companies cut back on brand building in favour of performance spend. That course of action would be “totally inappropriate now,” according to marketing consultant Peter Field.

“Brands have one of two problems: either they can’t meet demand because of panic buying, so who wants to stimulate short-term sales; or they have no customers because people are not allowed to go and buy it, in which case ditto,” he explains.

“The only sensible course for any advertiser who wants to maintain a presence through

12 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Analysis_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 12

25/03/2020 17:40

JOHN LEWIS HAS PAUSED ITS SPRING CAMPAIGN DUE TO THE VIRUS AND IS REDUCING MARKETING SPEND

this recession – and if your business is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy you aren’t going to be able to do this – is to be putting money into long-term brand building because the role of that investment is for the recovery, not for now.”

Group sales and marketing manager at hospitality company Moriarty Group, Helen O’Dowda, agrees: “It’s rational to think that if the sales aren’t coming in we need to stop all campaigns, all activity on social media and all communication with our target audience, but this is where so many brands are getting it wrong.

“Now is the time to think outside the box, of ways we can remain human with our audience in a bid to help where help is needed, in a bid to be the voice of reason and consistency in a time of uncertainty, and in a behind-the-scenes bid to come out on top when this crisis subsides and we are all functionally back in business.”

In fact, the last recession can provide a number of case studies for where investment in brands paid dividends over the longer term. As rivals cut budgets, those that

“Now is the time to think outside the box, of ways we can remain human with our audience” Helen O’Dowda, Moriarty Group

continue to invest will see their share of voice increase, and there is a strong correlation between share of voice and share of market, according to previous work by Field analysing the IPA databank.

One example is Virgin Atlantic. In 2008, as the credit crunch hit, passenger numbers fell and oil prices soared. But according to its entry into the IPA Effectiveness Awards in 2010, which won a silver, the airline’s response was to increase marketing spend and concentrate on brand building with the launch of its 25th anniversary campaign, ‘Still red hot’.

The campaign is estimated to have driven 20% of overall revenue during the campaign timeline, equal to a payback of £10.58 for every £1 invested.

Field’s previous work also shows that brands that went into panic mode – defined as cutting all ad spend – saw their market share, and therefore profitability, drop over the long term. Even where budgets were cut by 20%, profits took a hit.

Further data from Millward Brown (now Kantar) shows that 60% of brands that ‘go dark’ during a recession decline on at least one key brand metric. Plus there is a risk of word-of-mouth chatter about a brand (or buzz) going down, which can lead to a presumption of failure. This risk is greatest in categories where brand is less important and purchases are more price-driven.

Field explains: “We know going dark is no way forward. There is a value to society and the economy of not being seen to panic as a business. If all advertisers pull their money, the effect on consumer morale and business sentiment of the country would suffer as a result.

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 13

Ed_Analysis_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 13

25/03/2020 17:40

NEWS ANALYSIS

“There is a value in being seen to be an advertiser. [Going dark] would only add to the sense of crisis and panic, as well as undermining their brand in the long term.”

HOW TO ADVERTISE It seems clear that for those companies that can afford to, continuing to advertise through the crisis will be key to recovery and long-term growth.

But what is less clear is what and how to advertise. The case of Cadbury shows both brands and consumers are cognisant to communications that sound out of kilter with the current mood.

A survey of UK consumers by GlobalWebIndex between 16 and 20 March sheds a little light. It found that 37% believe brands should advertise as normal, 29% believe they should advertise differently, and 34% say they are uncertain.

Elsewhere, early data from System1, which tests consumers’ response to ads, suggests brands are worrying too much about a backlash against their ads that is yet to materialise.

It has seen no drop in emotional response scores for ads that have launched in the past few weeks, while work to retest ads that originally aired in January or February suggests that responses are stable here as well.

System1 has found, however, that emotional advertising is performing better than rational advertising. And that some emotions are better than others.

For example, Bupa’s ‘Is it normal?’ campaign, which talks about mental health, now performs better in testing than it did at launch, while an ad from a car brand that talks about competitive racing and beating other drivers performs considerably worse.

“People will want brands to be generous, modest, self-aware, have a sense of humour and demonstrate spontaneity.

“All the right brain features, which characterise what humanity is about, and less of the automated, mechanistic response – that’s what brands need to be doing,” says System1’s chief innovation officer, Orlando Wood.

What consumers do want, however, is for brands to be helpful where they can.

Do UK consumers think brands should carry on advertising as normal?

UNSURE AGREE

34%

37%

29% DISAGREE Source: GlobalWebIndex

55%

of UK marketers are delaying or reviewing campaigns

60% of UK marketers are delaying or reviewing budget commitments Source: Marketing Week and Econsultancy

Globally, the GlobalWebIndex survey finds that people are most in favour of brands responding to the outbreak by providing flexible payment terms (83%), offering free services (81%) and closing non-essential stores (79%).

Companies that take the initiative and really do something to help are reaping the rewards. BrewDog is one example. It has been vocal in its decision to use its distilleries to create hand sanitiser, which is being distributed free to charities and hospitals. Plus, the Scottish brewer is keeping its brand front-of-mind by creating virtual bars where people can share a beer online, take part in virtual pub quizzes and homebrew masterclasses and win merchandise.

This activity is already having an impact.

According to YouGov BrandIndex, consumer perceptions of the brand are up by a statistically significant 4.6 points over the past two weeks, while it is now top of the rankings for beer and cider brands in terms of buzz (a balance of the positive and negative things said about a brand).

Kantar’s global head of media for its insights division, Jane Ostler, says building awareness and associations that don’t look crass will be important.

“Building longer-term brand preference is key. There are creative ways for brands to get involved. Can they help fund content or offer lower subscriptions?”

For Field, the safest way forward for brands is to stick to the kind of campaigns they were running before the crisis unless and until research proves there is negative feedback, while also looking for ways to be helpful.

“The unique characteristic of this is, because we all have a common enemy in Covid-19, everyone is coming together and the community response is a different level to anything we have seen previously in recessions,” he explains.

“Brands should enter into the same spirit. There are two facets to this – helping the population in general and being good to your own people. Companies that don’t do either of those things and are called out for not having done so are going to be very counter to the mood of the nation.”

14 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Analysis_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 14

25/03/2020 17:40

Acquire, Engage, Retain Marketing Week has now launched its brand new Knowledge Bank, offering essential case studies, white papers, guides and resources to help marketers do their job better and achieve their goals, in today’s increasingly complex marketing landscape.

Showcase your content on our Knowledge Bank, to generate high quality, opted in, grow and develop your business.

Advertise with us advertising@centaurmedia.com +44 (0) 20 7970 4163

MW_010120_00_KB_FP.indd MW Jobs_09751 Ads AW.indd 1 4

29/11/2019 20/08/2019 16:37 17:27

“Irreplaceability is a brand’s ultimate goal” n a side street in London’s North Kensington stands one of the capital’s lesser-known museums.

I confess that I had never visited it myself until recently, despite living in the area for many years and hitting the Virgin Active gym just up the road at least a couple of times a week.

That’s quite an omission on my part, since what we’re talking about here is the Museum of Brands, which – to use an apt branding metaphor – does what it says on the tin, showcasing the nation’s brands and their iconography, going back to Victorian times.

As you walk through its winding ‘Time Tunnel’ of yesterday’s household names, with their uninhibited packs and garishly illustrated posters, you find yourself wondering what combination of circumstances finally sealed their fate.

What became of Gossages ‘magical soaps’, Solvo washing powder, or My Lady canned fruits (‘An orchard in your cupboard’)? What was it that finally laid low Peek Frean biscuits, Keen’s mustard and Zambrene weatherproofs?

Once brimming with patriotism, optimism and come-on customer promise, these brands somehow vanished from shopping bags and ended up as curiosities on a museum shelf.

Except it’s a more nuanced experience than that, because, mingled among all those faded brands that didn’t make it to the present, are the remarkable ones that did. There’s Weetabix, Bovril, Kit Kat and Shell, in collages from the 40s, 50s and 60s, like photos in an old family album, where change and familiarity both hit you at once. There are brands that could form their own 100-year club, with origins in the early 1900s, like Shredded Wheat, Marmite, Bisto and HMV. And there are brands that have been part of our shopping lives even longer, with their first inceptions before Victoria came to the throne: Cadbury’s, Colman’s, Oxo, Carr’s, Lea & Perrins, Schweppes, Guinness, The Times.

Think about the crises and crunch moments they have managed to come through with their relevance and appeal intact: the Crimean

I

HELEN EDWARDS Former BSME and PPA business columnist of the year, and co-founder of Passionbrand

War, the Boer War, the First World War, the global flu pandemic of 1918, the Great Depression, the Second World War, rationing, Suez, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the oil shock, the three-day week, the dotcom bust, 9/11, the Iraq War, the financial crash.

What is it that makes some brands thrive over the decades while others slide into obscurity? Some of it will simply be down to luck, which is never far off as an explanation for life’s unfair discrepancies: the manufacturing plant that just escaped bomb destruction while a rival’s succumbed; the parent company that was saved, against all odds, from insolvency.

