Search results for: Month: March 2022

Brand Advisory Board March 2022 – How to make your advertising more sustainable

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The World Media Group’s Brand Advisory Board (BAB) met last week to discuss sustainability, and specifically, what steps brands can take to make their marketing more sustainable. The group, made up of influencers in high-level leadership roles across key industry sectors, meets three times a year to discuss best-practice around the issues affecting the media industry. This session began with the results of a survey undertaken by the BAB members to uncover what the group considered to be the greatest issues when it comes to sustainable business.

The top three concerns were:

1) Measuring progress and success

2) Reviewing and achieving goals

3) Telling an accurate story

While all members were keen to improve sustainability in their marketing, they were faced with a number of challenges. The survey revealed that only 3 in 10 of the businesses surveyed are currently reviewing supplier processes. Seventy nine percent of the group said that their business does not currently measure the sustainability of their marketing or advertising programmes, but 29% do review all marketing suppliers for sustainable processes. Some positive steps are being taken with 64% already focused on the areas of resource efficiency, plastics and carbon management. However, communicating a brand’s position is often hampered by the fear of greenwashing; evidencing their position; poor comparisons to competitors; having nothing new to say; connection to long-term strategy; and credibility.

EY leads the way on sustainability

To kickstart the group’s thinking on sustainability, Michael Oakes, Global Sustainability, Program Lead at EY, presented a case study showcasing their ambitious strategy to become a market leader in sustainability. The company has developed a Value-Led Sustainability framework to help design and deliver on the business and investment case for sustainability. EY will be carbon negative in 2021 and net zero in 2025. The company plans to achieve this by setting a 1.5°C-based target to reduce its absolute carbon emissions, and removing or offsetting more than the remainder, each year. They are also investing in services and solutions to help clients on their own sustainability and decarbonisation journeys. This is all part of EY’s brand purpose to build a better and more sustainable working world.

Marketing must lead in the race to zero

Next, Robert Dreblow from the World Federation of Advertisers introduced the group to the WFA’s Planet Pledge, a CMO-led framework designed to galvanise action from marketers to promote and reinforce attitudes and behaviours which will help the world meet the challenges laid out in the UN SDGs. According to the WFA’s recent member survey, Sustainability and Marketing is now one of the top three priorities for global marketers, but the marketing department is generally lagging on their sustainability journey compared with their broader organisation. Planet Pledge encourages marketers to come together to change the system collectively, using creativity to lead the way in the Race to Zero.  To read more about the WFA’s Planet Pledge, click HERE

Armed with this knowledge, attendees split up into breakout groups with a view to brainstorming ideas around how to address the top three sustainability concerns that were identified through the BAB member survey. Each group was given a specific question to tackle. Their take outs are summarised below:

  1. How do you develop and evolve authentic sustainability messaging for different stakeholders avoiding green washing?
  • Firstly, the group felt it was important to remember that having purpose, creating credibility around your brand narrative and highlighting your value proposition has always been part of a brand marketing strategy, albeit now pivoting towards sustainability.
  • It is essential to remain true to your brand so you can’t be accused of greenwashing, and ask yourself, is what you’re doing authentic? Is it relevant? Does it add value to communications? And is it right for your consumers? If it’s done in the wrong way or if it’s too sanctimonious, it is likely to have the opposite effect.
  • Education is key: marketers need to be well-versed in the nuances around sustainability and must not make claims that can’t be substantiated.
  • There is no point in doing something just to be seen to be doing it; don’t force it. If the time’s not right, wait until it is.
  • Be clear on the timelines that you’re holding yourself accountable to and be courageous enough to communicate those as part of your approach.
  • When people are getting sustainability fatigue, find a different way to frame the conversation; get creative and lead the generation of that dialogue, even if you’re not the one doing the talking.
  • Find the right experts to provide reputable input to contribute to the decisions you’re making and be agile enough to make up-to-the minute decisions on messaging.
  1. Are there any easy wins that can be activated easily and are there any associated risks?
  • Focusing on measurement, the group identified two clear areas where everyone could make an immediate difference – in production and events.
  • However, it was deemed essential to build some standards and guidelines to provide consistency for longer term success.
  • The first challenge is aligning all the media owners from a global perspective, which is where the assistance of WFA will be key.
  • The next step is to introduce a standard for the brands aligned with the World Media Group with the ambition of finding a benchmark that we can deliver on year after year.
  • Sustainability will become an official part of the judging criteria for the World Media Awards in 2023, so that every campaign receives a score based on its sustainability in marketing.
  1. What does success look like, how do you measure and at what intervals?
  • The group identified a lack of conversation within the businesses about how sustainable the marketing process is – teams don’t ask enough questions about it from the outset.
  • Marketing teams should be more involved in the procurement conversation so that they can be responsible for sourcing local talent rather than using centralised teams which create a substantial carbon footprint.
  • It’s important to map out your activity, prioritise it and how you want to change: Reduce, Replace, Neutralise – reduce global business travel, for example; replace bad habits.
  • A better understanding is required around digitalisation and sustainability – people often see digital marketing as being cleaner but that’s generally not the case.
  • We need to push back on the ‘just get it done’ attitude and give more consideration to how we get it done. This means educating our teams to think the same way, asking the right questions and being more mindful about mapping out the way towards measurement from the start.

