Brands need to demonstrate how they are open more than ever: Nick Foley, Landor
Foley, President of Landor Southeast Asia Pacific & Japan, talks about brand purpose, how to best use technology for branding and his learnings from being on the client-side of the table.
exchange4media recently caught up with Nick Foley, President of Landor Southeast Asia Pacific & Japan, when the regional head was in India on work.
A marketer in his previous avatar and an agency man now, Foley is uniquely poised to understand and navigate the agency world given his experience of working at Mars and Nestle. Debunking the myth that pricing is the main factor for deciding which agency wins an account, he said, “rarely in my 15 years of working in marketing, did I make a decision based on price.” He says it is tedious for brands to actually sit through multiple pitches and therefore it makes far more sense to have long-term partnerships.
In a freewheeling chat, Foley shared insights on the world of branding, how it is evolving, why agencies must say no to giving away their creative intellect, and why he thinks brands should listen to their social media communities.
Edited Excerpts:
You recently said that marketers need to be more clued into their “communities”, who have become an “influencing party” rather than acting as “cops” who fiercely guard a brand’s every asset. Can you explain this view of yours?
What we have seen, particularly since the rise of social media, is that it is much easier for consumers to have a say now. When I first started out in marketing in 1993, if somebody was not happy with your brand or what you were doing, there weren't too many options for what they could do about it. But today, if consumers are not happy, there are a lot of social media platforms where they can share their opinions. It's much more two-way now. So marketers need to think about influencing that opinion and engaging the communities. Millennials have now become the largest segment of the consumer group, and for them, everything is about interaction and being able to co-create. Brands need to demonstrate how they are open more than ever to the influence of others.
How can brands tap into their communities to create engagement?
If you look at the events of the last week, see what Nike has done with the Colin Kaepernick campaign. It is a brand that has always been quite a renegade and has always been trying things that other brands have been too afraid to. They clearly realise that sponsoring a controversial athlete would be appealing, and of course they've been able to amplify that beautifully through social media channels. What could have been just another marketing story in a week became the marketing story of the week because the President of the United States decided to weigh in on it. They've understood well what the community really wants and have a sense of what somebody is doing within a community and they've responded to that.
So there are examples of brands quickly understanding how their communities want them to pivot.
Signing on Colin Kaepernick is a risky choice, but most often we see brands playing it safe...
I think some brands play safe because there are so many areas where they can be exposed. I think an interesting example right now of a brand playing it safe, and they probably wish they haven't, is in Singapore. There is a lovely movie which has been released, Crazy, Rich Asians. The movie is based on a book. In the book, the key character flies out from New York to Singapore on Singapore Airlines, and talks about the experience of being in the first class, etc. But in the movie, that particular scene depicts another brand. It was a very good movie to be associated with because of the publicity it would have brought. Among all the brands (mentioned in the book), the only one that didn't appear in the movie was Singapore Airlines. And that, to me, is a brand playing it very safe. The movie reflects brilliantly on Singapore and so a number of brands were ready to be part of the movie. But maybe Singapore Airlines thought some of their passengers might take 'Crazy, Rich Asians' the wrong way. But actually no, they probably wished they got on. Because the publicity created was so positive.
The Colin Kaepernick ad by Nike was also political in nature. Can brands take a political stand? What do they stand to gain or lose, and how much of it is a calculated move that they need to make?
Most of the time I would advise against doing it. Leave the politics to political parties. It can be very divisive. But yes, it has to be very calculated, and normally, it would be betting on the fact that you would have a younger demographic that would be more engaged with the brand because of it. It's risky. It works, but it would be something that I would use occasionally.
What is the main building block for a brand?
Brands need to have a clear idea of their brand purpose. What is the purpose of things your brand is associated with? Creating brands is at the heart of what Landor does. Brand positioning is understanding the desire of creating a position in the minds of your target audience. For example, for the year, Nike's brand idea is ‘winning’, and everything we've seen, ties into that. If you don't have a strong idea that your brand stands for, then that's only going to create confusion, particularly with your target audience. I still believe that great brands are guided by a single-minded idea. Everything else is executional and should revolve around that brand idea.
The advertising business is under threat from management consultancies, how are design and branding agencies remaining relevant to brands during this period of churn?
