Marketing campaigns that sky-rocketed (and why the others tanked)

What makes a great advertising campaign? An ad that gets people clicking and into the sales/marketing funnel? Could it be bold creativity? Brilliantly creative ads delight us compel us to click, right?

In International brand strategy - written by global marketing strategist, Sean Duffy - he highlights a 2017 study by Neilson (a US information, data and market measurement?firm) which explained the impact of advertising on sales by looking at the five variables of: Reach, targeting, recency, creative and context.

"The study found that one of these factors is more important than all the others combined: creative...Even the best media plan won't save a campaign with poor creative."

What's more, Duffy quotes research by the Advertising Research Foundation (1991) which highlights the likeability of ads and other promotional materials as the leading metric to predict product purchase. "This basic emotion has since been linked to brand persuasion, memorability and loyalty," he notes.

So there's the answer: likeability and creativity. Except, it isn't...quite. We're going to have to dig much deeper than that.

International brand strategy, by the way, was a great read. It's a book that I will refer back to many times. But, recently I've found myself coming back to this word 'likeability'...and the role of creativity in campaigns.

Let me introduce you here to the Marketing Week Mini MBA in Marketing with Mark Ritson. This is a virtual course which covers the marketing portion of a Masters of Business Administration. It's delivered across twelve weeks by leading marketing professor and global consultant, Mark Ritson.

In my car, on my walks to work, late at night, or by the pool while the kids are swimming, I studied examples of ad campaigns on this course. I scribbled notes on the marketing theory and frameworks which underpinned them - or which were questionably absent. I've marvelled at highly successful campaigns and cringed at those that tanked. And I'm talking Titanic-style, tanked.

Here are some highlights. And the reason why the words 'likeability' and 'creative' got stuck my head. It was an enlightening twelve weeks.

Highly successful campaigns vs total flops

No.1: The ad that papered over the brand value cracks

Take the example of famous Australian automotive manufacturer, Holden. In a move to improve profitability, the company moved production overseas and parted with its long-held value proposition: the car made in Australia for Australians. Would customers accept that this much-loved car would now be made overseas? Could A car made overseas for Australians endure?

An ad campaign was launched to smooth over any customer concerns. Complete with friendly smiles from Australian representatives who, between them, repeated the reassuring mantra: 'We are here', 'We are here', 'And we are here', this upbeat advert played out to the masses.

Essentially, the message was as follows: Don't worry. Everything is going to be the same. It's just that it's going to be different. OK?

As the TV ad campaign rolled out, it made the rounds on twitter and was affectionately termed: "The worst marketing ad in history."

Here's the takeaway: A brand promise is not a tagline stuck on by marketing after the fact. A company designs itself in a way that creates value for the business and for the consumer. Marketing helps to define and communicate the brand promise...and then the business delivers on it. If you can't deliver on your brand promise, warned Ritson, it's time for your business to change. The ad campaign could not win audiences over. No amount of likeability delivered through smiling faces was going to stop the furore around this ad.

No.2: Dropping sales features for emotional benefits

In contrast to the backlash following Holden's campaign, Walmart achieved success with an ad that had emotional impact at its core. Walmart made what seems like a simple but genius change from its "Always low prices, always" promise (sales feature) to a "Save money, live better" tagline (emotional benefit) - a demonstration of the 'benefit ladder' framework which moves a brand to think beyond simple sales features.

Cue a TV ad with happy families who now have more money to spend on holidays together, courtesy of Walmart (the only mention of Walmart being on a supermarket sign which the family drives past, and on a plastic bag between the kids and their dog on the backseat).

The ad campaign fired me up in a way that Morrison's never has.

No.3: An ad committed to its segment

Another success story: the resolve of Abercrombie & Fitch to commit completely to its target segment - the under 25s - and a steadfast refusal to expand its targeting beyond that age group. Apparently, the brand even paid a reality TV star (who was over twenty-five and a fan of the fashion brand) not to wear its attire, such was its commitment to the target segment.

So many brands fail, Ritson warned, because businesses go for all segments, everywhere, all the time. There is a debate for 'sophisticated mass marketing', but the Abercrombie approach was an example of the rewards of committing to a specific target segment(s).

This targeting dilemma reminds me of a great quote from Professor Barbara Khan of the University of Pennsylvania (not part of the Mini MBA course) who likened this 'target everyone' approach to selling luke warm team:

Some people like hot tea and some people like iced tea, but, when you try to target both of those audiences and please them all with a mix of those offerings, you get luke warm tea.

Nobody likes like warm tea.

How to get it right

Mark Ritson is a staunch advocate for better business acumen in marketing. There is no point in taking his course if you want to know about making viral content and winning on metrics of 'cool'. Success comes from making smart decisions based on marketing fundamentals. He bangs on the drum for raising the standards in marketing and the mantra is: Diagnosis, strategy and - only then - tactics. He cautions on the following:

1 No amount of tactical wizardry will save you from a lack of business insight and strategy

Ritson laments the 'tactification' and 'communification' of marketing. The rush to do tactics, with very little of substance to justify them. As demonstrated by the Australian car ad, marketing is not here to roll out fun creative and think up a tagline to stick on it. This is communification. Just say something, anything... and just put it out there!

That is not the function of marketing.

2 It's going to take some guts

Like Abercrombie & Fitch, people have to make hard decisions and there is a level of risk involved. One of the key messages at the targeting stage: deciding where you won't play is as important as deciding where you will play. And, if tactical decisions follow from the fundamentals of diagnosis and strategy, we can feel more confident.

3 Don't forget the person you are trying to talk to

(Hint: it's your customer)

Such a simple concept; so easily forgotten.

Marketing is simple. It's common sense. Yet, how quickly things fly out of the window in the face of The Everyday. Marketers should be advocates of the customer perspective. We should be market-oriented in our approach. Resist the that selfish megaphone - the one which blasts its message to the market having lost sense of what customers want or need.

Diagnosis, strategy, tactical execution. Always in that order and with all parts present.

Likeability is important, but marketing fundamentals are the critical piece

Is 'likeability' the winning factor for a successful ad campaign? Emotional impact' or humour and storytelling are key. But, there is still more to it. The campaigns I studied are not necessarily representative of the types of campaigns I have to plan, in my niche b2b specialism of drug research. This sector is the polar opposite of mass marketing and glamorous TV ad campaigns. Alas, I would love to call on Chris Hemsworth to head up my campaign (as he did for an Australian tourism ad which aired at the Superbowl) but I do not operate in that sphere.

Nevertheless, from niche b2b campaigns to Superbowl ads: the fundamentals for success remain the same.

Be emotionally impactful (like Walmart), tell a compelling story, but first of all:

• Be market-oriented
• Segment your audience
• Target carefully
• Get your strategy and objectives in shape
• Then...and only then...execute your tactics

Why do some campaigns sky-rocket and others tank?

I'm developing the art of building out a great campaign: that combination of market and customer insight aligned with business needs and executed flawlessly with creative flair. Luckily, I work in a fantastic team that is sharply focused on reaching for the sky.