What was clear from all three groups is that the desire to do more is there, and collectively, we can do it better. As an industry body, the World Media Group is well-placed to develop the standards and guidelines that are required to ensure consistency around benchmarking and measuring success for sustainability in marketing. We look forward to continuing the discussion in our Smart Briefing event next month and putting some of the action points into motion before our next Brand Advisory Board meeting in July.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

My Media Life – Sir Martin Sorrell

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/mfJXlsrfkXU”][vc_column_text]

Sir Martin Sorrell in conversation with Arif Durrani, Media Consultant

Welcome to my media life an exciting new feature from the World Media Group. We’ll be interviewing some successful and interesting media and marketing leaders from around the world to get an insight into their career and some of their personal motivations. Stay tuned for some top tips and interesting insights!

Who better to start this global initiative with than arguably the most globally connected, internationally successful marketing leader of our time? The founder of S4 Capital and WPP, of course, none other than Sir Martin Sorrell.

So, what does the media industry mean to you?

What it means to me is ‘fun’ and ‘interest’. My dad said to me, “Find an industry that you enjoy and then find a company inside that industry that you enjoy. Build a reputation in it, and then, if you fancy, around the age of 40, go off and do something on your own.” My dad didn’t do that, because he worked in the same company for the whole of his working life. So, I would say, the answer to that question, is that the media industry is really interesting.

When I went into it with, I went [to Saatchi] in part, because I liked the industry and it reminded me of the sports and entertainment industry. The only barrier, particularly in the UK, was not about connection or who you knew, but the strength of your latest idea. You just needed a phone and somewhere quiet you could take or make a phone call. So that’s the reason – fun and interest; demanding, enticing, fast-moving and all those things. And virtually zero barriers to entry.

What’s the one piece of advice that has helped during your career?

Although it’s counter intuitive to what people get told now, it was sticking with the company and building. It’s not what people do now – people flip from flower to flower. Maybe corporate lives are so short now, it’s the right thing to do. But I think the best advice was to focus on something that you find enjoyable.

Mark McCormack, the founder and chairman of IMG, was a scratch golfer and he took his hobby into work. He met professional golfer Arnold Palmer at Wake Forest university and Arnold needed somebody to manage his contracts, so he decided to do that. The boundary between work and play was almost non-existent. I’ve been fortunate enough not to regard there as being much of a barrier between the two.

If you were starting out today, where would you like to begin?

I think my horizons would be different. The UK is still a really important economy, but if you look at things globally, you have to focus on countries like the US, China and India, so my gaze would probably be different. If I was starting out, I’d probably go to the US. North and South America are full of tremendous opportunities, particularly South America. I’d also be seduced by what’s happened in Asia Pacific, despite the difficulties currently of going to parts of Asia Pacific or China. But China and India are critically important now and will be in the future.

Like most British people, I’m appalling with languages. If I were starting again, I would focus very much on code and technology and engineering, and also on languages, particularly Chinese, in addition to English, and maybe Spanish.

I was fortunate – I was partly educated (or miseducated as my mother used to say) in America, so I got more of an international view, if not a global view. (In the 1960s although the US talked about global business, Proctor at that time was a big multinational with 10 percent of its revenues coming from outside the US. Global business had not really mushroomed like it did when the economist Ted Levitt got to grips with it in the 1980s with his globalisation pieces.)

So that’s what I think I would do differently. I would certainly still do the education I did. I was lucky enough to get into a great university in the UK, and one in America, and to do it immediately. I didn’t do work experience, which maybe was a mistake – maybe the best thing would have been to have had two years of work experience in between the first degree and post-graduate. But apart from that one qualification, I think, that’s what I’d do [today].

What’s your favourite thing about your current job?