But luck can’t sustain appeal where it does not exist. There is something about all the enduring brands in the museum that gives you the sense that life would not be quite the same without them; something about the combination of what they do and how they do it that imbues them with a status approaching irreplaceability.

And it’s that ‘something’ that should be the ultimate pursuit of every brand. Not just in times of national or global crisis, to help ensure survival when the dust settles, but as a bulwark against the outrageous rigours of the routine marketplace: commoditisation, retailer bullying, competitor discounting, category disruption. Irreplaceability – as tough a call as it is – should be the ultimate marketing goal.

THE EXISTENTIAL QUESTION Whenever I work with marketing teams in workshops on positioning, or brand refresh, or even innovation, there is always a question I include somewhere in the session, to bring everyone back to fundamentals: what would people be missing if this brand did not exist?

This is the existential question, the leveller, the one to put when people start talking targets or big, hairy, audacious goals. It’s the one that furrows brows, prompts silences, disarms hubris and breaches the moat of defensiveness.

Sometimes it will lead to a frenzied attempt to articulate a sprawling list of virtues that cry

16 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Helen Edwards_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 16

25/03/2020 11:15

“Luck can’t sustain appeal where it does not exist. There is something about all the enduring brands that gives you the sense that life would not be quite the same without them”

out for crystallisation. Often it will lead to a renewed recognition of a single, obvious quality, so taken for granted over the years that it has come to be neglected. Or it might lead to the conclusion that there is indeed a unique something, but one that puts off as many as it attracts – the reality that Marmite (est. 1902) so brilliantly exploited.

But it can also lead to the horrible recognition that the answer is ‘nothing’ – that if this brand did not exist, it would be a big deal only to the brand owners, and nobody else. I have interviewed CEOs candid enough to admit as much without hesitation, and cavalier enough to resist investment in the improvements their teams were proposing, on the basis that there is enough business out there to go round. Maybe. Until their luck runs out.

I can see that for marketers in some categories right now the existential question is more than merely theoretical – while for others it will seem irrelevant as they are selling every last pack of what they make. But for any marketer with some downtime over the coming months to reflect, I can think of no better way to deploy it.

A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE As I stand outside the Museum of Brands on a sunny March afternoon just before the lockdown, I am reminded that the building it now occupies has an interesting back-story. It was opened in 1986 as the London Lighthouse – a residential centre and hospice for people with HIV, which later merged with and was ultimately sold by the Terrence Higgins Trust.

At the time it opened, the neighbourhood was

horrified by what was perceived as a mortal threat. Property prices along the street got hammered. These were the days when the Government was sending leaflets to citizens imploring them not to ‘die of ignorance’, and people thought you could ‘catch AIDS’ on a passing breeze.

Many of us now would look back at our apocalyptic anxieties during that crisis with embarrassment. It turned out to be not quite as it seemed at the time. I am not saying, of course, that this coronavirus crisis will turn out to be any less serious than it currently seems. But what I am saying – as we work from our homes and strive to make sense of our marketing priorities – is that there is a case to be made for optimism, pragmatism and perspective.

Imagine what we would all be missing if those qualities did not exist.

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 17

Ed_Helen Edwards_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 17

25/03/2020 11:15

MARK RITSON

Three-time PPA business columnist of the year

“In a crisis, great brands build equity” ou don’t need me to list what has happened in the past few weeks or ruminate on the potential behemoths of the brand world that could topple in the weeks to come. Too much of that is already going on across social media. And if I see one more chart from someone in marketing about ‘flattening the curve’, I will break free from my self-imposed isolation and flatten them.

The first lesson of the coronavirus crisis that now engulfs us is to shut the fuck up and let the experts guide us. I am well aware at this point that expertise from the medical fraternity or our so-called political leaders seems in short supply.

But that does not justify marketers feeling as if they have some God-given right to share their thoughts or solutions or recommendations. We are marketers, for fuck’s sake, and most of us aren’t even any good at that. Let’s leave the epidemiology to the professionals.

That said, we should not shy away from talking about customers and business in the age of coronavirus. It might seem superficially mercantile to discuss brands, pricing and customer behaviour as we stare down the barrel of a pandemic. But the practical reality of global economic trade means that we need to market now for the good of all mankind.

And I am not overstating. The wheels of industry need to keep turning so workers are paid and families are fed. Those wheels are best greased by effective marketing. We need to drive demand like never before. We should not be doing the job of the Government or the chief medical officer, we should be doing our own – like mad – for the good of the country.

I have been struck these last few days by just how few leaders there really are

Y

when it is time to lead. When we need biographies or speeches there are loads of them.

But cometh the hour, and the men and women that are meant to plot the course seem to have fucked off in their private jets or, worse, stand gibbering in front of us.

We have had so much post-modern wank over the past decade about leadership that any proper leader might have been convinced they were unfit for the job. Every day on LinkedIn some half-wit in a tank top is sharing their view of leadership as empathy, emotional intelligence, social influence, charisma, generosity. These soft scholars make leadership sound like a support group rather than the pointy, lonely, obtuse reality it is.

Here is what leadership is: it’s making the best possible decision and then sticking to it. Fuck empathy. And fuck emotional intelligence too. What we are clearly currently missing in our government and across most of the dithering organisations in this country are people that make a call and then direct everyone to follow it accordingly.

There have been a few exceptions. A big shout out to LVMH, which has turned around its manufacturing lines at brands like Guerlain, Parfums Christian Dior and Givenchy to produce hand sanitisers for French hospitals. It’s a little gesture but the kind of thing that gets remembered many years later.

Marks & Spencer spent most of the Second World War manufacturing ration clothing for the British public. No one remembers that these days, but during the heyday of M&S in the 60s and 70s it was a commonly known and widely admired fact. They were with us when the shit hit the fan, and we were with them afterwards because of it.

It’s a similar story when it comes to employees – suddenly the acid test for any company is coronavirus-coloured. Your HR director might have spent the past decade polluting the stages of every major capital city with a bullshit presentation about their ‘employer value proposition’ featuring the classic hits: respect, integrity and – who can forget? – commitment. Well, here comes the perfect chance to get off the stage and show your people that you mean it.

Kudos, therefore, to the likes of Levi’s, Lush and Apple, which have moved quickly to reassure their employees that they will be paid despite global store closures.

18 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Ritson_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 18

24/03/2020 15:26

Mark’s marketing month

“Leadership is making the best possible decision, then sticking to it” As the coronavirus crisis deepens – and we should remember this is only the very start – we will see more examples of brands that remembered their values in the face of gigantic pressure; and of those that pressed the exit button and left customers, employees and the broader public to their own devices. Customers, as my M&S example demonstrates, have long memories.

If there is one major marketing challenge now facing most big brands it is what to do with their newly slashed marketing budget. If you’ve just lost half of it, the temptation is to dump it all into shorter-term performance marketing and sales promotions.

That would be an error. No amount of hot deals and clever sales activation can stimulate a market that is currently terrified, locked inside their homes and unsure of their future.

Confronted with a 50% cut in marketing budgets, the smarter play is to actually focus more of it on the longer-term brand-building mission.

Performance marketing is going to under-perform in the current market conditions.

But this virus, too, shall pass. At some point consumers will return to the streets, the cafés and the various other activities that they have been denied during the dark days ahead. Keep the brand light burning, because the cost of snuffing it out for the rest of 2020 and then trying to reignite it next year is gigantic.

It’s an easy thing to write, a harder thing to do with your actual budget. But great brands build their equity during crises like this.

They stand out by actually exemplifying their brand values in the face of the crisis that surrounds it. They take care of their own and eschew shorter-term profits in favour of ensuring that their people are looked after. And they invest in brand-building media because, with many of their competitors losing their mind and their share of voice, there is a rare opportunity to come out of the crisis not just alive, but ahead.

Negative associations aren’t always bad for brands Coronavirus: good or bad for Corona’s sales? Your answer very much depends on how you balance the importance of a brand’s salience versus its image. The traditional brand management approach of not that long ago led with image as the overriding driving force behind successful brand impact.

Consumers needed to know a brand existed via awareness, of course. But that was mostly a gateway, particularly in highinvolvement decision-making, to the associations that consumers then attached to the brand. These drove differentiation, desire, loyalty and a host of other behavioural lovelies.

Then – cue the ‘Imperial March’ music from Star Wars – came the EhrenbergBass Institute in their black

uniforms. Differentiation, particularly at the symbolic level, was overstated. Building a brand image was a waste of marketing effort. The big job of brand was to create salience, so a brand came to mind in buying situations.

Associations with a pandemic are, at least seen from the traditional school of brand management, about as bad as it can get. But negative associations, provided they don’t contradict or contravene the core brand image, are actually nothing to worry about. They may even help

spread the message. The massive salience boost for Corona will propel the brand to top-of-mind status for millions of beer drinkers for many weeks to come. The question for them is not ‘does this pandemic make you feel differently about any of the beers on the following list?’.

The question is ‘what can I get you?’.

The answer that will spring to mind for thousands of drinkers at present and in the coming months will be ‘Corona’. The reptile brain wins again.

Characters unlock branded recall – ask Direct Line In every marketing decade there are a couple of brands that everyone follows. Not just because the brand is brilliant, but because those in charge of it are so far ahead of everyone else that you have to keep an eye on what they do next.

