Here is our round up of the news stories and industry articles that caught our eye during May 2022.
‘It’s about long-term value’: How brands are tackling effectiveness measurement
According to marketing executives at WW (formerly Weight Watchers) and Salesforce, all marketing performance measures must “ladder up to long-term value” and include the “whole picture.”
Their remarks come after the Data and Marketing Association (DMA) released research indicating a drop in marketing performance since 2020, as well as a “perplexing” over-reliance on campaign delivery metrics rather than actual brand and reaction indicators.
“[Every measure] has to ladder up to the long-term value of those customers you’re bringing in, how much you’re spending, the effectiveness of that channel, and ultimately, what it actually means,” said Tony Miller, WW’s vice-president of growth and performance marketing and chair of the DMA awards committee.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
Methane-capturing cow collar and chemical-free textile scoop Terra Carta top prize
The winners of the inaugural Terra Carta Design Lab include a methane-capturing collar for cows and a chemical-free outdoor performance cloth.
The design lab is a partnership between the Royal College of Art (RCA), Jony Ive, and Prince Charles’ Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), which seeks low-cost, high-impact solutions to environmental issues.
Read the article in Design Week.
Channel 4: Advertisers are ‘right to be worried’ about privatisation
Advertisers and agencies are “right to be worried” about the impact of Channel 4’s unique content, viewership, and competition for advertising dollars, according to the broadcaster.
Last month, top marketers from Boots, Zoopla, Phoenix Group, and Little Moons agreed that the government’s contentious move to privatise Channel 4 was “worrying,” with some fearful that its “bold and adventurous” schedule would be lost.
ISBA’s director general, Phil Smith, expressed unhappiness with the decision, citing a lack of competition among TV sales companies in the UK. He believes that any merger of Channel 4, ITV, and Sky’s three advertising sales houses might result in “undue control” in the industry.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
Biodegradable Covid testing kit seeks to address plastic waste problem
Morrama, an industrial design company, has unveiled a prototype for a biodegradable and recyclable COVID-19 testing kit that aims to reduce the environmental effect of current tests.
The Eco-Flo kit was created using sustainable materials and with the goal of making it more accessible to individuals with impairments.
“Face masks, lateral flow tests, and sanitizer bottles have all been made of plastic,” explains Morrama creator and design director Jo Barnard. “Active testing has been and will continue to be an important component of living with COVID-19 as new COVID-19 variations emerge.”
Read the article in Design Week.
Dr. Martens: Brands need the confidence to constantly ‘reframe’ themselves
Dr. Martens’ global brand marketing manager Janine Hearn-Odell recently stated that brands should have enough faith in their mission to continually “reframe” themselves based on how their customers interact with it.
She said today (17 May) on a panel at Advertising Week Europe that this is critical to driving brand relevance in society, and that marketers should regard their connections with customers as a “partnership.” Trends in how customers utilise a product, for example, should evolve naturally rather than being generated by the brand.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
Consumer confidence collapses
Consumer confidence has dropped once again, with more “bad news” on the way as inflation soars and unemployment in the UK reaches a 50-year low.
In May, the GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer reported a headline score of -40, the lowest since records started in 1974 and a 2% drop from the previous month.
This suggests that consumer confidence is worse now than it was during the global financial crisis’ “darkest days.” Previously, the lowest score was -39, which was recorded in July 2008.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
Pret’s former marketing boss on the secrets of a growth mindset
Brands pursuing growth may want to start by examining several paths to success, such as distribution, innovation, and a shift in posture.
Former Green & Black’s and Pret marketing boss Mark Palmer – who is now cofounder of drinks brands Cawston Press and LA Brewery Kombucha – shared lessons from his nearly three decades in marketing, from opting for premiumization to allowing innovation to breathe, at the Festival of Marketing Leadership Summit yesterday.
Read the article in Marketing Week.
Will design studios embrace the four-day work week?
The long-awaited four-day work week appears to be gaining traction. A reduced working week will be trialled by 3,000 workers throughout the UK next month. Employees from various businesses were chosen for the six-month study, which was organised by a UK think tank and researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford University, and Boston College.
Read the article in Design Week.
Jonathon Bright
Jonathon is the DWH marketing guru and handles all marketing, copywriting and social media duties. With over 25 years experience working with clients and agencies across the globe, his role is to provide all things marketing from lead generation strategies right through to writing blogs and press articles. With two Marketing degrees and a successful track record of working with sole traders, SME’s & FTSE 100 companies his full mix experience can deliver results whatever the budget.