Fintan Gavigan’s Post

Long-term brands and agency relationships WORK BETTER.

Since the surge of corporate DEI efforts in the wake of 2020, the ad industry has seen emphasis and efforts fade. AdForum tapped industry experts to share their thoughts on why conversation has slowed and give advice for picking up the momentum. GMR’s Vice President of DEI Sophie M. emphasized that, here at GMR, we haven’t taken our foot off the gas by continually assessing whether our DEI model is working and pivot when needed to keep progress alive. “Like a duck floating on water, it’s easy to believe the conversation around DEI has slowed, but for agencies who understand the needs of brands and consumers, DEI is evolving rapidly under the surface.” #DEI #DiversityEquityInclusion 

“Let me introduce you to Tom from Bromsgrove. I can tell you what’s in his fridge🧑🍳. I can tell you why his wife👸 thinks they should shop at Sainsbury's and won't let him shop🛍️ anywhere else...” Tom from Bromsgrove may not know it, but he was a highly instrumental part of the Saatchi & Saatchi UK John Lewis Partnership / Waitrose & Partners pitch win in May, says the agency’s chief strategy officer Richard Huntington. “He isn't a persona. He isn't a made-up person, or a representative segment of a mass. He is real👨🦱,” Huntington says, explaining that the agency talked at depth to 13 people before using expert voices and quantitative validations through YouGov. Marketing is under attack for being too detached from customers. But is marketing really in desperate need of a reality-check? Richard Huntington, Saatchi & Saatchi UK; Pete Markey, Boots UK; Zoe Harris, On the Beach; Josh Bullmore, Leo Burnett UK; Dom Dwight, Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate; Cheryl Calverley; Kirsten Stagg, Škoda Auto; Michelle Whelan, VML and Pip Hulbert, VML tell Jennifer Small what they think. Read Here: https://lnkd.in/esrjKyZ2 Publicis Groupe Publicis Groupe UK Saatchi & Saatchi Leo Burnett VMLY&R #commercialcreativity #advertising #adagency #advertisingagency #adland #communications #media #mediaagency #mediabuying #creativity #creativeagency #marcomms #marketing

System1 claim that this year’s Cannes entrants have the greatest potential for effectiveness seen for several years and, with 4creative's team supplying some of the winning work reviewed, in-house teams are now mixing it with the world’s best on that front. A recent In-House Agency Leaders Club study notes that few in-house teams possess a creative strategist, but it’s a role that’s growing as focus evolves from creative delivery to creative impact. The role often signifies a more ‘mature’ remit for the IHA, but it’s critical for the wider business to buy into this remit for the role to deliver. In a world chasing efficiency, effectiveness can, perversely, be a harder argument to make. #marketingops #inhousing #cannes #creativity WDC

There are days when your team surprises in you - in the best way. Clearly, there are days when the opposite happens(!), but let’s stick with the positive. Things are rolling so fast at RNIB these days on the social change front, and across the board, it is hard to keep pace with the momentum being generated. Seeing final creative for the innovative, interactive, inspiring (keeping that alliteration going), Alt Alts campaign, created alongside MullenLowe UK was one of those days - giving me a late Friday afternoon lift in a hastily grabbed catch up. I believe in the importance of evidence based approaches, but I think instinct is such an underplayed aspect of brand, campaigning, communications and social change generally - I had a feeling that this was a campaign with a certain kind of alchemy and was glad to be proved right by the response. I am so proud of the team for the way in which this text-driven campaign - which presents descriptions of some of the most iconic moments in the world, such as The Beatles crossing Abbey Road, to show how alt text builds inclusion for blind and partially sighted people and is something we can all do - has taken off; now named in the top five campaigns globally in AdForum. Great to see we are sitting alongside the fabulous ‘Assume That I Campaign’ by Coordown, which challenges perceptions of people with Down Syndrome - which has behaviour change insights at its heart, as well as some ‘kick-ass’ creativity. We are on a bit of a journey with behaviour change ourselves and looking at how people can build more equitable communities for people with sight loss. Ads like this one can only lift up the whole sector and help everyone learn what drives change and action - especially in a rapidly evolving world. ❤️ The Alt Alts campaign builds on work we have carried out to engage big brands on social media, like Innocent and Uber Eats, in using alt text. Now we are urging MPs to join the debate, with Wes Streeting, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care among others hearing the rallying cry and championing alt text. This layering and amplifying of activity is also important to real social change. Off on holiday now - hoping to be further positively surprised when I get back. 🤞 Well done Martin Wingfield + Lorna Forbes. #Creativity #Advertising #Sightloss #SocialChange #BehaviourChange