At the moment, it is very much Direct Line. The brand is especially interesting because last month it opted to switch campaigns from its highly awarded, highly effective Harvey Keitel series in favour of a completely new approach featuring three popular licensed characters from the world of cinema: RoboCop, Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Bumblebee from the Transformers movie series.

To understand why, you have to first work through one of the least well known but most important insights about advertising – that most people don’t fucking remember it and don’t know which brand is being promoted.

Only 16% of advertising is remembered and correctly attributed. If you knew you only had a one-in-nine chance of being noticed you would, quite correctly, codify the crap out of everything: a logo plus three or four other assets that a brand should use to look like

itself, and thereby drive up its recall and attribution scores among consumers.

Using characters in your advertising is one way to codify your campaigns.

Recent Ipsos research shows using characters achieves a six-fold increase in the likelihood that the campaign will appear in the top third of campaigns when ranked on recall and attribution.

No coincidence then that the branding boffins at Direct Line went with characters. It’s because they work.

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 19

Ed_Ritson_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 19

24/03/2020 15:26

OPINION

Marketers, we’re not going back to normal. The next couple of months are going to be hard, not just because of the challenge of working from home, but the real impact of lost jobs, reduced hours and reshaped careers.

What makes me qualified to give advice on how to Colin Lewis handle what’s going on? To answer this, I need to bring you back to about 15 years ago. I had already been laid off in my very first job. But I had conveniently forgotten this when the lure of a big payout was offered through a voluntary redundancy.

Nine months later, low on cash and confidence because I had not done anything constructive, I finally did get a new job. But they closed the office down, and I was left out of work for the second time in a year. Only this time, I was eight weeks into a part-time MBA that my employer had initially agreed to pay for.

I made the decision to remortgage the house for £30,000, hunker down and plough on. Keeping the chin up, studying, being at home all the time while everyone was out working did my head in.

Finally, once I had finished the MBA, I did get a great job. Lots of awards and kudos came my way. Then the global financial crisis of 2008 happened and I was part of the 30% of people the firm made redundant.

Instead of panicking, I knuckled down, and to be honest rather enjoyed the following five months of unemployment. While all others panicked, I had already had seen the worst, been at the bottom mentally and knew what to do. Sort of.

Careers won’t pick up where they left off

NEW THINKING NEEDED In reality, careers move in sine waves: sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down. Here’s what I now believe based on my hard-won experience. Firstly, it isn’t talent shortages that keep employers and capable job-seekers apart: it’s the recruitment process.

Potential employers look for ‘signals’ - the nature of the brand that you previously worked for being the definition of how good you were. All other capabilities are discounted heavily.

Secondly, age discrimination is an even bigger issue than gender. Once you are over 40 and looking for work, it’s a world of equal opportunity discrimination – male or female. Over 50, you have a better chance of being hit by a sniper’s bullet in your back garden than being considered for a role.

Thirdly, if you don’t have a signal such as a famous brand on a CV, you’d better have a skill – or develop a skill that is in demand. Wise-up to the fact that employers buy ‘hard’ skills, despite all the talk about soft ones.

I know it can be tempting to focus only on surviving through difficult times, but there are things you can do to come out the other side better than ever:

1

Start with a beginner’s mindset

Ignore the past, forget about what you have worked on or believed to be true. Many things that I had, and may have taken for granted, disappeared overnight and I kept trying to replay old games hoping they would come back. Amazingly enough, they did not. Face reality the

way it actually is, versus what you want it to be. Of course, I did not get this the first or second time and made it worse by convincing myself that I was right. Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset, called me correctly as a person with a fixed mindset, someone “who doesn’t want to move – it’s all about preservation”. That was me. I preferred to be right. And broke.

As the phrase goes, when we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

2

Forget about events, focus on your response

When things are going well, many people think they’re in control of events. That’s why you feel so defeated and depressed when things turn bad. You can’t control events, but you do control your response to events – as the Stoics wrote 2,000 years ago.

I realised that I had no routine outside of work that was in any way useful. I had constructed my world around that framework. This deficiency paralysed me.

Slowly, I created new habits and systems, but also realised I had to change my cherished beliefs and self-image, and come face to face with my biases. Focusing on having a positive response will help create more useful frames of reference, and even something as simple as improving your daily habits will make your confidence grow.

3

Get tough on yourself and don’t fall for platitudes

I heard the phrase “don’t worry, you’ll get a job no problem” from so many people. It’s well-intended, but most people aren’t you and don’t know your career background or ambitions. Ignore what others are saying – they know less than you do. Focus on what skills you are going to ramp up.

Like many other marketers, the only signals I gave to the market were the brands I had worked for. So I chose to develop deep expertise in ecommerce, travel, teaching, presenting and writing – a rare skill combination in high demand.

4

Focus on value-creation for others

Uncertainty is going to drive people into themselves and make them feel isolated. Having been that person, I found the best strategy was to expand my connection with others and focus on creating value for them.

People are tired of value-extractors – their true colours come through in a time of crisis. Forget your concerns about what you are going to get back. The more you contribute in this fashion, the less you need to worry about your own situation.

5

Create and develop opportunity

Opportunity seems like something that is ‘out there’, but the real opportunity is in your mind. Now, there were times when I could not see opportunity if it bit me on the arse. I was lazy and fearful, having been locked away too long. Gradually, I woke up to the fact there is such a thing as ‘opportunity literacy’: knowing an opportunity when you see it, and having both the tools and the mindset to grab it.

Nicholas Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan, writes: “Opportunity doesn’t come often, so seize it when it comes. Seize any opportunity, or anything that looks like opportunity.” Boy, is that true.

Colin Lewis is CMO at OpenJaw Technologies

20 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Debate_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 20

25/03/2020 15:49

One of the most challenging things about writing this column is the print deadline. It means I have to submit often weeks ahead of when it is read. This poses a problem at the best of times but, as we all know, these ain’t the best of times.

But today, I don’t mind. It is giving me a focus on Tanya something other than my own anxieties. Because I am Joseph worried about my family, my friends, my colleagues, my community, my work, the economy, society, the future. I lie in bed at night, I stare into the garden during the day and I fret. I have been worrying about whether I should admit it, but then realised that there is nothing special about me; most other people feel the same.

I am not one for hyperbole, but our world has changed irrevocably and we currently have no idea what all the changes will ultimately be. Many of the things that we hold dear, that keep us going, will be denied us for weeks and months to come: gathering with our friends, supporting our neighbours, getting a hug from our mums.

In the these first few days, we have all been focused on working out how to work from home for more than a couple of days, managing the clash of our worlds as home meets work in our living rooms and kitchens.

We will all have had dozens of emails with advice on remote working, on keeping yourself and your team energised and motivated. And some of them are really useful. But I think we need to go beyond these. Marketers need to spend what will certainly be a prolonged period of confinement really thinking about what we want the world which we will eventual step back into to look like, and how brands can help restore confidence and rebuild morale.

I know a lot of this work will need to be done by government bodies, but I strongly believe that brands have a part to play too. One of the most

Read more in-depth analysis, insight and opinion about how brands can respond to the coronavirus crisis at marketingweek.com/ coronavirus-marketing

Tanya Joseph is a consultant and former Nationwide and Sport England director

MARKETOONIST.COM @MARKETOONIST

Brands must help rebuild society

worrying aspects of the first weeks of the outbreak was witnessing the consequences of the breakdown of trust in politicians. It meant important public health messages were unheeded and it was only when medical and scientific experts began to speak that the advice really began to land.

It strikes me that brands that have invested huge amounts of time and money in building trust could usefully spend some time now thinking about how they might use that trust to help bring us together, to restore community cohesion. We have already seen some great examples: Pret giving NHS workers free coffees and discounted food; the BBC stepping in to help educate a generation of children with no schools to go to; supermarkets having protected hours for older and vulnerable customers.

But we will need to think about the future. I hope that Covid-19 will bring out the best in us but worry it will encourage the worst. We need brands to start thinking now about how they can start reminding us that we are fundamentally good souls who care about our communities, who look out for each other.

I want them to think about how they can begin to support the revival of those most important bits of civic society – music, arts, cinema, theatre, sport – which have fallen away. How they can work to reframe physical retail and the hospitality industry to restore the society of others that we as human beings crave. These are the things that give so many of us the balance we need in our lives. They are the things beyond our immediate needs (shelter, food, warmth) that keep us working, that keep us going.

I am pleased to be talking already to a few organisations who are up for this. We are not yet sure what the ‘new normal’ will be. It is likely to involve social distancing for a sustained period but we need to make sure that it is only physical, not emotional.

Surely, between us, we have the creative power, the reach and the will to connect meaningfully with consumers, to help us flourish in the new normal.

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 21

Ed_Debate_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 21

25/03/2020 15:49

Will work ever be the same again?

BY MATT BARKER

The coronavirus pandemic is sparking profound changes across the world of work – from motivating remote teams to finding new methods of measuring success

n the context of the global coronavirus outbreak, the world of work has entered a dramatic new phase. Whereas daily life was focused on working in offices and face-to-face meetings, the need for social distancing has created a new normal based primarily on remote working.