Management consultancies basically come down to reducing the cost within a business. They are coming from accounting and moving more towards consulting. But the way creative agencies approach a brand is about how we feel and how the consumer feels. Branding is most impactful when you try to influence things from an emotional perspective rather than from a functional perspective. There is a quote: “the difference between function and emotion is that function leads to a conclusion, whereas emotion leads to action”.
There are three roles of a brand: first is to help a company build a foundation, second is premiumisation and the third is very occasionally salvation, so that if something goes wrong, the brand can help you get back up. So let's not delude ourselves, most of the reasons why anyone even
bothers to have a brand is so you can change the appropriate premium and very
rarely can you get to that premium through having some sort of functional
advantage, it needs to be emotional.
But are brands thinking like this? Because they do seem to want to reduce cost...
Cost reduction is part of business, but it's “fool's gold”. You can reduce costs to zero, but you can grow revenue infinitely. If I was thinking about a strategy of innovation, renovation and growth, then brands pivot to that want to look at how to take cost out. Then there's a role for that, but it's a bit of a slippery slope.
Can you tell us, from the perspective of branding, what kind of technologies are you looking at to improve branding?
We've shifted from the time of it being about the relationship with the brand and the promise of the brand to it being more about brand experience. Digital is an all-encompassing word. Hand-held mobile devices can now do much more experiential than what it has been in the past. So we need to understand what the customer journey is and the points within that where the brand can be amplified in a manner which is probably disproportionate to other touch-points.
Brand experience is very important and digital mechanisms such as apps, websites or trackers can be a way to help you get closer to your target audience. But as far as the question of why people engage with brands is concerned, the reason hasn't changed much-- Is the brand relevant? Is it different from anything else in the market? Do I have respect for the brand? And most importantly, is the brand something I can trust?
Which are some brands that you think are doing it right when it comes to use of technology?
Amazon is pretty amazing. Amazon web services are changing the fundamentals of retail very quickly. Google is also amazing. Uniqlo is doing a really good job as far as online-offline retail goes. Also Coca-Cola; so far that you don't need cash to get their products (cashless vending machine). So that's a fundamental change for them.
You've been on the client's side, what are some of the learnings from there that you apply now?
Responsiveness is critical and it astounds me when I see people from the agency side not getting back to a client within less than 24 hours. Partnerships are so important. People think clients will easily swap out on agencies. They can, but the client has to get to know another agency and build the trust again. I think, we do not place enough emphasis on long-term partnerships from the agency side. Typically, you hear that's it's all price-driven, but rarely in my 15 years of working in marketing, did I make a decision based on price.
The best way to approach pitches is to talk to a number of agencies and get a sense of their approach to the problem. Don’t ask them to solve the whole problem as a demonstration. That’s just ripping people off.
The relationship between clients and agencies is sometimes very project based, your thoughts...
I do think it is good that it is becoming project driven. One of my frustrations with the retainer model, particularly for advertising agencies, is that while there might be a month when the agency is busy and churning out a lot of work, there also might be periods when the client feels that the agency is not very busy. Whereas in the project model, there is much less room for either party to have any discontentment. But does that impact the idea and the story of the brand? I would argue no. As long as my idea and brand purpose is clear, the rest is execution.
Transcription Credit: Sudha Joshi
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
TOP STORIES
Social Beat wins SEO mandate of Tata CLiQ tag rss
The account was won after a multi-agency pitch
e4m e4m Social Beat has won the SEO mandate for Tata CLiQ, one of the fastest-growing omnichannel marketplace in India. Social Beat has been entrusted with optimizing existing content, as well as launching new, optimized category pages systematically on Tata CLiQ’s platform to scale monthly organic traffic by 2x over the next year. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced by Social Beat’s offices in Mumbai.
Shishir Kataria, Director - Marketing, Tata CLiQ, “Shoppers, e-commerce or otherwise, continue to heavily rely on search and discovery throughout their shopping journey, be it engaging with the latest fashion trends or hunting for the best buys. No wonder a platform's ability to be a part of this journey organically drives significant consideration for it amongst potential shoppers. We, at Tata Cliq, are confident that Social Beat will help us develop and optimise content that is highly discoverable to grow our engagement and revenue. Our goal continues to be to drive more and more shoppers to our platform with optimised and curated products and relevant content.”