I think it’s the growth of S4. If I think back, Saatchi was about globalisation, WPP was about the continuation of globalisation and the beginnings of technology. The great thing about S4 is that we continue to grow – I think that’s the most exciting thing about it. I’m not looking at my boots – I’m looking at the sky.

I think the clients we work with and the fact that 50 percent of our business is technology or technology orientated is a spectacular advantage. And I don’t want to lose that advantage, so we will continue to maintain that technological focus. We’re not making technology, but we’re deploying it for our clients in the most effective way to grow their top line. The biggest issue our clients face is top line growth and we’re in the business of stimulating top line growth – not just theirs, but our own too. Your outlook on life is very different if you’re growing at 46 percent than if you’re growing at two or three percent.

What do you think is your own secret talent?

That’s a difficult one. I guess a bull-headed persistence! I don’t know whether that’s a secret or not. But it’s persistence. It’s not brain surgery, certainly!

Where do you get your daily news from?

When I wake up in the morning, I switch on Squawk Box, whether I’m in London or New York. So, I’m gazing at [presenters] Ross Sorkin, Quick and Kernen in the US. At the moment, they’re talking about Charlie Munger [the American investor]. Here, it’s {presenters] Steve [Sedgwick] and Geoff [Cutmore] and everybody at Squawk Box in the UK. And then I tend to read the daily financials online – I don’t read them physically anymore – so The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times probably.

Breaking news I read throughout the day. There are some of the newsfeeds that I look at and I look at some of the general press – the New York Times or the Washington Post in the US or The Times or The Telegraph, The Guardian, or The Independent in the UK. I don’t read as many weeklies as I used to. I used to be religious about reading The Economist, the Investor’s Chronicle, Fortune, Business Week – all these I would go through page by page.

One of the things I find irritating about online is, I’m of an age where I worry about whether I’ve looked at every headline. So, through the day I pick up the newsfeeds, and then in the evening, before I go to bed, I watch Newsnight in the UK. In the US, it used to be Charlie Rose [former televisions journalist], but it it’s a bit more difficult to find the parallels. There are the news services there that I’ll drift off to sleep watching. But here, it’s nice to go to bed with [Newsnight’s] Emily Maitlis!

Which media brands are most important to you?

Well, the ones that I’ve said, and it would tend to be CNN when I’m traveling. Bloomberg, I use quite extensively as well. In South America – Argentina, in Uruguay and Colombia, where I’ve been just recently – access to CNBC is a little bit more limited, so I tend to look at CNN and Bloomberg more. It tends to be the financial brands that I focus on most. I listen to radio at bit. When I walk to work, I might listen to Bloomberg Radio or Times Radio (Goodness knows why they don’t take advertising, but maybe that’s to come). So, I listen to some news brands, but essentially it tends to be around the financial or daily newspapers.

I don’t suppose you have time for any podcasts in your life, do you?

I do, occasionally. Scott Galloway – I like that. I mean, it got a little bit too much: the rants [between] Kara Swisher [Tech Journalist] and Galloway [NYU professor] every week were good, but it doesn’t matter what they’re talking about, the tone is the same, so it gets a little bit tiresome after a while. But it’s quite entertaining, quite fun and good practice if you ever get into a conversation with Scott Galloway, which I recommend you don’t – he can be extremely difficult!

How do you switch off?

I don’t! There’s the Shankly quote, which I haven’t used for a number of years, something to the effect that football is not a matter of life and death – it’s more important than that. S4 is not a matter of life and death, it’s more important than that. So, the answer is, I don’t.

You’ve never seen the boundaries between so-called work and so-called lifestyle? Is it one and the same for you?

I think that’s fair. And I think that, probably, some people find that rather tiresome. But yes, I think that’s true. Remember what my dad said – you should do something that’s fun. It’s not work; it’s what you’re interested in. You asked me about why I’m interested in the industry: because it’s interesting, stimulating, it’s ever-changing, fast-moving. You wake up in the morning, you read what’s in your email feeds or texts, and things you didn’t think were going to happen when you went to bed the night before have happened.

The other thing about our industry is that it touches so many things. It touches society, culture, politics, every corner of the world, every nook and cranny. So, it’s relevant everywhere, every country, in every region, in every area of activity – it can be to B2C or B2B; it could be government. It’s just all embracing. So, it’s a great industry from that part.

The problem is there are still so many people that look back with rose-tinted spectacles to what happened many, many years ago, whether it be in the era of Mad Men, Don Draper or whoever. But it’s really interesting and it never fails to entertain and stimulate, and it’s not boring!

