Jack Morton celebrates 75 years

EXCLUSIVE: Today’s “experience economy” has rendered ‘brand experience’ more important today than it has ever been, according to Jack Morton’s global boss.

The experience consumers have with brands can sometimes be the breaking point for whether a brand is successful or tumbles right off the shelf.

Throughout its 75 years as an company Josh McCall, Chairman and CEO of brand experience agency Jack Morton believes brand experience is crucial today as the consumer is totally in control and their experience with a brand significantly impacts their purchase decisions.

Where we have previously been in an industrial economy, a manufacturing economy, a service economy, McCall believes we now live in “the experience economy”.

“When we have a good experience we tell everybody about it. When we have a bad experience we tell even more people about it.”

“Wherever you decided this morning to get your coffee, where you decide to buy your clothes, where you decide to buy your groceries…all of these things today are based on the experiences that you have with them because we have so many choices,” he said.

Brand experience as a practice has gained much recognition over the past few years with many agencies jumping on the bandwagon to create different experiences for their clients.

McCall believes this increasing popularity of brand experience is symbolic of how important the area is today and how both agencies and consumers are recognising the relevance of the practice within the marketing industry. 

In the age of the internet we are constantly bombarded with endless information, hordes of news and numerous opportunities, and it can be hard for a brand to establish itself within this fragmented and cluttered media landscape.

The fact that Jack Morton has 75 years of experience under its belt leaves the company in a “very very sweet spot” for being able to help their clients “to break through that clutter, to solve their business problems and to help them communicate to their target audiences through the experiences we provide”.

Word-of-mouth, according to McCall, is a very effective marketing tool and the rise of social media has substantially increased the spread and reach of a brand.

The boom of these sharing platforms online has enabled a consumer to virtually wholly express their opinion of a brand, whether it be positive or negative. 

Previous research by Jack Morton in 2011 details around 80% of people agreed that the overall experience they have with a brand is the single biggest factor in determining future purchases.

Often it is the little details that can help make or break an experience for a consumer.

According to McCall there are three main components to have a successful brand experience.

“The strategy, the ideas and the execution.”

Where he believes there is a constant flow of ideas and a large amount of creativity among agencies beginning to enter this area, he recognises the “execution” component can often be the hardest one to deliver as an agency may not have the capability to deliver the ideas from a budget or activation stand point.

McCall also believes that the practice of brand experience is not just creating a positive experience for its consumers.

“The experience is so critical to a company’s success and it’s not just the experience a company creates for its consumers or audience, it’s the experience they create for their employees, it’s the experience they create for their partners and their distribution channels and their networks they do business with.”

With its 75^th birthday this year, Jack Morton prides itself on being able to deliver exceptional experiences for their clients and consumers.

Image: Founder Jack Morton with Bob Hope

To celebrate this milestone, McCall is beginning to make the rounds to Jack Morton’s numerous global operations in order to personally celebrate with everyone.

In terms of one of the biggest missed opportunities for 2013, McCall looks back at the rise and fall of the Blackberry brand and the challenges they’ve faced in recent years.

“What they might have been able to do both from a product and technology stand point but also from a customer and a customer experience stand point to have remained competitive in the face of all the challenges is a thought that comes to mind,” he said.

The numerous social issues that also exist in the world today are another area McCall believes Jack Morton could utilise its skills to help overcome some of these issues.

“I think that we have an opportunity to do a lot and whether we can solve all the world’s problems, I don’t want to bet on, but we can certainly help solve some of them,” he said.

“With great strategy, with great creative, anything’s possible.”

Image: The Jack Morton Band