However, analysis of the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on businesses – conducted

by Marketing Week and its sister title Econsultancy – reveals some alarming findings about marketers’ attitudes towards, and preparations for, remote

I

working. Only 40% of the 887 UK brand marketers surveyed say their business is “very proficient” at enabling remote work. Half of marketers believe their company will be compromised by an increase in remote work, while 68% of senior marketers are concerned that creative collaboration will suffer.

Asked if there would be any significant long-term changes in working practices once the threat of the virus had abated, just 32% of UK marketers think their working life will entirely return to normal.

Remote working has long been a regular part of our lives, but it is clear that doubts

remain about its validity, particularly when it comes to issues around trust and productivity. Some 92% of senior marketers admit that remote working is not suited to everyone, while 37% believe it is not well suited to junior staff.

This is the first time we have seen large organisations adopting the policy at scale, and new formats need to be found to keep people motivated, spark creativity and stimulate communication.

Technology, video conferencing, webcams and messaging services can all bring greater engagement, but it is how marketers

22 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Flexible_remote working_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 22

25/03/2020 11:42

“Corporate people like structure and security, but this is a different way of working” Leila Fataar, Platform 13

communicate and interact in a meaningful way, not just with work colleagues but with their wider networks, that will be key.

Former Adidas and Diageo marketer Leila Fataar is the founder of consultancy Platform 13, which helps brands connect with a new breed of agencies and creatives. Having always had a flexible mindset that comes from working with startups, the events of recent weeks have not presented too much of a culture shock for Fataar.

However, she believes larger companies and big brands will have to change their ways of thinking and shake off entrenched ideas about staff working from home being too disconnected and distracted.

“People talk about this being an age of experience, but actually it’s an age of uncertainty,” she states.

“You have to be able to flex around these changes as they come. You need to shift your plans according to what’s happening in the world, to be able to quickly pivot and identify what needs to change in order for you to still do good work.”

Fataar calls this enforced wave of remote working the “new normal”, and it is tempting to view this as a pivotal moment that will usher in an age when the old employment structures no longer apply.

“Corporate people like structure and security, but this is a different way of

working,” she says. “These are absolutely transformational times, everything’s changing and it’s exciting.”

LACK OF CERTAINTY As firms navigate their way through this transition, staying connected and motivated is vital. Managing director for marketing and digital at Direct Line Group, Mark Evans, believes that a lack of clarity about the dangers of the virus, coupled with mixed messages about what people can and cannot do in their everyday lives, is making it harder to motivate people in their work.

“This is a huge leadership challenge, because people are in a threat state, there’s so little that is certain,” he says.

“Basically, they’re scared. It’s a perfect storm for leaders and particularly for leaders in marketing, given that the role of the marketer is to bring insight into the organisation, to see what’s going to be happening down the road, to future-spot and get the organisation future-ready.”

On a practical level, Evans recommends keeping some sort of routine to working days to help maintain energy levels and keep minds thinking creatively. “People still need to feel that sense of achievement, it’s in all of us.

It’s not performance management per se, just about keeping people motivated through achievement,” he adds.

Communication is an obvious but still crucial factor in keeping team spirit alive, especially anything that lifts the mood and gets everyone back into a familiar routine of relaxed interaction.

Neil Perkin, founder of digital consultancy Only Dead Fish, which specialises in organisational agility, believes that informal virtual get-togethers and catch-ups are just as essential – if not more so – than a formal conference call. “Things like virtual coffee breaks, where people can just sort of hang out

“The leadership attitude has to focus on outputs, not presenteeism” Neil Perkin, Only Dead Fish

together, have one-to-ones and have that kind of connection are as important as any formal meetings,” he says.

It’s all about creating an atmosphere of connection and trust. It is important also to think about a different way of measuring achievement, away from clock-watching and the rigid framework of the 9am to 5pm.

“The leadership attitude has to focus more on outputs, rather than presenteeism,” Perkin adds. “I think over time this will naturally play out and we’ll see more flexibility.”

VIRTUAL CONNECTIONS Equally, there is a need to prioritise and be realistic about what people can achieve, at least in the short term. Evans believes that the current situation will lead to a more productive way of working, mainly because we are going to see a major shift in how we communicate and how we relate to – and look after – each other.

“I think it will further cement the mental health agenda,” he says. “There isn’t going to be an individual in the world who’s not going to have some sort of mental health impact as a result of this.”

TSB CMO Peter Markey stresses the need for developing a more engaging, familiar dialogue with staff. “Now’s a really important time for any business to recognise people in the entirety of their lives. As leaders, we have to find the opportunity to bring teams together,” he advises. ›

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 23

Ed_Flexible_remote working_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 23

25/03/2020 11:42

“How do we inject a sense of fun into our interactions? What will make up for not going for that beer after work, or dinner with an agency?”

In the traditional office set-up people were used to spending more time with their colleagues than their families. Those sort of work connections will still need to be strengthened and developed, even in an increasingly virtual world.

Markey talks about companies arranging online gaming sessions during lunch breaks and predicts we’ll soon see more ways of keeping staff connected beyond their working hours. “You do lose a bit of camaraderie when you’re not together,” he states.

“We shouldn’t make everything transactional. It shouldn’t all be about asking if a certain task has been done. It’s more asking how things are coming along, how are we all feeling? Each person will have their own story to tell and we have to provide the support and the listening ear. And we’re learning the best way to do that day by day.”

STRUCTURE YOUR DAY Plenty of people are already used to working remotely, particularly in creative sectors where freelancing and flexible approaches

“You really value your time when you work from home. I don’t think anybody does a traditional 9am to 5pm” Colin Watkins, Duolingo

have long been established.

Colin Watkins is UK country manager for language-learning platform Duolingo, a US company with offices also in China and Mexico.

Watkins works from his home in south London and has to negotiate tricky time differences with the rest of his team.

“Working remotely was a massive change.

I was so used to having people around me, but now I structure my days and turn things like the time difference into a positive,” he explains.

By freeing himself up from the usual time frames, he can adapt his working day accordingly. Watkins readily admits that he’s lucky; he loves his job, believes in the brand and has a good working relationship with his boss in the US. Now familiar with remote working, he sees the value in structuring his day in the most productive way possible.

“At Duolingo they’re really comfortable with the idea that you might need some extra time in the day for personal reasons and then work a little later in the evening,” he explains.

“You really value your time when you work from home. I don’t think anybody who works from home does a traditional 9am to 5pm. It doesn’t happen.”

FRESH AND ENERGISED Watkins likes to use the hour or so he saves on commuting for taking a walk, listening to podcasts and letting his mind empty.

Evans agrees that how workers structure their day away from the laptop is just as important as how they plan work time, as it helps people to feel fresh and energised.

Meanwhile, Perkin urges marketers working remotely to think about how they

make it work for them. “You’ve got to create your own space, a dedicated workplace. How you schedule your day has to work for you, including how you take breaks and switch off. You’re going to get work blurring into life, so there’s a danger of overwork,” he explains.

There’s also a need to look beyond the team bubble and get an outside perspective.

Staying in contact with clients doesn’t just make good business sense, it also stops cabin fever and can give a different angle on a particular project.

WHAT NEXT? Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes the UK will have a grip on the spread of the coronavirus within the next 12 weeks. So when the Covid-19 pandemic eventually abates, will we all simply return to our regular working day?

Questions about the nature of work are already being asked. “Whenever we come out of this, things won’t ever be the same again,” says Markey.

“We have a huge capacity as humans to learn and hopefully this will move us in a direction of some positive things, that will help us work in a more productive way.”

Perkin is also optimistic that good things will come, for the benefit of both employee and employer. “Longer term, I would hope that work becomes more focused on the needs of the individual, as much as the organisation, and that there’s a rebalance that works for both,” he says. “This is a gigantic experiment.”

Evans is equally confident that this watershed moment will signal at least one hugely significant turning point in our working lives: “The greatest gift from all this is that it will finally smash the taboo that home working is home shirking.”

24 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Flexible_remote working_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 24

25/03/2020 11:42

Your digital challenges.

Sorted.

N Insights N Data & tools N Training N Consultancy

econsultancy.com MW_011219_00_Econ_FP.indd 1 ECNY0003_Econ 2.0 Fullpage Ad_180918_AW.indd 1 MW_011018_000_Econsultancy_FP_dis.indd 31

29/11/2019 18/09/2018 15:56 15:23 25/09/2018 11:52

RETHINKING Innovation

BY CHARLOTTE ROGERS

I N A RAPIDLY CHANG I N G W O RLD, T HE F U T U RE O F I N N OVAT ION IS HARD TO PIN DOW N BU T AGI LI T Y, S U STA I N A BI LI T Y A N D THOUGHT F ULNESS LO O K S E T TO BE T HE HA LLMA RK S O F S U C C ESS 26 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_The future of innovation_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 26

25/03/2020 15:08

n times of crisis, innovation is needed more than ever. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic growing in severity, is it a time for brands to refocus energy and shift to a more thoughtful mode of innovation?