Finally, who or what inspires you?

My dad, obviously, and then a man called Sir Jules Thorn, who founded Thorn Electrical, [one of the UK’s largest electrical businesses] was a mentor. He came from Vienna between the two wars, an Austrian émigré, founded Thorn Electricals and built it up into a wonderful company – it’s no longer, unfortunately, but it was wonderful. And then, Arnold Weinstock, [the business man] who built the English GEC.

These are two people, my father knew because he was in the radio and electrical industry, so it was really through him that I met them. I had the opportunity of talking to Weinstock several times before he died, and about what he did and what he didn’t do. Also, Phil Reese, a lawyer at Davis and Gilbert, one of the leading advertising lawyers, who was not just a lawyer or a counsel, but was a good friend. After my father died, to some extent he replaced him.

If you look around now, I think [Elon] Musk and [Jeff] Bezos are extraordinary. Not just because of what they’ve done with Tesla and Amazon, but the fact they’ve done it in multiple fields. I can just about focus on S4 or WPP or Saatchi’s, but I can’t conceive of anybody being able to do Tesla and go to the moon or Mars, and do a Hyperloop and everything else, and Bezos not doing dissimilar. Richard Branson [Founder of the Virgin Group] is similar in a way, but the scale at which Bezos and Musk have operated at is extraordinary.

Somebody asked me yesterday how many companies in the FTSE 100 are in the hundred, most liquid companies, tradable companies in the world? And the answer is zero. Tesla – well over a trillion-market cap, one of six companies, I think, over a trillion – trades almost as much every day as major exchanges.

When one thinks about what these people have done, and they come in for some criticism in various aspects, but the ability of their minds to morph from one to the other. And Musk is even more incredible because he hasn’t retired as CEO of a Tesla. He carries on, yet he’s doing all the space exploration at the same time. Yuri Milner, the Russian internet investor, would be another one who has managed to stretch his brain to many, many other areas.

The other person I’d have loved to have met is Golda Meir [Israel’s first female Prime Minister] – I see that Helen Mirren is going to play her in a film. That’s probably the one person I’d have really liked to have met.

On that last question, you obviously know lots of the media entrepreneurs and giants of the day. Are there any one of those who stand out as being inspirational?

Rupert Murdoch [Chairman & CEO, News Corp], head and shoulders. You’d have to say Bob Iger [CEO, The Walt Disney Company 2005-2020] as well on the other side of that deal, but Rupert Murdoch’s timing is incredible. You’ve got to remember the roots of that company were in Australia, so it’s quite extraordinary. The fact that the Fox-Disney deal was incredible and look where it is now. He understood it was a global business and he was the first global media mogul.

I met somebody in Uruguay who ran one of the companies that Iger bought. I asked, what it was like? And she said the way that Disney managed creative talent was absolutely superb. If she needed to get anything done, if there were any blockages or whatever, all she did was, was called Bob and he would get it done. So, I would say for entrepreneur, Murdoch and then for manager / owner-manager, I would say Iger.

Thanks for your time, Sir Martin, and for launching My Media Life for us.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

My Media Life – Atalanti Moquette, Founder, Giving Women

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Welcome to My Media Life, where we chat with the movers and shakers in the world of business, marketing, and media to find out how they spend their days and what has influenced their lives.  Here we speak to Atalanti Moquette, Founder, Giving Women.

What’s the first piece of media you remember?

The Cuban Missile Crisis – shows how old I am. Mind you I was 8 years old!

What are your most trusted media sources and where do you go to for inspiration?

The New York Times, The Economist, the New Humanitarian, The Times of London, BBC, HeidiNews.

How do you switch off from being ‘always on’?

I read fiction – it’s is my escape into other worlds, other lives,

How did you get to where you are today?

I am not sure where I am? Curiosity, a desire to give back, taking risks, always open to learning, working with young people putting myself in situations which are outside of my comfort zone, learning from others, being open and ready to share, passion.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out?

Get out of your comfort zone and find your passion

What’s the one source of media you’d take with you to a desert island?

A radio

Thank you![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Survey shows content-led marketing budgets expected to rise in 2022

82% of respondents choose to amplify content through trusted digital media channels 

The World Media Group, a strategic alliance of the world’s leading media brands, today released its annual content report: Global Content Marketing Futures. The survey, which questioned key influencers across advertisers, agencies, media brands and consultancies, focused on budgets and implementation strategies as the world emerges from the impacts of the pandemic.

