The January launch aligns with a key time of year for job searches when many are motivated to make career moves in their New Year’s resolutions. Research shows that Mondays are the peak for job searches so, to target candidates on their commute as they start their working week, ads will be placed across key commuter OOH locations in London including Kings Cross, Liverpool Street and Waterloo. A study by The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities claims that 7 in 10 UK adults experience ‘the Sunday scaries’, with most citing the upcoming work week as the reason. To distract themselves, Welcome to the Jungle’s target audience turns to social media, therefore the OOH will be supported by display and social across Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn.

Marketing Insight – how could McDonald’s fight growing competition?

Despite being the leading fast-food brand in the Netherlands, growing competition saw McDonald’s struggle to maintain top-of-mind awareness. In a world of convenience and snackability, in more ways than one, McDonald’s needed a campaign that would captivate and engage audiences and reinforce its key market position. 

Now, McDonald’s has some pretty recognisable assets in their armoury. You can’t miss the ‘Golden Arches’ or mistake that tuneful whistle for any other brand, but there was one other trick up Ronald’s sleeve, the iconic smell of a McDonald’s French fry! 

Media Innovation – scented billboards: is smell an underused brand asset?

So how do you capture that iconic smell and turn it into a marketing campaign? The answer? Smell-o-vision!… Well, sort of. TBWA\Neboko, McDonald’s Netherland’s advertising agency, partnered with Raúl&Rigel, a production company specialising in unusual billboards, to create an innovative scented billboard for the campaign. 

The world-first activation featured plain red & yellow billboards (in the classic Maccies colours). Not a word, picture or logo in sight as the billboards were hiding a clever secret. Equipped with an internal heating and ventilation system, the billboards released the scent of the McDonald’s fries hidden within to passers-by within five metres of the installation. Billboards were strategically placed within 200 metres of restaurant locations in the Dutch cities of Utrecht and Leiden. “We are always looking for ways to give iconic brand assets their own place in culture,” Darre van Dijk, CCO of TBWA\Neboko said, “The smell of McDonald’s French fries is one of those iconic features.” 

Accelerating Growth – McDonald’s most successful PR campaign

It’s no secret that many of us are driven by food. From the heady aromas of a coffee shop in the morning to freshly baked goods at lunch, smells trigger a hunger with a potent need to satisfy. That is exactly what McDonald’s scented billboard campaign succeeded in creating. A street survey revealed that 87% of passers by recognised the McDonald’s scent and 71% of them could distinguish the smell of French fries, demonstrating a strong brand recall. 

The campaign also triggered huge online engagement, reaching over 1.5bn in its first week and over 85,000 engagements. The result, an earned media value of €49.9 million, marked it as McDonald’s Netherlands’ most successful PR campaign. 

Could this be the start of a new kind of experiential advertising? Might we see, or rather smell, roses from bus stops promoting Valentine’s flowers, or will the smell of spiced lattes takeover tube stations during our winter morning commutes? 

What is your proudest moment at MI?

The first time I presented a post campaign analysis (PCA) at MI Media I was really nervous. I’d never been the main presenter of a PCA, in the past they had been a team effort with different people presenting different components. However, for our client RNID, I was able to take control of the whole process. I had worked really hard on the campaign and delivered great results; we delivered 12x the number of conversions we were targeted against while remaining under budget! The presentation went really well and the client was ecstatic with the results. 

What advice would you give to someone looking to become a Senior Account Executive?

Always be curious and have a thirst for the industry that you’re going into. There are so many ways you can learn more about the industry. Consider shadowing, find mentors that can coach you in their skills and go to networking events. There’s a misconception that networking is just for more senior people already in the industry, but you can find out so much about different media owners and what they do at these events.  

It’s been a tough few years for all insurance companies, with a turbulent macro political landscape coupled with national economic and environmental hurdles. This has resulted in rising premiums and tightening coverage for higher risk policies – and in some cases coverage removed altogether. In a world where insurers are often mis-trusted, this heightened pressure-cooker environment is making it more challenging than ever for brands to position themselves as a trusted partner, protecting people from disaster.