Data shows that the spread of the virus is causing marketers to rethink planned product launches. More than half (55%) of UK marketers have paused product or service launches as fears about the impact of the pandemic build, according to an exclusive survey of 887 UK brand marketers conducted by Marketing Week and its sister title Econsultancy.

As companies rethink product pipelines, brands from BrewDog to Zara are using their innovation capabilities to create new products intended to fight the spread of Covid-19.

The Scottish brewer is using its distilleries to make hand sanitiser, which is being given away for free by charities to those in need. Sanitiser products are also being developed by gin makers Verdant Spirits and 58 Gin, while luxury fashion house LVMH has switched production at three of its perfume and cosmetics factories to produce hand sanitiser.

Zara-owner Inditex is experimenting with converting part of its textile manufacturing capacity in Spain to produce hospital gowns for use in the medical emergency.

The ability of brands to pivot, at a time when the news agenda is evolving hour by hour, is the result of a wider movement over the past year towards more thoughtful innovation.

Last summer, alcoholic beverages company Diageo explained that it was engaging in less innovation than three or four years ago owing to the strength of ideas in its pipeline, which allows the company to be more “choiceful”.

Global head of innovation, Michael Ward, leads Diageo’s team of 150-plus innovators across research and development, finance, marketing, commercial and supply chain.

He believes marketers should think like cultural anthropologists and use sensory science, backed up with insight, to understand how consumer trends will evolve in both the near- and long-term.

“We’re focused on driving sustainable innovation – strengthening the big brands of today and seeding those of tomorrow,” says Ward.

“We put the consumer at the heart of everything we do, so we’re not only looking for great innovation ideas that match up with insight, but we’re looking to develop the

I

“The number of different innovation projects is definitely slowing down. People are then pouring a bit more money into fewer things” Phil Kohler, Aviva

standout ideas that have real energy and magic, where we can shape something special.”

This switch to sustainable innovation has been experienced by former director of propositions, innovation, customer experience and insight at Aviva, Phil Kohler. Businesses, he says, have learnt the lesson that throwing lots of darts at the wall doesn’t necessarily guarantee a bullseye.

The days of brands thinking the grass is always greener in another market, and believing they can turn it into a cash cow, are over. Instead, innovation that is focused on the core business will offer the best returns.

“The number of different innovation projects is definitely slowing down. People are then pouring a bit more money into fewer things,” Kohler explains.

“In total, we are probably spending a bit less but the moves people make tend to be a bit more considered and slightly bigger bets, rather than, ‘Let’s throw a thousand things out there and hope one takes off’. That lottery ticket approach has burnt through quite a lot of money and time. People are being a lot more thoughtful about where they want to innovate and it’s more closely tied to their core business.”

jump on the bandwagon,” she says. “I would like to see a bit less of that and a bit more of things that are based on core values and beliefs, and are going to be better for us as consumers and better for the planet.”

The future for innovation in food and grocery is bright, but the industry needs to learn from the tech sector, Lazarevska adds.

Grocers could, for example, learn from the way tech companies typically release apps on a small scale when they are three-quarters ready and then make tweaks before embarking on a wide-scale release.

Sainsbury’s has adopted this strategy with its Taste of the Future initiative, which last year saw 11 early-stage brands given a 14-week listing across 70 stores. From this trial, snacking brand Made for Drink, a range of chorizo thins designed to be paired with alcohol, resonated with customers and was given a full listing at Sainsbury’s.

When making selections, the Future Brands team looks for a distinctive concept that will stand out on shelf, resonate with a wide variety of customers and is aligned to the company’s commitment to become net carbon zero by 2040.

To date, more than half of Sainsbury’s shoppers have bought a Future Brand across the portfolio of 120. Whenever a product is listed, the team analyses the sales and customer data to determine if it is attracting a new type of customer, or perhaps an incremental customer who did not previously shop the category.

There is no set timing given to determine if a product is a success and the team tries to give it a “fair amount of time”, Lazarevska explains.

“The concept of fairness is subjective, but we speak to the brands quite frequently and we’re very open with them,” she says. “We have limited resources, so we try to identify winners early and then double-down on them and make them available to more of our customers.”

FORGET COPYCAT INNOVATION As the approach becomes more thoughtful, brands are being forced to think about the purpose of their innovation and avoid any unnecessary jumping on bandwagons.

Sainsbury’s Future Brands team nurtures new brands in categories from grocery and drinks to cosmetics and gifting, offering them the chance to be stocked in the supermarket on an exclusive basis. Over the past 18 months, the team has been contacted by more than 800 brands, although not all of these ideas hit the mark, explains Milena Lazarevska, who heads up the team.

“There is a lot of innovation that is just a ‘me too’; because something is a trend let’s APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 27

Ed_The future of innovation_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 27

25/03/2020 15:08

RECRUIT AND DISRUPT When it comes to new product development, Unilever says it gets the biggest bang for its buck when it brings together high-quality innovation with purpose-led brand communications.

In January, CEO Alan Jope said the FMCG giant wants to focus on new products that drive growth at a total category level, which means being more decisive on which innovations to prioritise and reducing its focus on smaller projects.

Currently, about a third of Unilever innovations are successful, a third the company walks away from and the final third need a pivot to see if they can be successful.

Jope says that after 100 days the team knows with a high level of certainty which are the winners to back and where to cut their losses.

At Diageo, innovation is viewed in three ways: recruit, re-recruit or disrupt. While the expectation is that ‘disrupt ideas’ will require DIAGEO TEAMED UP WITH HBO ON LIMITED EDITION JOHNNIE WALKER WHISKY

more of a test-and-learn approach to understand the opportunity, increasingly the focus is on ‘recruit innovations’ grounded in strong consumer insight, that leverage partnerships to attract new customers.

Last year, for example, Diageo launched Johnnie Walker A Song of Fire and A Song of Ice whisky varieties in partnership with HBO’s Game of Thrones series. By scanning a QR code and pointing their phone at the limitededition bottle, consumers were able to see either a dire wolf or a fire-breathing dragon using AR tech. Ward credits the partnership with HBO for helping open up scotch to a whole new audience.

At PepsiCo Europe, future success will be driven by a “dynamic and iterative innovation process”, according to senior director of Future Brands, Karen Scott.

This means pivoting much faster than traditional processes would permit, launching concepts earlier and then evolving

“We are flexing our approach to focus on earlier launches – testing and learning once live – rather than opting for a big bang launch at the start” Karen Scott, PepsiCo

the products to make them more appealing to customers.

Scott’s team focuses on emerging trends in the food and drink categories, nurturing the new propositions and turning them into viable brands. Tech is used to monitor both traditional and social media, blogs, message boards, restaurant recipes and review sites for key trends, enabling the marketers to take a more proactive role in early trend detection and to test new markets faster.

This approach helped identify kombucha as an on-trend beverage category, which led to the launch of the Kevita brand across seven markets in 2019.

The consumer shift towards conscious consumption, natural ingredients and low-sugar products informed the development of Bombay Bramble, a vapour-distilled gin with natural berries, released in March by Bacardi-owned Bombay Sapphire.

Vice-president of global marketing, Victoria Morris, believes it is vitally important not to “do innovation for innovation’s sake” and instead to be obsessed with meeting consumers’ unmet needs.

The brand works to a five-year innovation pipeline, which is constantly evolving in line with new consumer trends. During the development of Bombay Bramble, for instance, the team tested a number of different flavours before settling on blackberries and raspberries.

“We looked at how we could maximise a flavour that was relevant to consumers and how we could recruit new consumers coming into the category, which we know is happening through flavoured gin,” Morris states.

“The flavour is also popular with our existing consumers because we’re giving them a new experience with a naturally flavoured gin, which is low sugar.”

28 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_The future of innovation_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 28

25/03/2020 15:08

THE NEW RANGE OF INNOCENT SHOTS SET TO HIT SHELVES IN MAY

SUSTAINABLE AMBITION Aside from agility and relevance, future innovation will need to take into account sustainability as brands seek to address the climate emergency.

Last year, PepsiCo introduced Sustainable from the Start, a programme designed to help all product development teams consider the environmental impact of their decisions from concept to launch.

Each new product is now designed with the carbon, water and packaging impact in mind, with the team using a series of tools to estimate the environmental footprint of every product under development.

“Innovation has to be thoughtful but that doesn’t necessarily mean we will reduce the number of innovations we launch, just that we won’t continue with them all past the early phases,” says Scott.

“We are flexing our approach to focus on earlier launches – testing and learning once live – rather than opting for a big bang launch at the start. It’s more about staying agile and passing several phases of green lights.”

“We have always been an innovation-led company; so if we see an insight that’s resonating, or an unmet need, that’s a very exciting area for us to look at” Joe Spence, Innocent

The Future Brands team at PepsiCo starts with a consumer immersion phase.

When developing veggie snack Off the Eaten Path, the team immersed itself in the world of plant-based diets by observing how consumers and experts cooked and shopped.

A number of initial minimum viable options were developed, quickly progressing the best propositions to the next stage.

PepsiCo collaborates with retail and ecommerce customers through these early phases, ensuring decisions are made at pace.

“Our ambition is to create and test lots of ideas, but then recognise quickly where we need to stop, pivot or proceed. Before we start, we ensure we have clear line of sight in terms of what it will take to succeed and what the specific challenges will be,” Scott explains.

