Tourism Australia CMO Susan Coghill led a challenging and, at times hilarious, discussion about the perils of being dull and why risk-taking is an important weapon in the marketers toolkit. She was joined by marketing chiefs from the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Boody and Lyre’s Spirit Company.
It’s a well established fact that dull advertising is costing the industry “billions of dollars in wastage”, but can taking a risky approach to marketing pay dividends?
The short answer is ‘yes’, it can be essential, but only by choosing the right risks, according to a panel of senior marketers at Cannes in Cairns, presented by Pinterest.
There are countless rules in marketing from the likes of the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute of Marketing Science, and research by effectiveness luminaries including Peter Field and Les Binet, about how to establish brands, the long and short of it, differentiation vs distinctiveness, the use of key assets and brands codes, but MONA director of marketing and communications Robbie Brammall said they count for little if a campaign fails to attract attention.
“We’ve got the rulebook, and you can apply all of that, but if what you are doing is boring then no one gives a shit,” he said. You’ve got to have a distinctive campaign for it to be effective.”
MONA took a substantial risk by launching a “ladies lounge” that was only open to women and featured artwork from Picasso, Sidney Nolan and other famous artists, as well as complimentary champagne and pampering.
“This is us being mischievous in a positive discrimination way,” Brammall said. “After four years, [a gentleman from Sydney] took the bait and finally sued us, which we are thankful for.
“We got to have this really interesting conversation about the nature of positive discrimination. His contention was that he paid money to visit the museum and didn’t get to experience the artwork… but our contention is that he did experience the artwork because that was the artist’s intent.
“So we ended up having an interesting conversation in the Supreme Court.”
Brammall said that what he has learned at MONA and from his previous life in advertising agencies is that marketers should no just take risks in the promotion, but there’s real value in taking risks further up the funnel, especially in the products it displays up to patrons.
“We’re in a privileged position at MONA because we’ve got a risk psychopath coming up with the products.”
The Risk Of Standing Still
Tourism Australia’s most recent work, the $125 million ‘Come and Say G’Day’ campaign (see above), took a risk by using a CGI kangaroo, Ruby, and unicorn, Louie, as the stars of the campaign rather than the tried and tested formula of leaning on Hollywood celebrities.
At the time it launched, the creative split opinion with some deriding it as bland and cringeworthy, while others, including Dee Madigan, praised it for being fun, clear and appealing to an overseas audience.
The campaign proved a hit, scored an exceptional star rating on System1’s and won Tourism Australia and a handful of awards, including Effies.
Coghill said Tourism Australia had to take risks in what is an increasingly competitive and cluttered sector.
“We think about risk a lot in Tourism Australia… [and trying to stand out] in a sea of sameness and category cliches. You have to do something different and for us it was about telling our story in different ways,” she said.
“In a category that has been really important to Australia for the past 50 years, it’s easy to look at the markets that we’ve always looked at and assume that we’re going to continue to get the same or even more growth from them.
“But if you look at the Middle Eastern markets, for example, they’re up and coming as the most incredible competitors with World Cups, and other events. They are investing a lot of money in the markets we are competing for with for share of voice and visitors. You really need to be looking forward all of the time.”
Selling Spirits To Saudis
Another example that the panel discussed was Lyre Spirits’ decision to sell non-alcoholic spirits in countries where drinking is forbidden.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the most conservative markets in the world and we took a huge calculated risk by selling what looks like an alcohol into a non-alcohol market,” senior VP of global marketing Kristy Bloomfield said.
“We did it through calculated risks… and I’m really proud of it, it’s an example of when risks can pay dividends.”
Meanwhile Boody’s global head of brand and marketing, Ruth Haffenden, said that she had to always take risks for the challenger underwear brand to get cut through in a market dominated by legacy brands.
“If your next campaign isn’t keeping you awake at night, it’s probably not interesting,” she said.
Not all of Boody’s creative risks are approved by the company’s board and Haffenden has learned that there is a difference between “approval” and “business-wide backing”.
“I’ve quickly learned that being a CMO and a politician are two similar things, and you need to bring people along on that journey, she said. “Also that bravery under time constraints is never easy to achieve.”
Brammall, who has previously held senior creative roles at DDB Melbourne, Saatchi & Saatchi and George Patterson Y&R, offered a word of advice to agencies: “The comms side of the marketing mix is such a small component of what our business is trying to do. And, in hindsight, I have a lot more sympathy for clients. So you need to realise that we are always trying to keep the tills running, I’m really a glorified ticket seller.”
It’s a view shared by former Burger King CMO and led Unilever’s Dove Fernando Machado, who told a packed auditorium at Cannes in Cairns that marketers need to always deliver the rice and beans first.