However, with climate change posing a significant risk to communities and businesses worldwide, insurers will bear a substantial share of the financial burden through claims related to natural disasters. Therefore, there are both business and societal imperatives for them to act. This includes embedding ESG into their own business operations and rewarding sustainable behaviour from policy holders.

By changing underwriting practices, insurance companies can positively impact the environment

The surge in data and increasing AI adoption is an opportunity for insurers to become a catalyst for good. The depth of data now available means quotes can be more personalised than ever before. And by utilising AI to unlock hidden insights faster, personalisation can be offered at scale. This means people will be paying the correct premiums for their situation and can build a policy with exactly the right cover. However, with trust as one of the top motivators between choosing one insurer over another, it’s important to have complete transparency about how data is being collected, used and stored.

Another opportunity for insurance companies is to encourage environmental and societal good by embedding sustainability into their underwriting practices. This could be reducing premiums for insulated homes and EVs, or business insurers offering the construction industry discounts if they apply a green chemistry approach – which reduces pollution and improves overall yield efficiency. Stealing from a different industry, Diageo recently said that when it is looking at product innovation, it always looks for the ‘and’. Meaning that a product innovation only gets developed if it benefits customers, the business AND the environment. Applying this to insurance, ultimately the best claim for all parties is the one that didn’t happen – so by rewarding practices that are better for the environment, encourage safer behaviour or more concrete operations, it’s win/win for everyone.

When it comes to media buying, targeted campaigns across all channels will reduce waste. Not only will this lower the emissions of the campaign but will also save media budgets, resulting in both increased efficiency and effectiveness. It’s also important to understand the sway the industry can have on the advertising industry. With advertising powered by the advertisers, applying pressure on media partners to be more accountable across all elements of ESG, will force the media industry to adopt best-practice ESG principles.

Finally, Garm’s Media Carbon Calculator can measure emissions across all media channels. This allows for the off-setting of emissions through investment in reforestation or renewable energy projects as an example.

The opportunities for insurers to be the catalyst for change across all areas of ESG are huge. Designed to support people and businesses at a time of crisis, they can lend their weight to change consumer behaviour, offer more tailored support to people’s unique circumstances and ensure their own business operations and partners uphold high standards.

What advice would you give to someone looking to become a data analyst or data scientist?

Don’t stop learning about evolving technologies and techniques in the data science sphere. Become very familiar with how different data science techniques are used and the value they can bring. Your learning will be accelerated through experience in the industry. There are patterns in client problems therefore, once you understand a range of solutions, you can often apply these to many problems. Starting off in a company where I was learning from experts, such as an established data team, really helped me advance my skills and experience. Don’t be scared of suggesting innovative ideas or modifications to make solutions more effective.

Who’s your role model and why?

Robbie Williams is someone who springs to mind. Mainly because, after watching the documentary on Netflix about his life, it really brought out his determination and the way he dealt with his fears. I found it inspiring how he overcame those fears. Often, he would throw himself in the deep-end and run head-first into situations. But, as he’s gotten older, he’s become more emotionally intelligent and able to understand his own emotions and feelings.

Last week, together with creative agency GOOD, we launched a new campaign, Let’s Rethink, with national charity Rethink Mental Illness. Over half a million people in the UK are severely affected by mental illness. Three in five people living with a mental illness say the fear of how others perceive them has stopped them seeking support.

Let’s Rethink aims to challenge the stigma and discrimination so many experience. One of the most difficult things about living with a mental illness can be the judgement of others. The campaign launches with a 30 second film that flips the narrative and shows that it’s not what’s going on in the minds of those affected by mental illness that makes life hard, it’s what’s going on in ours. To reach a broad audience and encourage more people to rethink their attitudes towards mental illness, we secured a media partnership with ITV for the TV advert. The advert is supported by a social campaign that will run across paid channels and Rethink Mental Illness’ own platforms.