Vikas Chawla, Co-Founder, Social Beat said, “We are thrilled to partner with Tata CLiQ in their growth journey. We aim to scale traffic to the Tata CLiQ platform manyfold over the next year. Our team of specialised SEO and Content strategists will be working closely to achieve this”
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
ShareWill OOH dazzle this festive season?
As the celebrations begin, experts tell us the trends and challenges for the OOH sector this season
Be it the flower-clad taxis in Mumbai for Made in Heaven Season 2 promotion or Zomato’s ‘kheer mangoge kheer denge’ billboards, India's OOH advertising sector has undergone substantial transformation and expansion in the recent years. Even though the medium was severely hit during the pandemic years, it has now managed to rebuild its status. Now, with the onset of the festive season, elections and the cricket world cup, OOH is expected to see more and more advertisers come on board.
Amarjeet Hudda, Chief Operating Officer, Laqshya Media Group, believes most of the clients spend a lot of money during the festive season, especially for Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali, targeting their customers in a festive mood. The categories that spend heavily during these months are Auto, Consumer Durables, Real Estate, Organised retail, and E-commerce.
According to Dipankar Sanyal of Platinum Outdoor, there was a huge surge in the festive season last year, and he expects the same this year too. “Last four to five years have turbulent for outdoor. It was picking up in 2019, but then Covid came and everything went flat for two years,” he mentioned.
According to EY-FICCI’s M&E Report 2023, OOH media grew 86 percent in 2022 to Rs 37 billion. The value includes traditional, transit and digital media, but excludes untracked unorganised OOH media such as wall paintings, billboards, ambient media, storefronts, proxy advertising.
Sharing the brand’s perspective, Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing, Motorola-APAC, said, “We are going into this festive season with a strong mix of media, including OOH. Within OOH, we are focusing on digital OOH, due to its capability of programmatic serving, measurability, and near real-time insights that allow us to be agile with the communication and optimisation of our campaigns.”
With urbanisation, improved infrastructure, rising consumerism and an increased spending power, clients' expectations from OOH advertising too have evolved. “The clients expect better ROI on every investment, best in class innovations, tech-led planning and execution. Today, technology plays an important role starting from planning the campaign, to measuring metrics to ROI,” Singh explained.
Another trend that Sanyal has observed is that traditionally advertisers looked at spending on OOH nearly two weeks prior to the festivities, but now, most advertisers have now started advertising a week earlier so that they can get maximum eyeballs. Additionally, the digital OOH advertising (DOOH) has also emerged big. The digital OOH screens increased to around 100,000 and contributed eight percent of total segment revenues.
“Now with digital, there is more space for advertisers to come in one frame. Because of this, you can see it is getting more attractive. The innovations too are coming in at a much lower cost and creating a greater impact,” shared Sanyal.
The only challenge with the medium, according to Ranjan, is OOH being a fragmented industry with lack of measurability and agility. This becomes a serious issue for ROI-centric brands. However, the growth of DOOH, which is dynamic, agile and measurable, is giving marketers the confidence to invest in the medium backed by relevant data and outcomes.
Adding to this, Hudda highlighted that availability of good media spots is the biggest challenge in this season as media assets are limited and demand is very high. Due to the gap in the festive season, many clients are not able to fully optimise their campaigns. Rather sometimes, clients are even compelled to divert their budget which adversely impacts the industry, he shared.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Banking on positive consumer sentiment: BFSI optimistic on doubling festive AdEx : Cache
Some categories within the sector, however, may spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season
The BFSI sector is expecting a surge in demand for loan during the festive season and is looking at increasing its ad spends to cash in on the celebration spirit. Industry leaders say they are hopeful of witnessing a good growth in the number of applications for auto loan, home loan, credit card and health insurance during October, November and December due to positive consumer sentiment this year. However, though most of the BFSI players are planning to double their advertising budget this time compared to the previous year, there are some who are not investing too heavily on marketing during the festivals as they plan to save the money for the fourth quarter.
According to Shailendra Singh, MD & CEO, BOB Financial, they witness incremental growth every year during the October-December quarter, and they anticipate an increase in consumer spending as well as new enrolments for cards this year too. “There remains a surge in customer demand for credit during the festive season,” said Singh.
