An Ebiquity perspective on key learning’s from WFA Global Marketer week 2021

The recent World Federation of Advertisers Global Marketer Week packed a real punch. Attracting over two thousand marketers from APAC, SEA, the Americas and Europe, eager to hear from some of the most senior and influential CMO’s in the business and other illustrious speakers, including Sir David Attenborough, sharing their experiences of some of the most pressing issues facing our world and  industry. The conference theme was Better Society, Better World and Better Growth and it delivered insight on all fronts.

In a deft use of contemporary tech the event live streamed out of New York, Amsterdam and Singapore with the WFA’s DG Stephan Loerke acting as live anchor man throughout, I can only imagine the logistics of such a feat of marrying up speakers from across the globe and hoping the tech doesn’t crash!

Ebiquity, who are long-term effectiveness partners of the WFA, decided early in the planning process to sponsor the event. In a year where many may question the validity of a sponsorship, where there is no face to face networking opportunity, Ebiquity recognised the heightened importance of this year’s agenda because we are facing these issues in our business too. Huge societal issues affecting our planet, humans, marketers, and businesses alike. So in this ‘remote’ year we committed to support the WFA especially in their sustainability ambitions for the industry We also committed to develop  our own stream of activity and products to address the agenda, bringing Francesca Leronni on board as our Group Director of Responsible Media and by developing and launching at the event a product that will help marketers pursue principle driven growth through responsible media investment –see details here  https://www.ebiquity.com/news-insights/blog/ebiquity-announces-the-launch-of-a-dedicated-solution-to-address-responsible-media-agenda/

Marketers attending the three-day event were lucky and couldn’t fail to be inspired by the quality of speakers, a real cornucopia of global marketing talent including established giants as well as emerging tech based businesses.

What is clear is that Marketing is not isolated nor remote from the powerful issues highlighted, huge societal issues, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, climate change. We are all citizens of the world affected by the changes and challenges of contemporary living and marketing is just our job.

Stop funding on-line hate

Brands have a responsibility to stop funding hate in the social space however inadvertent, to use the power of their conversations, their advertising dollars, with the social platforms, to demand more accountability, to demand change, to demand that the issues are addressed.

The industry now seems to be uniting behind a clear set of standards and expectations with regards to defunding any environment allowing hate-speech. This now requires clear and credible measurement techniques to allow for real time governance and contracts which demand full refunds from the vendors for any breach.

Diversity & Inclusion

In parallel brands have a responsibility to society, their customers and employees alike to start being more inclusive and diverse in their team structures, communications and behind the production cameras, to truly reflect the shape of society. There are no excuses.

The lack of diversity, equality and inclusion is systemic not sporadic, so changing this must also be systemic. This means looking through the entire supply chain. It will take time but again with good governance and contracts which set standards to which everyone can be held such can be achieved.

Climate change and marketing

And the huge elephant in the room Climate Change and marketing, just what can we as an industry do to steer a new course?

For all of the embracing of the science by the industry, there is still a mismatch between the environmentalist saying we need to redefine growth to include well-being and planetary maintenance and the marketers who say that sustainability makes a positive business case i.e. it helps sells more stuff. Increasing overall consumption indefinitely will not save the planet.

These are clearly not easy issues to tackle but big brands like P&G, Mars, Unilever, Diageo, Dole are making changes, challenging their processes, their supply chains, their ingredients and packaging, their assumptions, their agencies, the diversity and inclusivity of their own teams and agency partners and of course the make-up of their advertising; and newer economy companies like Grab and One Champion have set up their businesses with these principles at their core. and guess what it pays, marketing for good delivers enhanced growth just check out their results. Those brands with sustainability and diversity at their core are delivering with conscience.

However brands operating in this way will need a broad range of metrics to manage and develop success, all of which will need to be curated and deployed.

And with this in mind WFA launched their “Planet Pledge,” in which marketers commit to lead their brands' response to environmental protections, such as offering greener products and services, and steering consumer behaviour towards sustainability https://wfanet.org/leadership/planet-pledge

Is Marketing effectiveness still an issue?

The spotlight on marketing effectiveness landed in the last session with the inimitable Mark Ritson proclaiming that marketing had to put its own effectiveness house in order before diving down the worthy issue’s road. These issues of course are not mutually exclusive, but the point was taken that there is still much work to be done to prove what marketing works, where and how.

What resonated with the Ebiquity Global team

Ebiquity global team members attended the sessions from across all markets and were keen to absorb the insights so we can develop deeper understanding of the issues our clients are facing. Here are some of the insights that particularly resonated:

·       Purpose and profit. Do we need to trade one for another?

·       Marketing Team KPi’s are evolving rapidly: CMO’s should be satisfied by less plastic more than by more Youtube views ...." Discuss

·       Closing the gap between say and do. Only 33 % of companies have a Sustainability leader

·       Brand Purpose and Sustainability- if it isn't to be seen as a rich man’s delusion, be sure that it is consistent with consumer needs, is consistent throughout the supply chain, consistent over time, and consistently monitored and meaningfully accounted for and reported.

·       In an era of government short termism and legislative inaction the impetus for change must be from business and consumers - and profitability is not necessarily incompatible with sustainability or meeting those consumer needs.

·       It’s imperative to campaign to stop harmful content being monetised. 85% of violating content is made up from spam, adult explicit content and hate speech and aggression.

·       The Anti-defamation League’s (ADL) Jonathan Greenblatt’s comparison of Facebook’s disinformation and hate-speech issues to the 1980s J&J Tylenol scare was powerful. J&’s decision to pull their product from every shelf in America was costly at the time, but in the end their decisiveness kept people safe, restored faith in their product and their brand, and became a case study in corporate leadership and crisis management. In the very first session of the conference, Advertisers were asked whether they are willing to pull their products from the social media “shelf” until they can be sure they won’t be placed next to something toxic. 

·       P&G / Gillette campaign – how important it is to tread the line between listening to all points of view but ultimately, stick to your convictions if you think they’re right.

·       The Covid pandemic has had another unexpected result, a more reflective media and marketing community. Like everything else, 2020 did not create a situation, but it helped speed it up. A lot of the discussion on stronger ethical marketing and consumer connections are accelerated by the time spent in our own thoughts and in a sense “watching” the world around us.

·       Marc Pritchard, WFA Global Marketer of the Year and P&G continues as a key leader in the worldwide marketing community. His talk of meaningful investments was spot on and very much aligns with where we are as a global economy and the consumers of the future.

·       One-point bears continued repeating, companies who wish to market to a broad spectrum of consumers must first have internal diversity before attempting to create external change or positioning

WFA Global Marketer Week took place April 20th – 22nd

Debbie Morrison – Managing Director Global Partnerships & Events – Ebiquity