Every so often, it's good to spare your family and friends and go nerd out over ads with people who care about them. And last night, some of the biggest ad nerds and effie celebrities gathered at Work Behind The Work to unpack the genius of this year's most effective campaigns (including me!). Not only did I learn what the word 'spurious' meant, I also began to understand the marathon of taking an idea to an effie. My key takeouts were: - Case studies are good stories well told. It's important to set up how you're going to tell it even before it's written - have a hypothesis and ensure you have the metrics to test it and tell a good story at the end. - Sometimes the best ideas are staring you right in the face. A brand isn't just what agencies think they are, brands live and breathe through their customers so good ads should honour the role they play in consumer's lives - sometimes its about the emotion of the moment, beyond the product itself. - Ambitious goals breed ambitious work. Be clear on the headwinds and tailwinds going into the brief and use them to reframe and embrace challenges as opportunities - in this you can find the anti-ordinary solution.

As I head to the airport for this year’s Cannes Lions, I am equal parts bullish, excited, and a little nervous. Not only will this be my first time at the world’s largest advertising festival, it’s also the first official Cannes presence for Kroger Precision Marketing. We're going to Cannes because we can't just watch from the sidelines. Retail sales are the ultimate proof of advertising's power, so we have a responsibility to be at the industry's biggest global event. Measuring true sales impact is a more complex conversation than just talking about impressions and clicks—but the end result is worth the effort. Starting Monday, we will be hosting panel discussions each morning and appearing on stages throughout the festival. In partnership with WPP/GroupM, we've got an all-star lineup of sessions on audience-first planning for Monday morning: 🌟 Cheap Impressions Aren’t Cheap—featuring Scope3’s Brian O'Kelley, IAB’s Jeffrey Bustos, and choreograph’s Rich Astley 🌟 You Are What You Buy—featuring LiveRamp’s Kevin Dunn and Mindshare’s Nancy Hall 🌟 Creating the Happiest Place in CTV—featuring Disney Advertising’s Dana McGraw, Colgate-Palmolive’s Diana Haussling, and Wavemaker’s Alison Karp Stay tuned—I’ll be sharing insights and highlights from Cannes throughout the week. #Advertisingandmarketing #Media #CannesLions #KrogerPrecisionMarketing

Wrapping up an extraordinary week with FIVE GUYS Fridays! (Thanks Matt J. 😂) 🍔🚀 It’s been a whirlwind, full of energy and results. My week as a Business Development Director has been all about driving revenue and forging key partnerships. I’ve had the privilege of working with a football club setting up impactful commercial relationships. We’re also prepping for major 2024 campaigns with two leading sports teams, a prominent Welsh food manufacturer, a renowned chocolate brand, a national contracting company, and a well-respected car dealership in Wales and the South West. We’ve extended our strategy to some of Wales’ most iconic venues and hotels, ready to make a significant impact. There’s also an exciting opportunity brewing with a New York-based company on the verge of substantial growth and brand development. The week’s highlight? Bringing on board 12 new clients is a clear sign of the groundbreaking growth our agency is achieving. As we close this remarkable week, here’s a thought: Does your brand wield the influence it should? If there’s doubt, it’s time to talk to Rebel Lion Advertising. We’re about turning good into outstanding. Let’s get started. #BusinessDevelopment #StrategicPartnerships #InnovativeMarketing #AdvertisingSuccess #GrowthMindset #ClientSuccessStories #RedefiningExcellence

🔔 I'm never going to disagree with the idea that you need planners in in-house agencies . But, as my WDC colleague, Stephen, points out below: what's critical is for the business to know WHY they need planners. 🎯 And the single biggest reason is that they take accountability for the effectiveness of the work - by guiding creative development with this in mind; and by measuring impact in relevant ways, so the business can make sense of it. 💪 This not only improves return on investment but also elevates the credibility of the in-house agency, making it more of a partner to the business. 💡 Do you have planners in your IHA? Or are you struggling to make the case for them? 🆘 If so, get in touch because this is exactly the sort of thing WDC can help with... #inhouseagency #creativestrategy #planning #effectiveness #marketingeffectiveness #cannes

2023 by the numbers (and so on and so forth) for Mischief @ No Fixed Address: ⚡️ Adweek’s US Agency of the Year ⚡️ Campaign US #1 Agency of the Year (for the second year running) ⚡️ Effie’s Most Effective US Indy Agency ⚡️ Ad Age #3 A-List ⚡️ Fast Company’s Most Innovative Ad Agencies of the Year ⚡️ 16 new brands added without a pitch ⚡️ +250 new biz opportunities (96% decline rate) ⚡️ +50 campaigns launched (around 2,000 total assets globally) ⚡️ 100% client retention ⚡️ 98% staff retention Every year at Mischief is a blink-hard-and-rub-your-peepers kinda year. Year four is already teed up to bring even more heat, which is not hard to believe when you see the weirdly-mega talent we’re home to. ❤️