Singh shared that the company is fully geared up for the launch of #FestiveShoppingRewards on all Bank of Baroda credit card variants under the theme ‘Reimagine Festivities’. They would kickstart festive offerings with the start of Navratri.
The festive season does not just see the demand for credit go up, but there is an increase in applications for health and motor insurance too during this time of the year.
Aabhinna Suresh Khare, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, BajajCapital Ltd, shared that among insurance products, health insurance and motor insurance reign supreme during festivals. According to Khare, the demand for mutual funds and SIPs too sees a hike.
“Overall, the festive season presents an opportune moment to secure insurance coverage. A plethora of attractive products and services are on offer, with financial institutions extending special discounts and promotions to entice new customers,” said Khare.
The company launched #BlessMeGanesha campaign during Ganesh Chaturthi. “Our goal for this festive season is not only to provide financial solutions but also to create memorable experiences and deepen the connection with our customers,” said Khare.
Though all major sectors spend heavily on advertising during the festive season, within the BFSI sector, some categories spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season.
Explaining the trend, Samir Sethi, Head of Brand Marketing, Policybazaar.com, said that the festive season has varying impacts on the BFSI sector. In the banking sector, for instance, the demand for loans surges as many individuals purchase items and undertake home renovations. Conversely, in the insurance category, the festive season doesn't result in significant changes. Instead, the insurance industry experiences its peak season after the festive period, particularly during the fourth quarter of the financial year.
“As the festive season approaches, there is a noticeable increase in car sales though, leading to a surge in the demand for motor insurance. Consequently, we see a significant uptick in the requests for motor insurance policies. During the festive period, there is an upswing in demand for various categories, such as electronics. However, in the insurance sector, this period doesn't significantly affect us, so we don't run specific campaigns targeting festivals. Nevertheless, we do roll out multiple campaigns throughout the year, and some of them may coincide with the festive season,” said Sethi.
According to the TAM AdEx report on BFSI sector across media for H1, the advertising volume of the sector grew on TV, radio and digital, but declined in the print medium. The report indicated that ad impressions on digital saw 91% rise during Jan-Jun '23 over Jan-Jun’22. The increase was 32% for radio and 4% for TV. The ad space of the BFSI sector decreased by 7% in print.
Speaking on media mix, Singh shared that BOB Financial has a good mix of customer segments belonging to Tier I, II and III. So, understanding their needs and preferred form of media channels, the company will reach out to them through relevant media promotions. “For the easy discovery of our offers, we shall have a dedicated offers page with regular promotion of top offers on our social media and other digital channels,” said Singh. Without disclosing the figure, Singh shared that the company’s promotion budget has surely increased from last year and it will be visible through their multi-channel promotional activities.
According to the TAM report, in the BFSI sector, life insurance is the leading category on TV and radio whereas mutual funds is the top category on digital.
Khare highlighted that in recent times, Bajaj Capital has observed a significant growth in audiences on online platforms and the changing preferences of their clientele. “This observation led us to recalibrate our marketing approach, placing a heightened emphasis on digital avenues,” said Khare.
He further added, “Our promotional efforts are primarily digital-focused, accentuating areas like social media engagement, search engine outreach, content-driven marketing, and targeted online advertising. As we approach the festive season, we've fine-tuned our online approach. By harnessing the insights from data analytics, we aim to grasp our clients' needs and inclinations better, ensuring our content is both tailored and pertinent.”
Khare also mentioned that Baja Capital has doubled its advertising budget compared to the previous year.
“This increase in our ad spend signifies our confidence in the opportunities this festive season presents. This impressive surge in our budget allocation underscores our dedication to maximizing the potential of this festive season and driving significant expansion within our business. We firmly believe that this increased investment in advertising will not only elevate our brand presence but also lead to an exceptional uptick in customer engagement and sales.”
For Policybazaar.com, the media strategy primarily involves a blend of television and digital platforms, an approach that has remained consistent in recent years and is expected to continue in the foreseeable future.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
OMD appoints Dileep Raj Singh as Head of Digital for APAC
Singh will report to Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC
OMD has added a Head of Digital (HOD) to its Asia Pacific (APAC) regional leadership team with the hiring of Dileep Raj Singh.