“At this stage some don’t make the cut.

For those that do, the most critical early question is whether the proposition is working from a consumer desirability and distinction point of view; if consumers aren’t attracted to it, there is no point proceeding.”

She explains that while PepsiCo is still testing lots of concepts, the difference now is they are testing earlier and driving attrition where needed, which means the scaling of products is much more focused.

Sustainability was right at the heart of the development process for Shots, Innocent’s new range of shot-sized juices. Head of innovation, Joe Spence, explains that Innocent has always been focused on “thoughtful innovation” and spotting new trends that meet genuine consumer needs.

As Innocent expands from smoothies to juices, milks and now juice shots, success is judged on drinkers’ reactions and the propensity for repurchase.

“We have always been an innovation-led company and proud to be; so if we see an insight that’s resonating, or an unmet need, that’s a very exciting area for us to look at,” says Spence. “We’ve always been about thoughtful innovation and working in what we believe are the right areas.”

As consumer trends rapidly shift in an uncertain world, the brands set up to move quickly and zero-in on the innovation that really matters and stand to make the best gains. From utilising tech and being sustainably focused, to shedding the grass is greener mentality, the future of innovation is set to be more thoughtful than ever.

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 29

Ed_The future of innovation_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 29

25/03/2020 15:08

INTERVIEW

BY CHARLOTTE ROGERS

When the vision sold in a job interview is nothing like the reality, how do marketers know when to stay and make their mark or cut their losses and walk away?

he interview goes well and you land the job. The CEO is convinced you’re the best person for the role and you’re fired up for the new challenge. You might not have talked budgets or got under the hood of the finances, but nothing could go wrong, right? Or, have you, in fact, been sold a lie?

Marketers too often get sold a strategy, but end up with an execution, says System1 Group CMO and former BrewDog CMO, Jon Evans.

“The reason to hire a CMO is usually because you’ve got a big strategic problem, you need to drive growth and become more innovative, or reposition the brand. That’s what the connotation would be in the interview,” he explains.

“What often happens in reality is ‘Deliver me a Q1 plan that drives growth of 3%’. The trap is that you’re hired for your thinking and strategy, but very quickly you discover what you are being asked to do is execute an existing plan.”

While it’s natural for both parties to oversell themselves during the interview, Evans believes it is really company culture – and the internal constraints this breeds – that determines whether any of these promises are even possible. Doing due diligence on the company culture first can help.

“You could find out on LinkedIn who has recently left and who might be able to give you a no-holds-barred insight into how decisions actually get made,” he suggests. “Who holds the power to make the decision is typically what drives company culture.”

Once past the ‘selling’ part of the interview, former Boden chief customer officer Gav Thompson advises CMOs to actively encourage the CEO to talk them out of the job.

“Get to that final stage where you say, ‘Let’s assume I’ve got the job and have an honest conversation about whether I am the right fit.

T

I’m clearly a competent CMO and on paper I can do what you want me to do. But what’s really going on here?’,” Thompson advises.

Achieving this level of honesty can tease out the real issues affecting the business before signing on the dotted line, although the importance of gut feel should not be underestimated.

“With all of my jobs where it hasn’t worked out, there was an element of doubt at that early stage. If I’d paused, I probably could have reflected that I was either being oversold something or I was overselling myself and I wasn’t the right person for that job. It’s a classic act in haste, repent at leisure situation,” Thompson explains.

Passionbrand founder and Marketing Week columnist Helen Edwards understands why CMOs might latch onto the excitement of an opportunity presented in an interview. It is essential, however, not to fall into the trap of being cast as the saviour.

“If a business is finding things difficult or looking for the next stage of growth, the role of marketing can be seen as the golden ticket. And yet, often when the marketer comes in they are not given the tools or the power to be able to do that, because the CEO doesn’t really want it or there’s a cultutal problem that isn’t going to allow them to do it,” Edwards notes.

mentality, marketers often have to work hard to get the business onside.

However, Evans believes CMOs have a “beautiful window” when they start in a new business to see it like it really is and make

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING Once committed to the position, reality can start to bite. Whether that’s having to manage a far smaller budget than initially promised or a short-term target-driven

30 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed - What marketers are promised_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 30

25/03/2020 14:47

W

REALITY

some important decisions before they get drawn into internal politics.

“That’s one regret I’ve had in my career, that I’ve tended to say, ‘Let’s sit back and learn first and then make the tough decisions’,” he explains. “You’ve got a window in the beginning of a role where you can make a tough decision and be forgiven for it. It becomes much harder later on.”

Marketers should prioritise getting the basics sorted first because it shows they know their craft and gets the team behind them, as

they’re not needlessly trashing everything that has gone before, says Edwards. “It’s less high-profile, but when I’ve seen it done well – and you can do it pretty fast – it allows the business to build up a base of trust that that person actually does know what they’re doing,” she explains.

“Once you’ve got that base level of trust, when you say, ‘Now we need to do some stuff that might be a bit riskier’ or, ‘I’d like to question some sacred cows in the way we approach this business’, it gives you the trust, skill and expertise to be able to do that.”

Thompson suggests marketers should kick off their first team meeting by explaining the reasons they joined the business, why they think they’ll succeed and what their concerns are. Then it’s about laying out a roadmap with the key milestones and asking everyone to share their problems.

“Explain that you don’t have a magic wand. It’s not, ‘Right guys I’ve got this, I’ll see you in three or six months when I’ve cracked this.’ It’s all about taking everyone on the journey,” he advises.

“When it goes wrong is when you disappear off into some dark corner, with your head under a towel. That’s when you get into this ‘CMO as magician’ territory, which never works.”

WALKING AWAY Having attempted to build momentum behind your vision, negotiate the relationship with the top team and uncover the cracks in the business strategy. Often the key is knowing when to move on to the next challenge.

There are three questions a marketer should ask, says Thompson: Has the trust gone? Is the opportunity not what was described? And do you still have 100% commitment?

“If the trust has gone and the opportunity is not what you thought it was, your commitment will go and the whole thing will unravel,” he argues. “To lead a team and not be 100% committed is very hard and you’ll ultimately fail.”

“You’ve got a window in the beginning of a role where you can make a tough decision and be forgiven for it” Jon Evans, System1 Group

While Thompson says marketers should not get drawn into a blame game or castigate themselves if a role doesn’t work out, former Domino’s CMO Emily Somers acknowledges that marketers often put too much pressure on themselves to manage the story for their CV. “People think, ‘If I left within that period of time it would look too suspicious and people would question me’,” she states.

“Actually, people look rather favourably on those who have taken control of their own destiny and got out while the going is good and with their heads held high, rather than forcing themselves to stay for an acceptable amount of time. You come out so much more scarred than if you get out before it starts to ruin you.”

With not that many top jobs at big brands available, it can be tempting to push away inner doubt, thinking that the situation can be fixed.

Therefore, being able to understand up front whether the culture is a good fit would save a lot of soul-searching further down the line.

“Working out whether you are able to be your creative, authentic self in that organisation at interview stage is possible if you push it and don’t be fobbed off by HR,” Somers advises. “Try to ask people who have experience within that organisation and don’t try to fill in the blanks because you feel like you’ll make a difference.”

With future marketing careers set to be long and diverse, finding out if you are a cultural fit for an organisation will become more important. If the gamble doesn’t pay off, get out before the relationship sours and take your learnings to the next role, with your head held high.

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 31

Ed - What marketers are promised_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 31

25/03/2020 14:48

A business model that finally clicks

BY MATT BARKER

FAR FROM REACHING ‘ PE A K S U BS CRI PT I O N ’, S ERV I CES T HAT C R E AT E A FEELING OF VALUE-ADD E D ME MBERS HI P A N D TA P I N TO T HE T R E N DS IN CONT EM PORARY CULT U RE A RE HE A D I N G FO R A BRI GHT F UT UR E he subscription economy is a big part of our everyday lives. From Netflix to Dollar Shave Club, Glossybox to The Athletic, subscriptions are fast becoming the dominant model by which we consume, engage and socialise.

Whether it’s simply a newsletter, streaming service or food delivery, we have a long list of log-ins and passwords as our increasingly cashless society becomes more reliant on smart tech and apps.

Of course, subscribing to content is nothing new. Back in print’s heyday, taking out an

T

“You can barely find an app that doesn’t require you to do some kind of transaction if you want to get real value” Dan Ziv, Touchnote

annual subscription to a magazine or daily newspaper was a big commitment. Now there has been a marked shift, particularly among the millennial generation, to prize experience over ownership.

It’s an ideal that encompasses everything from weekend breaks to designer handbags, with subscriptions becoming a key part of the concept - only now more fluid and user-friendly.

Ceanne Fernandes-Wong is CEO and co-founder of Cocoon, a handbag subscription service launched last year. Customers pay £99

32 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Future of subscriptions_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 32

25/03/2020 11:20

a month to borrow a handbag of their choice from the collection. Cocoon styles itself as a members’ club and cultivates a sense of belonging that is at the heart of the brand.

