The Recipe For Return On Investment (ROI)

Too much brand building and you risk losing sales. Too little brand building… and you still risk losing sales in the long term. 

Marketers know that when it comes to building out their campaigns, a perfect mix – across the media landscape –  is required to achieve the best ROI. 

But getting this mix right is no easy feat. In the latest episode of Rethink, a podcast by Think with Google, host Rachel Corbett explores the nuances of the perfect media mix, getting insights from two industry experts and a little help from Google.

Corbett is joined by Google’s Head of Consumer and Insights, Rachael Powell, who explains how marketers can rethink their approach to video content in order to achieve greater ROI.

She uses the example of Game of Thrones. While YouTube did not air actual episodes of the series, the video service saw almost 2 billion views on GoT content, whether it be interviews or reaction videos, during the month of the season eight premiere.

“It was our audiences really looking for kind of deeper and broader ways to engage with the content they saw on television,” Powell said.

“And if you think about it that way, you start to think: ‘how can I plan video more holistically, rather, in silos?’ 

“In turn, that impacts your ROI. So we’re seeing things like an increase in, on average, thirty five percent in your ROI When you start to plan for TV plus online video.”

Powell also dissects some common ‘myths’ when it comes to the marketing mix, such as the notion TV is the most powerful channel for brand building.

“It’s actually really not a channel argument or discussion. It’s a format one. In terms of long term brand building and sales, it’s moving pictures and sound. So any video content that is going to build those memory structures and drive long term brand building,” she says about this concept.

She is also asked whether search should be considered separate from marketing, as it does not have a place in the budget.

“Search has for many companies set off on its own with a separate team. But we’re increasingly seeing the need to drive media synergies and look at bringing different media plans together and breaking down some of those silos. 

“When you combine TV and search together, you get an incremental 25 percent in your return on investment. 

The competitive value of brand

Also joining the podcast is IAG CMO Brent Smart, who points to the competitive value a strong brand can carry.

Working with an insurance company, Smart is all too familiar with the importance of brand building.

“Insurance tends to skew a bit older, mainly because the older you are, the more stuff you’ve got to insure. But when we’re doing the brand building, we’re kind of going after everyone,  but then we get a little bit more targeted with different product lines,” Smart says. 

“Building a strong brand creates such an awesome competitive advantage for businesses. 

“It means you can charge more. It means that you can ride out some of these challenges we’re facing right now better than other brands, because people trust you more people give you the benefit of the doubt. They stick with you. And that is amazingly powerful.”

When it comes to brand building, for Smart and IAG, video has emerged as a valuable channel. However, rather than talking about television or digital, it’s all about screens.

He gives the example of First Saturday, a campaign which calls on the public to help first responders by making their homes safer.

“I think with emotional storytelling, you definitely need video,” he says. 

“We tend to think about a screen strategy so we don’t think about television and digital we just think about screens. 

“What’s an overall screen strategy that gets us in front of the right sort of people and the right sort of reach?

“But the other great thing about First Saturday, it is an event to also plan our media around. So whilst we can do the emotional brand building and sort of priming of the audience sort of three weeks out, on the actual week of First Saturday, it’s more call to action type of communication saying: ‘here’s what you need to do this Saturday, get involved.’”

The channel mix

The notion of ‘channels’ in marketing has fundamentally changed. 

What was once a three or four channel choice is now an endless array of options for marketers to invest their media spend.

So how can they choose the right one?

According to Group M CEO Mark Lollback, it’s all about the three C’s.

“There’s channel planning, but out of that is then also context planning and then out of that is creative planning. And if you look at that, that’s the most exciting world you can live in when it comes to marketing,” he says.

“So it’s not really just about choosing the channel, but then who’s there? What time of day, what are they doing? What’s the environment? And therefore, what’s all the context that I need to worry about and where we can’t get lazy is following that through to the best creative solution we can possibly deliver in that moment.”

Lollback also explains why having a mix of channels for various messages is important.

“I think all of the data and all the research shows it’s almost like an orchestra. It’s the combination of the different messages across the different channels that really creates the magic.”

You can listen to the first episode of Rethink, by Think with Google on Google podcasts, on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podcast Addict or TuneIn.

This podcast was brought to you by Think with Google. Created by The Hallway & Eardrum- in partnership with Google.’