10 ways to boost your brand’s advertising effectiveness
At the Festival of Marketing 2024 last week, Mark Ritson, the outspoken marketing professor and brand consultant, delivered a powerful talk on advertising effectiveness.
His message was clear: in today's world of marketing, never has effectiveness been more prevalent or pertinent. And he was at pains to point out the emphasis here is on advertising, not marketing, effectiveness - a key but important distinction for marketers. .
This is a 10-point playbook to demonstrate what he means:
1. The Briefing: The foundation of effective advertising
A staggering 78% of clients believe their briefs are clear, while only 5% of agencies agree. This disconnect highlights the crucial need for better briefs. A well-crafted brief is the bedrock of any successful advertising campaign.
Marketers could consider partnering with organisations to refine their briefing process and ensure alignment between your vision and what you want your agency to execute.
At The Behaviours Agency, we collaborate with our client partners to help them navigate from the business/marketing challenge to get to an agency brief. This ensures alignment right from start, and also ensures a partnership is started with shared goals.
2. Budgeting: Start from zero, focus on ROI
Ritson advocates for a zero-based budgeting approach.
In other words start from zero, nothing. Define SMART objectives, determine the required investment, and estimate the incremental return.
This ROI-driven approach ensures that every pound spent works towards achieving tangible goals.
3. Long and Short: A balanced approach
The seminal work from Binet and Field is not simply about long-term versus short-term spending.
Long-term strategies focus on brand building, emotional engagement, and consistent messaging. Short-term tactics prioritise immediate sales, rational appeals, and multiple campaigns.
But always remember: long drives short.
In addition, System1 research shows that performance marketing alone fails to deliver sustainable brand and sales growth.
4. Media: Diversify for maximum impact
There's no single "best" channel. However much marketers (and CFOs) want there to be.
The optimal mix of media is also not exact science.
Sounds blindingly obvious, but media mix depends on your objectives, the positioning of your brand, and the desired outcomes. If anyone tells you differently, they are trying to sell you a specific media channel because they get a fat commission (or a nice lunch) off the back of it.
Ritson says it straight: blending media consistently leads to more effective advertising.
5. Brand Codes: The key to recognition and memorability
Distinctive brand assets (DBAs) are crucial for ad recall and attribution.
Think about Cartier's panther or their consistent use of a red box.
It’s worth noting that ads are created differently from how they are consumed. Marketers and creatives stress over every last element to perfect their ad. Consumers give it a nanosecond of attention compared to this.
So don't get bored with your assets!
Strive for visual and verbal consistency across all campaigns and all channels, to reinforce brand identity and optimise effectiveness.
6. Creativity: The X-Factor in advertising
While the big brands have an inherent advantage in terms of ad effectiveness, thanks to recognisability - the biggest driver of effectiveness.
But this doesn't mean that less well known brands can’t make effective advertising, because creativity is the next most significant driver of effectiveness, regardless of the channel.
For marketers, this means investing in compelling creative that truly resonates with your target audience. It’s not creative for creative’s sake. It’s just creative that stirs a reaction. Which brings me on to emotion.
7. Emotion: The power of feeling
It’s very well known that emotional ads trump rational ads for effectiveness. And it’s becoming more important than ever to make your audience feel something when they engage with your advertising, in order for them to take notice and have a chance to create memory structures, that ultimately drive effectiveness metrics.
8. Pre-testing: Validate your creative
Pre-testing has evolved.
It’s now way easier to carry out rapid testing and get super quick feedback, with results available in as little as 24 hours.
Platforms like System1 offer valuable insights to agencies and marketers, allowing them to refine creative before launch. And it’s nowhere near as expensive as you might think, to the point that it’s not only for the big brand with mega-budgets.
9. Wear out: A myth, busted
Contrary to popular belief, ads don't wear out.
System1 research debunks this myth.
So, please resist the urge to constantly change campaigns. Indeed, re-running successful ads often yields better results than introducing new ones.
10. Evaluation: Go beyond attribution models
Attribution models provide a limited view of effectiveness. Instead, incorporate metrics that give a real perspective on ad effectiveness. For example, brand lift metrics or using econometrics (eg linking spend on media with sales growth) to gain a holistic understanding of advertising impact.
The point is, continuously learn from the data you have that measures effectiveness, and constantly refine your approach in response.
In Summary
Invest in crafting strong briefs to ensure campaign success.
Adopt a zero-based budgeting approach focused on ROI.
Balance long-term brand building with short-term performance marketing.
Diversify your media mix for optimal reach and impact.
Leverage distinctive brand assets for recognition and recall.
Prioritise creative excellence across all campaigns.
Harness the power of emotion in your advertising.
Utilise pre-testing to validate your creative.
Don't fall for the myth of ad wear-out.
Go beyond attribution models to measure true effectiveness.