“At the moment we have a lot of really linear business models and not enough circular business models,” Fernandes-Wong explains. “The goal was to take a very beta idea and really get us ready to go to market, to oversee all the business activities. We wanted to be a one-product category business.”

The traditional notions of luxury and exclusivity have been reappraised and redefined for a younger market that has never quite got on board with the idea of breaking the bank for a handbag.

Luxury these days is as much about reclaiming and sharing as it is about buying. In the US, subscription services like the recently launched Seasons, which caters for the notoriously obsessive streetwear market, allows members to borrow three items from a selection of styles, for a monthly fee.

While Cocoon will continue to focus solely on handbags, Fernandes-Wong denies that it is a niche subscription service; its products are a vital part of a woman’s wardrobe, she asserts.

“I’m not advocating excess. I’m saying that this is part of the circular economy. This is about a handbag that can be used by multiple people, so therefore the use of it should be multiple,” she states. “The fact that we’re a subscription model rather than rental means that people are making a commitment to a more sustainable way of living.”

CREATE A NICHE The key to subscription success could be driven by learning lessons from the past and finding a niche people are willing to pay to access.

Launched in 2000, Rock’s Backpages (RBP) is an online archive of music journalism from the 50s to the present day, with nearly 40,000 articles and audio materials sourced from NME, Melody Maker, Rolling Stone, Creem and myriad others.

The site was originally envisaged as a consumer subscription platform, priced at £5.99 a month. However, initial reluctance among people to pay for content was one of the reasons why RBP ended up going down the academic route, with universities and colleges paying annual subscriptions for students at premium rates.

“We learned pretty quickly that it didn’t matter what the price was, people weren’t willing to pay,” says editorial director Barney Hoskyns. “That was the sad thing about the early dotcom period, people were just trying to get numbers so everything became free. It undermined any notion of content value online.”

HANDBAG SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE COCOON CHARGES £99 PER MONTH FOR THE RENTAL OF A LUXURY BAG

As a result of the early music-streaming companies such as Napster, a generation of people came to the world of music consumption believing there was a “massive vat of goodies” they could help themselves to for free, says Hoskyns, and the sector is still living with the consequences.

Sponsorship opportunities are limited because of potential conflicts with the academic world. However, RBP retains some consumer elements such as a regular podcast, featuring guests and snippets of archive audio interviews, which helps with brand building and directing people to the site.

Renewal rates are high and the site also licenses and syndicates articles from its ever-expanding team of writers.

“It’s important social history,” says Hoskyns, whose music journalism career stretches nearly 40 years. “RBP is about preserving the primary source of content around popular music and about providing the original context from which popular music arose.”

FORGET FATIGUE Ultimately, subscriptions are now about providing convenience to the lives of digital consumers. Whether we make an immediate payment or not, we’re accustomed to filling out forms and handing over our data anytime we download an app.

Touchnote – described by CEO Dan Ziv as “Instagramming for real life” – launched in 2008 as a personalised cards platform. The service became subscription-based in 2018, with a tiered system of memberships starting at £4.99 a month. The notable shift in consumer behaviour made it the right time to adapt the business model.

“The subscription economy really formed in the world of mobile apps only five or six years ago in earnest,” Ziv explains.

“At the moment we have a lot of really linear business models and not enough circular business models” Ceanne Fernandes-Wong, Cocoon

“When we launched in 2008, it was pre-Uber and people weren’t used to putting credit card [details] in an app. Today, you can barely find an app that doesn’t require you to do some kind of transaction if you want to get real value.

“The quality of the services has just exploded, but they all require a fee. With that has come a wave of subscription services, ones that reward people for their loyalty.”

Providing that level of quality service tailored to individual consumer expectations is the only way to develop loyalty with consumers who are accustomed to opting out and cancelling their relationships with brands without a second thought.

“I think that the concept of subscription services is going to become second nature to the average household,” says Ziv, who remains unfazed by the thought of customer churn. “I think that’s a great development, it’s definitely new. Being able to opt out is a really important part of what we do.”

Equally, the idea of reaching peak subscription is far from being a concern. Ziv insists that wider society is “very far away” from subscription fatigue.

“It would almost be like talking about ecommerce fatigue,” he adds.

APRIL 2020 MARKETINGWEEK.COM 33

Ed_Future of subscriptions_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 33

25/03/2020 11:20

3

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Questions I wish I had asked

BY ELLEN HAMMETT

W

ear bright colours, don’t be afraid to say what you think, sit at the table: Facebook’s vice president of global business and customer marketing, Michelle Klein, has been given a lot of advice throughout her career.

From being a travel writer at the Sydney Morning Herald to marketing at global brands like Diageo, Klein has sat at the full suite of tables during her career in innovation and communications.

Now, sat at arguably one of the biggest tables in marketing courtesy of her role at Facebook, and with the benefit of years of experience, Klein urges young marketers to have the confidence to challenge received wisdom and strengthen their critical thinking.

Am I just summarising 1. am everyone else’s opinions or I bold enough to say what I really think?

MICHELLE KLEIN MAY HAVE A SEAT AT FACEBOOK’S TOP TABLE, BUT THERE ARE STILL QUESTIONS SHE BELIEVES SHE COULD HAVE ASKED SOONER THAT WOULD HAVE BENEFITED HER MARKETING CAREER

A while ago, Klein remembers thinking she was doing a great job in marketing for a global brand, until a question from a senior leader reframed her perspective.

“It [the job] involved very senior opinions from around the world, leaders wanting to evaluate every frame of a TV ad, every shot that we had in the can and one of my leaders said to me: ‘You’re really good at what you do, but what you’re doing is just summarising everyone else’s opinions’,” Klein recalls. “‘You’re taking great notes and you’re just sending them out there and not telling people what you really think. What do you think?’ It was such a wake-up call for me and I was so glad he gave me that advice at that point in my career. I wish I’d had it sooner.”

Now, Klein would encourage any marketer to put their pen down for a moment, listen, think, process the information they have and then – even though it can be hard to do – have the confidence to disagree. “Diverse opinions and pushing the conversation is what makes ideas and work so much better,” she says.

Do any of us truly understand 2. plays the role this product/idea in people’s lives around

“Introduce yourself, shake people’s hands, sit at a powerful seat in the room”

As a marketer, Klein says it is crucially important to think about how an idea might work outside a particular city or media bubble.

“Great ideas are born from true consumer insight, but often the idea will evolve through the creative process and sometimes we forget about the role it might play in people’s lives outside of Madison Avenue, in a country where resources or circumstances are different,”

“Inviting the challenge in and exploring it from a different perspective, and being bold enough to say ‘I’m going to present that alternative point of view’ rather than just building on what someone else said. If you feel confident to really express that it makes the diversity of thought better.”

the world?

34 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_3 questions_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 34

24/03/2020 10:04

Klein says. “As marketers, are we able to adapt rapidly in an ever-changing environment to really have meaning in people’s lives?”

This means asking questions about ethnographic relevance and market emergence, as well as getting out of headquarters and being with consumers in the markets and places where they are consuming the product and idea.

Klein says asking these sorts of questions will help build understanding and relevance, and ultimately make the product or idea stronger.

am I the only woman in 3. Why this room?

In her earlier years, Klein says she would often look around and realise she was the only woman in the room or on the video conference.

“That can be an extremely overwhelming feeling, not just for women but for any underrepresented people who might feel like they’re the only person who may be different and therefore not have the confidence to speak up or to say what they really think,” she states.

Klein now gives the advice she was once given: walk into a room and announce yourself. Introduce yourself, shake people’s hands, sit at a powerful seat in the room. “I often see a lot of women in my own team take the back row or sit on the floor when there aren’t enough seats,” she explains.

To counter this, Klein will ask them to get a chair from another room to ensure all her female colleagues actually have a seat at the table.

“Even if you have nothing to contribute to the conversation and you’re just in listening mode, sitting on the floor or the back of the

room is truly not an option and it plays into that stereotype,” she says.

Klein also believes in keeping an ongoing list of questions to help build critical thinking skills.

She describes these as questions others might not be thinking about because they’re deep in the detail, but which would elevate the conversation and set you up as a strategic thought leader.

“I often hear really senior executives ask really smart, open questions where they don’t have to be the subject matter experts in how they ask the questions, but they’re demonstrating critical thinking,” she adds.

“If you keep a track of those questions over the years they will be powerful tools in meetings when you can truly have your voice heard, or you can at least contribute to the dialogue, even if you’re not a subject matter expert.”

AUG AU PR S IT L 22001 2 7 0M M AR AK RE K TE ITNI N GG WW E EE K E .KC. O CO MM D 35

Ed_3 questions_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 35

24/03/2020 10:04

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

STORY OF MY CV

James Eadie

FIVE YEARS OF ‘BOY’S OWN ADVENTURES’ WITH THE ARMY PROVED GOOD TRAINING FOR A CAREER IN MARKETING, SAYS BRAND MARKETING DIRECTOR EMEA AT WEB DOMAIN COMPANY GODADDY, JAMES EADIE

BY MATTHEW VALENTINE

n Oxford University degree in Physics and a short service commission as a captain in the Army may not be a conventional route into marketing. But James Eadie says that both these formative experiences taught him lessons about the importance of rigour, curiosity and creative problem-solving that have served him well ever since.