Both the advert and social campaign direct audiences to download a free guide, created by GOOD. The guide contains expert advice and practical tips to help the UK public better understand mental illness and help end the harmful cycle of stigma.

James Harris, Director of Communications and Campaigns at Rethink Mental Illness says “People severely affected by mental illness tell us that the challenges they face – including managing symptoms and striving to access timely care and treatment – are often exacerbated by the stigma and discrimination they encounter. Although there has been increasing awareness of mental health in recent years, understanding of severe mental illness has lagged behind.

As a result, people we support continue to face discrimination at home, in schools, and in the workplace. We wanted to shine a spotlight on mental illness with an impactful, thought-provoking campaign to encourage the public to reconsider their preconceptions about those severely affected by mental illness.”

The news that Google will no longer be depreciating third party cookies has been spoken about a lot, including by our partners at Search Labs. The main takeaways are: 

• Google will still allow people to opt out of cookies permanently, there will be an impact felt by this 

• Various browsers and operating systems had already disallowed third-party cookies, meaning the AdTech industry was already shifting to other forms of identity resolutions for tracking and measurement.  

• To some degree, the drop in identifying signals will need to be replaced by modelling for both targeting and measurement  

This means that in reality, nothing much is changing… So, instead of going into more detail on why this matters, I wanted to ask a question: who does this matter to? Brands? Agencies? AdTech Vendors? Media Owners or Publishers? Who really needs the third-party cookie, or any of its alternatives, to stay in business? 

Ad Tech Vendors & Digital Publishers

The cookie has powered this section of the advertising ecosystem for years, playing a much more important role in their business models than brands’. The sheer scale of digital advertising inventory that became available as the internet grew necessitated a common way to value it at scale, in a way that everyone could use. Cookies did this by recording browser and website behaviour allowing vendors to use this information to build profiles and target audiences. However, this resulted in a model where the industry has ended up building ever more sophisticated models to game the system and chase these data signals.  

Over 50% of available web inventory is already cookieless and this is continuing to shrink, so the market has already had to adapt. AdTech vendors and digital publishers using cookie-based technology will continue to face issues in an ever-decreasing pool to identify and monetise audiences, which for advertising means fewer effective solutions. But the market is shifting. We’ve already seen several cookieless models appear and the power of first party data is becoming ever stronger.  

Contextual targeting, which prioritises the content surrounding an ad placement over the identity of a user, is one of the core ‘replacements’ for the cookie. In traditional media, a lot of value is placed on ensuring that media placements are contextually relevant. We buy certain airtime on TV at a premium because it’s contextually the most valuable. So why has digital marketing historically valued cookie-powered audience targeting above contextual relevancy? Brands and agencies certainly saw better short-term ROI when relying on cookies and AdTech vendors and publishers could certainly monetise more inventory. But in the end, did consumers get the best deal? 

So, are cookies really vital for anyone across our industry?

Cookies allowed for a huge amount of data to be collected across the web. The industry took advantage of this new and unregulated data and sold the promise of hyper targeting, competitive advantage and huge sales growth. However, we have seen over time that regulation was required, user experience has diminished, and the digital world has joined a race to the bottom for the bidding algorithm. 

So, are cookies vital?  

Well, no. Cookies have been ‘on their way out’ for a number of years anyway. We will just need to continue to adapt as an industry. Maybe we will end up with a space which delivers more creative, more engaging and contextually relevant advertising to consumers, while delivering true value to clients. 

Before the emergency

Ensure decision makers are in support:

It’s all well and good to have a champion for Emergency Response activity but, if at the point of an emerging crisis, the people who approve advertising spend aren’t aligned, then it’s a complete non-starter. We ensure that everyone is bought in to the Emergency Response approach from the get-go which saves a lot of time further down the line.

