It’s impossible to cover everything that happened at Cannes in Cairns — so the Clear Hayes Consulting team, behind many a global trend report, have picked out the top themes relevant to anyone in the marketing universe.
Risk is a hit or miss, but marketers can’t afford not to try
“You only take really big risks if there’s a smaller downside,” shares Robbie Brammall, director of marketing and communications at MONA – aptly summating the ways in which the disruptive museum not only tackles risk, but actively embraces it.
Risk is something of a balancing act, but it is absolutely essential for marketers to know when to take the right risks. And as Brammall points out, marketers should also be widening their minds to go beyond simply taking risks in promotions, explaining that the other three Ps should be invested in.
“It’s about the product as well,” he says, discussing how the museum intentionally set up an artwork that was only for women, inviting the ire of a man who eventually “took the bait” and sued the museum for discrimination, unintentionally giving MONA the exact reaction they wanted.
That’s not to say that risks in promotional campaigns are any less intimidating. Ruth Haffenden, CMO of bamboo underwear disrupter Boody, once had a call from the CEO asking to call off a risky campaign on the morning it was meant to go live.
“There’s a difference between having approval and business-wide backing,” she says. “I even called the CEO’s wife and asked if she understood what I was trying to do, and she loved it! I told her, ‘please tell your husband’.”
Risk is embedded in every part of the marketing journey – from having a product so disruptive you’re inviting competitors to challenge you, to even figuring out how to segment Australia’s incredible diverse population without simultaneously excluding anyone.
“Think about the customer, the community and the country,” says Michelle Klein, chief customer and marketing officer at IAG. “One size does not fit all.”
ANZ is also encouraging bravery and innovation by attempting to take the risk out of it with a ‘Growth Fund’ to encourage the team to build out a business case alongside the finance team to understand what the return might be for taking that tangential route rather than staying the course.
It’s nice to be liked, but better to be successful for being you
“People told me that ad was polarising. I said ‘we have zero per cent market share right now, I’ll start worrying about being polarising when we have 51% market share.” It’s a lovely insight from Fernando Machado, former Burger King, Dove and Activision Blizzard CMO.
Most marketers are very, very afraid of upsetting anyone, especially in an age of cancel culture. But as Machado points out, if you’re trying to make your brand mean something to everyone, you’re going to end up meaning nothing.
His example was an ad for his current brand, NotCo, and its NotMayo product which had the simple challenge of persuading vegans their plant-based mayonnaise was just the same as the regular stuff. So they fed it to a load of mayo haters, who also hated it. Cue spitting out food, swearing and general upset. It’s a genius piece of marketing — effectively a globally relevant taste test that shows vegans can recreate that mayo hit they’ve been missing. It’s a smart use of creative and with zero fs given.
Journalist Lisa Wilkinson described this need for “likeability” as “the scourge of the social media age”, branding it “bullshit” in her keynote speech. She points out that the people we latch onto and respect are probably the ones who are truly unfiltered and unfettered in that space, spending time being “authentically you”.
It’s an intriguing notion for marketers whose instinct is always to have mass appeal and likeability. But in a same-same world, does that have cut-through, does it resonate, does it win hearts and influence people?
Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance
The marketing industry loves a shiny new toy (we’ve helped promote plenty over the years) but there was something of a theme running through a few of the morning keynotes – getting the basics right.
At seven-foot-two-inch Aussie NBA legend Luc Longley casts a long shadow and was probably the most engaging and raw speaker of the day in terms of vulnerability about his own limitations and struggles.
One thing he mentioned is when he joined the Chicago Bulls team (the one with Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and the bald guy with the sneaker deal) every practice would start with 25 minutes of really basic footwork and positioning. It’s stuff most pro players just don’t do, but Longley recognised it was that attention to mastering the basics that made that team the greatest of all time, and serial winners.
CMO extraordinaire Fernando Machado explains it as “bringing the rice and beans” first — if we don’t get the basics right there’s no point chasing the innovation and fun stuff. If you deliver the baseline business results you will have the licence to play in other spaces and have fun. But delivering those basics takes discipline and constant practice, something even the very best teams need to bear in mind.
By Alex Hayes, Akansha Singh, Jonelle Lawrence, Pallavi Mathur, Susie Thomson. Stay tuned for part two tomorrow.