Studying Physics required the ability to gain a deep understanding of data, draw conclusions and create models which explained that data.

“That is pretty relevant to marketing.

Actually it has become more relevant, because of the depth of insight, data and analytics,” Eadie explains.

After his degree he entered the Army, taking on a specialist Arctic warfare role, which required a lot of time spent in Norway.

On deciding to leave military life, Eadie was attracted to a career in marketing. He landed a brand manager role at Procter & Gamble and once on the ground was surprised by the similarities with the Army.

A

“You are surrounded by a lot of young, energetic people from all different skillsets, and both organisations like to delegate a lot of responsibility to junior leaders early on,” he says.

“Also, both are organisations that only promote from within. The guy running the Army and the guy running Procter & Gamble both started at those organisations.”

From FMCG Eadie moved into the dotcom world, before arriving at Coca Cola where he became the brand’s Olympic portfolio director for London 2012.

Next came a switch into electronics at Samsung and the opportunity to marry technology with emotion, before Eadie began working with small businesses at web domain site GoDaddy.

Now he believes, in a rapidly changing world, flexible thinking is vital. “The trick is always understanding those evergreen fundamentals,” says Eadie.

“The way in which you take those to market will change, but if you are laser-focused on fundamental consumer motivations and storytelling - that is key.”

1994-2000

2000-2001

VARIOUS ROLES

MANAGING DIRECTOR

PROCTER & GAMBLE

Procter & Gamble The right place, right time “One really good bit of advice I got early on was to work for a company where your role is a lead function.

“If you are going to work in marketing, work in a marketing-led company. P&G really ticked the box.

“I got into the nascent digital marketing world.

We were looking at ways to communicate across brands within our portfolio. We knew everything about the skincare consumer, or the haircare consumer, but we didn’t always bring those together as one person.

“I became a founder member of the European Interactive Marketing Group [a P&G internal function]. Five of us moved over to Brussels to define what digital marketing was going to look like in the future for P&G.”

NETARGET, UK

Netarget Internet 1.0 “For anyone working in the internet that first time around it really felt like anything was possible.

My job was to set up the UK business.

I had to learn pretty fast – find offices, build a team and worry about everything from the photocopier to sourcing customers.

“Then we hit the dotcom downturn. The funding wasn’t there and while the business was still going, I felt it was time to get back to working in my first love – consumer marketing.”

36 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Story of my CV_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 36

24/03/2020 10:09

GoDaddy Future economies “The future of the global economy, I believe, is going to be driven by entrepreneurs and small businesses. The opportunity to give them the tools to succeed online is a huge one. The whole territory of cloud-based services and the opportunity to target micro-businesses in a way that hasn’t really been a part of mainstream marketing discussions ticked the box as a fresh challenge.”

2001-2004

VARIOUS ROLES COCA-COLA

2018- PRESENT

2014-2018

BRAND AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS

Coca-Cola Olympic ambition “I started out as marketing manager for Coca-Cola in the UK, working across a whole raft of sponsorship properties.

“Then, somewhat surprisingly, London bid for the 2012 Olympics. I ended up becoming responsible for marketing around the 2012 Games from a Coca-Cola perspective, which was a fantastic experience.

“As Coke had been a sponsor of the Olympics since 1928, you had a deep-rooted understanding of what the evergreen elements of an Olympic activation look like. That being said, 2012 was nuts. There were very few weekends, but it was hugely enjoyable and a great challenge.”

BRAND MARKETING DIRECTOR EMEA GODADDY

Samsung Electronics Technology and emotion “The opportunity to work at Samsung came along and it felt like a good blend of the technology sector, plus the need for strong emotional consumer understanding.

“It was also my first foray into an organisation that wasn’t out-and-out marketing-led. As a business it was very much engineering-led, with a desire for relentless innovation, year after year.

“That is very much the mindset: keep challenging, keep pushing, keep inventing. Samsung’s pipeline of innovation, across all categories, speaks for itself.”

AUG AU PR S IT L 22001 2 7 0M M AR AK RE K TE ITNI N GG WW E EE K E .KC. O CO MM D 37

Ed_Story of my CV_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 37

24/03/2020 10:10

BY ELLEN HAMMETT

Wonderbra’s ‘Hello Boys’ campaign from 1994 is considered one of the most iconic ads of all time.

But it almost didn’t happen – until Eva Herzigová walked into the room

I

t’s 1994, and Wonderbra is on the verge of canning a campaign that would go on to become one of the most iconic ads of all time.

The battle for the Great British cleavage is raging and there are two main protagonists: the Playtex-owned Wonderbra and its arch rival the Gossard Ultrabra.

Gossard is considered the much sexier brand and Wonderbra is in danger of being seen as ‘old hat’.

Then Eva Herzigová walks into the room and Wonderbra is about to become very famous. “[‘Hello Boys’] was the catalyst to everything,” says Playtex’s then sales director, Ken Campbell.

“You can have good product, but it’s always about getting product to the consumer, how a consumer finds your product and engages with it. We had a vision of how we could take a style and make it into a global phenomenon brand. That’s what we did. Wonderbra became the generic and that’s when you know the strength of a brand.”

Integral to the success of the campaign was the media spend, most of which was put on women’s magazines and billboards alongside motorways and transport networks. The gigantic black and white posters of Herzigová in her underwear drove the nation into a frenzy and, so the rumours go, motorists into each other. “People thought it was a masterful execution,”

Campbell says. “Striking visual, simple headline. It stopped people in the streets.”

The campaign was still in the news three months later and the brand was selling more than 7,000 more Wonderbras per week than in 1993 when the bra had supposedly reached the height of its success.

With a modest marketing budget of £130,000, Wonderbra had somehow managed to create a campaign with an estimated value of £18m.

The brand then took Hello Boys and Herzigová to the US, which is when Wonderbra really started to cause “global fever”, Campbell says.

DIFFERENT ERA Nigel Rose, who was working for Wonderbra’s creative agency TBWA at the time, says he shut himself in his room and worked solidly for around two weeks, before emerging with 15 or 20 poster ideas to pitch to the client.

“I was very conscious of the criticism that we could be in for if we didn’t get it right; the tone of voice had to be right,” Rose recalls.

“I felt the way to do this would be to make it fun for a start, and secondly make sure that the words were in the first person – coming from whoever the woman modelling the Wonderbra was going to be.”

While it is known as Wonderbra’s Hello

Boys campaign, the campaign launched with three lines: ‘Hello Boys’, ‘Or are you just pleased to see me?’ and ‘Look me in the eyes and tell me that you love me’.

“It’s nice that people liked it, but at the end of the day, if it’s not effective you’re pissing in the wind and you might as well stand in the street and pour money down the drain and get it filmed,” Rose says.

Hello Boys was so effective it went on to win Wonderbra a highly coveted IPA Effectiveness Award that same year. So does Campbell think the campaign would have the same success today?

“It’s a different era,” he says. “It was a very sexy campaign and it could be viewed that it was how a lady wanted to look, dress and get a reaction from the opposite sex.

That’s not in vogue now.

“Everything was right about that campaign at that point in time. That’s the key as well. You adapt to what the market is at that point in time.”

Wonderbra relaunched the campaign in 2018, updating the key line with ‘Hello Me’ to represent its new brand positioning around female self-empowerment.

It was a firm nod to the effectiveness of the campaign that propelled Wonderbra into the global spotlight.

But, as Campbell notes, while Hello Boys was right at the time, it is unlikely the original campaign would be met with the same enthusiasm in 2020 – not least because of more stringent advertising rules.

“There was a stage when all publicity was good publicity,” Campbell concludes. “There were jokes it could cause serious accidents, but that whole thing just gave more press to it. It just added to the whole excitement and story behind the brand. We certainly don’t think that was a disadvantage, but times have changed.”

38 MARKETINGWEEK.COM APRIL 2020

Ed_Inside Story_MW April 2020_Marketing Week 38

25/03/2020 15:03

jobs.marketingweek.com

Whatever your recruitment your perfect match All Marketing Week subscribers get 40% off recruitment advertising this Winter.

Quote SUB40 when booking.

Advertise with us jobadvertising@centaurmedia.com +44 (0) 20 7970 4609 Jobs_MW

MW_011219_00_Jobs_FP.indd MW Jobs_09751 Ads AW.indd 21

Marketing Week Jobs

29/11/2019 20/08/2019 15:42 17:27

FIRST 2020 SPEAKERS REVEALED

Annabel Venner

GLOBAL BRAND DIRECTOR AND PARTNER, HISCOX

Vasileios Kourakis GLOBAL DIRECTOR ROI, L’OREAL

Tamara Pickett

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, VIRGIN

2020 speakers

+ More!

The Festival of Marketing brings together an unrivalled line-up of leading marketing minds to share their skills, insights, strategy and inspiration to guide you through your next big projects.

It gets better: as a Marketing Week subscriber, you can save £350 on your Festival Pass using code FOMMW895.

BUY A PASS FESTIVALOFMARKETING.COM/MW

FOM20_09959_ FOM 2020_Adevrt_Design_Design-Week_size-300-225.indd 1

20/02/2020 14:41