Singh is a digital native and brings with him a wealth of experience across product, media agency and client side in APAC, North America and the United Kingdom. His last 10 years have been spent building diverse digital marketing teams covering areas like performance marketing, digital media planning, ad/martech, product marketing, branding and measurement.
As HOD, he will accelerate OMD’s digital leadership agenda, rooted in helping clients address their business challenges and digital ambitions. He will be supporting OMD’s local teams in APAC on operational excellence, and digital transformation frameworks and roadmaps; and the development and implementation of our digital leadership agenda. He will also be working hand in hand with both our regional and global networks to initiate complementary workstreams for our clients in APAC.
“We will continue to invest and win in digital as part of our wider goal to be our clients’ most trusted business transformation partner,” said Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC.
“It is our global ambition to continue our leadership position in digital, data and technology. In line with this ambition, we are excited to have Singh come on board the OMD APAC leadership team. His background of agency, in-house and start-up experience position him perfectly to understand and address our clients’ business needs,” added Lee.
“Digital media and access to our audience, as we know it, is changing quite rapidly around us. This puts most of us in a delicate but remarkable position, a position from which we can shape and contribute to conversations about the next evolution of digital media. As we embark on this journey, I want to leverage the strength of the OMD network – people, technology, data, tools and platforms – to help our clients pivot and navigate through all the new and evolved possibilities in digital media. With this, I aim to position OMD as an unrivaled partner for our current and future clients; to dominate and succeed in this incredibly competitive and multifarious digital realm,” said Singh.
Singh will report to Lee, and work closely with the team including Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), David McCallen, and Chief Client Officer (CCO), Sadhan Mishra, to drive and support APAC local markets as well as regional clients on digital, data and technology needs.
Mishra was promoted to CCO of OMD APAC recently in June 2023. He will continue to be CEO of OMD Singapore, a position he was promoted into last August. Mishra has been with OMD for over 13 years and in his concurrent new role as CCO, he will focus on key client relationships, understanding their business needs and ensuring we remain a critical partner on their transformation journeys.
McCallen was elevated to the role of CSO of OMD APAC in April 2022, and was previously the CSO of OMD New Zealand for five years where he helped the agency to attain the top place in the market for new business, overall billings and award wins. Since starting in the APAC role, his focus has been on connecting and elevating strategic best practices across the region, building capabilities across a range of strategic outputs, and supporting new business growth both regionally and locally.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
test6
test
test
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
Chandrayaan 3: Brands over the Moon
Some of the best moment marketing posts on India's crucial lunar mission
The nation is in a celebratory mood with its moon mission Chandrayaan 3 making its smooth landing on the lunar surface on the evening of August 23, 2023. The Pragyan rover is in pursuit of discovering water on the moon and is a vital feat for India's ambitious space research.
To celebrate this momentous episode in Indian space research history, netizens have taken to the internet to express their excitement, hopes and fears for the nation's lunar mission. Joining them are brands who have crafted creatives to mark the historic occasion and capture the emotions of the nation who have their eyes set on the moon. Here is our pick of some of the best Chandrayaan 3-moment marketing posts.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp
BCCI rakes in Rs 4670 cr in Women's Premier League team auction: Jay Shah 26 Jan
WPL has broken the inaugural auction record of Men's IPL in 2008, tweeted Shah
As expected, Wednesday turned out to be another historic day in Indian women's cricket with BCCI having a windfall gain of Rs 4,600 crores by auctioning five team franchises for the first season, a higher sum compared to what men’s IPL franchises offered to the cricket body during the launch in 2008.
Adani, IndiaWin Sports, Royal Challengers, GSW- GMR cricket and Capri Global have won the bid, BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted.
Shah shared in a series of tweets, “Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid.”
“This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity. The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder.”
“The @BCCI has named the league - Women's Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin…”
The country's top corporates had bid aggressively for the league. Over 16 groups including IPL franchise owners, Adani group, Torrent and Haldiram were believed to be in the fray.
Given the popularity of IPL in India, the event is touted to be a big draw for all stakeholders involved.
The BCCI was reportedly expecting ₹4,000 crore gain through team auction.
It’s noteworthy that Viacom18 has won the Women's IPL media rights for Rs 951 crore for the next five years creating euphoria around the league whose first season will be held in March.
Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
For more updates, be socially connected with us onInstagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Whatsapp