Prepare media and creative response:

Whilst we can’t know when and how an emergency will arise; we develop an informed plan for how to respond before an emergency actually hits. Engaging with media owners, developing prepared media plans and working with the creative agency to develop a template for the creative execution are all done ahead of time. Remember, with the window of opportunity being as little as a few days, time is of the absolute essence for getting activity live.

After the emergency

Provide transparent reporting:

After the crisis, sending out impact reports that show donors the difference their contributions made fosters trust and helps to develop long-term donor relationships. This may also help to combat the challenge that charities often face where donors give to the cause rather than a specific charity.

Adapt and develop your Emergency Framework:

In the first instance, a light budget test appropriate to determine whether a paid media response is appropriate. If it proves successful, the case for increased investment should be clear. However, even after an Emergency Framework has been established and implemented, we always review what can be done better. Is there a way to react even quicker to the emergency? Can a broader mix of media opportunities be explored? Is there an opportunity to engage with corporate and philanthropic donors? Charities can’t afford to rest on their laurels but should actively work to optimise the process and levels of investment to continue to make the most of these fantastic fundraising opportunities.

The window of opportunity for a charity to maximise donations around an emergency is small. Having a clear framework in place to deliver rapid advertising maximises support during the critical window when the need is greatest and public willingness to help is at its strongest.

When I was younger, back in the 1970’s, there were no real subscriptions. Getting your paper delivered daily was a kind of subscription, you paid for a week’s or month’s worth at a time.  You knew what you were getting and you could stop it at any time.

My magazine delivery of choice was Smash Hits. I loved it, looked forward to getting it, loved the in jokes and would take it to school to pore over the articles and of course… the posters.

But let’s fast forward to today: we are inundated with subscription services. A new entrepreneur comes up with a great new idea, others follow and it develops into a market of its own. Flowers, meals, beauty, booze – its endless. And of course, we cannot forget the largest subscription service of all: Netflix.

With all of them vying for our hard-earned money, what can these subscription services learn from publishing, which has long been thought of as a more traditional sector of media?

Where did the publishers’ digital subscription journeys start?

Compared to the heady days of the 1990’s, by the mid 2010’s more publishers found themselves in a quandary, losing money because of failing print circulations and declining advertising revenue.

In response to this, many publishers decided that their futures needed to be digital, without impacting the quality of journalism. Targets were set and over time the number of digital subscriptions increased. The problem became retaining subscribers. It’s rather like losing weight: getting to your goal is a long hard slog. It’s rewarding when you step on the scales and see the weight falling off. However, once you’ve reached your ideal weight, you’re then met with the challenge of keeping the excess weight off.

Using real-time audience insights fuel publishing content

The publishing industry, just like any brand should do really, is constantly asking itself: What is it that our customers actually want? Are we creating the right journalism for our customers?

To find this out, publishers are constantly gathering information about how every article published on their sites is performing and how subscribers and non-subscribers are engaging with them. As reported by Reuters, “Leading digital news organisations are developing distinct forms of editorial analytics tailored to help them pursue their particular goals… in informing both short-term day-to-day decisions and longer-term strategic development.” This shift in publishing behaviour has mean that, today, the decision on what content is published digitally no longer lies with a single editor. It is instead informed by the data, insight and engagement figures provided by readers. It is this that fuels publishers’ content.

What can other subscription services learn from this approach?

For consumers, subscriptions are brilliant… until you don’t need or want them anymore. That’s the core challenge every subscription service is ultimately up against.

I used to subscribe to a beauty company that sent me five items in a box every month. But the company never got to know me: what I liked, what I didn’t like. It didn’t ask. It continued sending me similar products that weren’t informed by any insights on my product preferences. So, when the price of the subscription went up, I realised that out of the five items, three of them went unused month after month. Then and there I decided to just stop. I didn’t need it anymore.

The two lessons I took from the publishing industry’s approach are simple, but effective. Subscriptions are about a need state, does your customer need and want your product? Get to know your customers and give them what they want. When you’ve mastered that, work to make your product the best there is.

If you don’t, there is a small window, 18 months tops, until they will simply cancel.