Trusted digital media and paid social top platforms for amplifying content

According to the survey, the most popular platforms for amplifying content campaigns last year were trusted digital media and paid social channels, each earning votes from 82% of our respondents. Future spending, particularly across these platforms looks positive. Content-led marketing budgets are expected to rise over the next 12 months with the majority of advertisers expecting to increase their investment in paid social (47%), followed by trusted digital media channels (38%). One hundred percent of advertisers said they expect to maintain or increase their investment in trusted digital media channels in the year ahead.

The open programmatic marketplace is currently the least popular platform for amplifying content with just 24% of respondents using it, although 26% of advertisers plan to increase investment in the year ahead.

Context is still key in ‘always on’ world

The majority of advertisers (62%) believe it’s important to be ‘always on’ for their customers. The favoured strategy is to use brand storytelling to build long-term engagement with audiences, so that when the time comes for decision-making, their brand is front of mind. Fifty-six percent of advertisers said they’d implemented this approach.

There’s still a clear belief, however, that context it is important for providing the right engagement and impact for brand storytelling, with advertisers rating this at 8.8 out of 10 on a sliding scale of importance, and agencies, media owners and consultants rating it at 8.9.

“After a challenging couple of years for the industry, it’s encouraging to see advertisers choosing to increase their investment in content-led marketing, particularly across trusted digital media brands,” said Belinda Barker, Chief Executive of the World Media Group. “It is testament to the fact that, even in the ‘always on’ world, cut-through and engagement for brand storytelling can only be achieved in the right context.”

What’s a content-led campaign best for?

Whilst the majority of advertisers (41%) believe that the content-led approach is best for building brand engagement, most of our agency leaders (37%) believe that it can be best for changing brand perceptions. A small majority of media owners (33%) believe that advertisers can use the content-led approach to demonstrate thought leadership, but 31% also believe it is best for brand engagement.

What are the best KPIs for measuring content?

Given that advertisers believe that the content-led approach is best for brand engagement, it’s not surprising that time spent with the content was a main KPI for the most number (23%) of advertisers. It’s interesting to see that a shift in brand perceptions is considered a main KPI by the same number of advertisers, even though they didn’t rate that as an advantage of the content-led approach. The shift in brand perceptions was the main KPI cited by the most agencies (43%) and media owners (34%).

Creative’s next big thing

When asked to predict the most engaging creative approaches moving forward, there was consensus that success was less about specific formats, and more about concept and context, or leveraging existing formats in a new and distinctive way. That said, audio and podcasts featured strongly – notably more than AR and VR which, compared to our previous surveys, suggests a reversal of opinion. Respondents also expressed concerns about an over-cluttered branded content environment, with many respondents referencing the need for closer integration with editorial content.

New talent looks positive

Also looking to the future, respondents were asked how confident they were in the pipeline of creative and talented rising stars joining the international marketing, advertising and media sector. Sixty-six percent of respondents were quite or very confident that the creative and innovative future for international, content-led marketing was safe in the hands of the new talent entering the industry.

The research was carried out by the World Media Group, whose members include The Atlantic, BBC Global News, Bloomberg Media Group, Business Insider, The Economist, The Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune, National Geographic, The New York Times Company, Politico Europe, Reuters, Smithsonian, TIME, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and partner: Permutive, to provide context for the World Media Awards for cross-border, cross-channel content campaigns, which close for entry on 12th May 2022. The full report can be downloaded here.

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About the Survey

The World Media Group carried out the survey between 5th January and 9th  February 2022.  Responses were encouraged through emails and social media outreach to our global contacts.  We received a total of 262 responses: 21% of responses were from brand advertisers, 38% were from agencies, 27% from media brands, and 14% were from other types of organisations, such as consultancies working with clients on international content marketing.  Our respondents represented a breadth of business sectors and were responsible for making decisions for marketing campaigns all around the world.

About The World Media Group

The World Media Group is an alliance of leading international media organisations that connect brands with highly influential audiences in the context of trusted and renowned journalism.  Our members share the same values and principles, and we promote their many synergies whilst championing the role of trusted international media.

About The World Media Awards

Organised by the World Media Group, the World Media Awards celebrate the creativity and effectiveness of cross-platform, cross-border content-driven advertising.  With an independent jury of international brand and agency leaders and content publishers, the Awards are recognised by the WARC Media 100.  Our co-Chairs for the 2022 Awards are Hamish Goulding, Head of Global Brand Strategy for HSBC, and Ritu Lakhanpal, Managing Partner for IPG Media Brands.