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.

Marketing Insight – Crocs’ reputation had them shaking in their shoes

While Crocs first positioned itself in the market as a functional shoe used for various water activities, word soon spread about their practicality and comfortability. Crocs quickly became “the shoe” to wear when sprucing up the garden, pottering around the house and even for nurses and chefs who are on their feet all day.

It was clear Crocs had an outstanding product and if it could be marketed to a wider audience, this could really accelerate the growth of its sales. Crocs had one key challenge it had to overcome first: moving brand perception away from “fashion disaster”. 2008 was a difficult year, Crocs faced a total net income loss of 185 million dollars and to top it off, in 2010 the shoe brand was included in the list of 50 Worst Inventions in Times Magazine. Even in 2016, Google search rankings revealed “memes” was the third most common word linked to Crocs on the search platform. The brand knew it had to change direction and switch things up.

Media Innovation – The shoe is on the other foot

Collaborations and partnerships have played a key role in Crocs’ successful marketing strategy, with a wide range of high-profile celebrities, fashion designers and brands getting on board. Limited edition Crocs even saw the likes of KFC releasing the fried chicken Croc.

The brand’s strategic choice of celebrity collaborations has been the primary driver behind its success. Instead of opting for partnerships with celebs who are under the spotlight, the brand cleverly partnered up with legitimate fans of the brand. We saw this exemplified with the likes of Justin Bieber and Post Malone. These marketing campaigns blew up because fans of these celebs saw a genuine collaboration, rather than false advertising for commercial benefit.

Partnerships saw Crocs transform its brand perception from being a practical product to one that had entered the fashion arena. The most iconic partnership was in 2021 with Balenciaga and the $850 high heel Croc which sold out in a matter of hours. This unlikely relationship created so much buzz, leading to a ton of free PR that most brands would pay a great deal for. Love them or hate them, everyone was speaking about the Croc brand and as Demna Gvasalia, Balenciaga’s creative director, says: “fashion is subjective”.

Strategically choosing who to partner with was Crocs’ first step to collaboration success. Its second was tactfully limiting the availability of these high-profile collabs. Economics 101 states that by limiting supply you drive up demand and Crocs certainly capitalised on this theory. By deliberately constraining product supply, consumers are driven to buy these Crocs as quickly as possible before they sell out. The best example of this was with Bad Bunny’s Crocs, which sold out within 16 minutes and led to 1,300 fans signing a petition for Crocs to release more.

While Crocs saw huge success from these high-profile collaborations, it didn’t ignore the importance of smaller influencers too.  Crocs knew that by focusing on micro-influencers, it could appeal to a wider and more engaged audience. Whilst these influencers may have a smaller following, their followers are usually extremely loyal. The inclusion of influencers into Crocs’ marketing campaigns meant that social media played a critical role. Influencer’s weren’t the only people showcasing Crocs across social media platforms, the brand also encourages its customers to share their love for Crocs.  The “Come As You Are” campaign urged people to share what makes them unique with the hashtag #ComeAsYouAre. This user-generated content builds trust and acts as free advertising for the brand. To further broadcast the campaign, Crocs created a musical style ad with brand-ambassador Drew Barrymore singing the lyrics “get comfortable in your own shoes”.

Accelerating Growth – Hitting the ground running

Since 2017, when new CEO Andrew Rees joined the brand, the success of Crocs’ marketing efforts is undeniable with a long list of positive results and achievements. The brand went from the 50 Worst Inventions list in 2010 to Amazon’s number one best-selling product across clothing, shoes and jewellery in 2022. Two years after Rees joined, Crocs jumped from 30^th to 13^th most popular footwear brand amongst American teens.

Popularity surveys aside, Crocs’ figures speak for themselves. The brand saw huge success after being unprofitable for four out of eight of the years between 2009 and 2016. Not only did its revenue double between 2019 and 2021, but its net profit also increased five-fold. Many cynics suggested the cause of this success was purely due to fact that people were sourcing an “at home” pandemic shoe, and growth wasn’t sustainable. But Crocs proved this theory wrong when it saw year-on-year net revenue grow 54% in 2022 and a further 11% in 2023.

Having powered through the notion of being a “pandemic fad”, it is still up for debate whether Crocs will wind up just another dated fashion trend. However, the brand has proven the power of partnership marketing. It’s seen great success by widening its audience and aligning itself expertly with the right influences and brands. Whether you love them or hate them, what was once considered an ugly shoe is now a fashion statement.

What led you to a career in media?

Before media, I started my professional career working in a benefit office, earning a big whopping £8k. I decided to renew my typing skills in order to become a secretary, and off the back of this in 1987 I secured an interview at Saatchi & Saatchi for a PA role at Roy Jeans. Luckily, I was offered the role, and from this, I had my foot in the media door! So, there I was, working for the largest, most well-known agency in the world, absolutely shi**ing myself with zero confidence whatsoever. It was like an episode out of Mad Men: people shouting, hustle and bustle wherever you looked and a constant flow of champagne. If it taught me anything it taught me to have a can-do attitude. I would be asked to do almost anything; I was once tasked to get a horse into a board room for a pitch! In the days with zero internet, scrolling through the yellow pages was my go-to, followed by a trip to a stables near Hyde Park to vet (not literally) the horse…but I simply made it happen. That horse was in the bloody board room.

I also mastered the art of becoming tougher than I thought I was. I’m sure this came across in an “arsey” way, but it was sink or swim and I was determined to get swimming and never bloody stop. This attitude got me to where I am today. In 1988 Zenith was formed and from S&S I secured another PA role at Zenith. After settling in and finding my feet I quickly realised that I could easily turn my hand to media, so I opted to hound someone pretty senior (a director) in a slightly cocky manner, and it paid off! I found myself as the new media assistant and the rest is history!

I am now heading up investment at MI, responsible for helping clients with innovative and commercial solutions, all whilst navigating the media world and leading our investment teams.

What is it that you love about media and agency life?

Since the ‘get a horse into a board room’ days, I have worked in agencies ever since. 30 years may have gone by, but I have never stopped developing my love of media and the people within the industry. It’s an industry that is continuously evolving. New media developments and opportunities are cropping up left right and centre. It means that (almost) anything is possible and those brands and clients that dare to, have the option to be bold and brave and we as media professionals can show them the way. Agency life and the industry more generally is fast paced. This week in fact, I saw two media owners, one I had never even spoken to before, and there were so many points during the meeting that ignited new concepts that could be adopted in order to get our clients names out there. It’s important to be out and about meeting people, to keep ideas fresh and collaborate with others.

Whilst the industry does come with its ups and downs, I simply love it! The can-do attitudes, new ideas, the collaboration and of course the people make me have multiple ‘pinch me’ moments. I wouldn’t think twice about working anywhere else, media really has made me into the person I am today.

What advice would you give to someone looking to go into the world of media?

Firstly, remember that you are in the driving seat, and its YOU who is responsible for your journey and career. Don’t be blinkered and always show a level of tenaciousness. See the opportunities and grab them by the balls. Even if there isn’t a current opportunity but you have an idea of where you want your career to go or what you’re interested in, tell people what you want and whilst you may feel uncomfortable, you do occasionally have to push people.

Oh, and one final piece of advice is to find your own fame and fortune. You will work with great people throughout your career, so take the learnings, tips and advice from those you meet whilst crossing paths and in doing so, be brave, after all, fortune favours the brave!

What mistakes have you learnt from the most?

Apart from when I was a press buyer and I booked a campaign in twice and overspent by 200k, I don’t have many stand out mistakes, but a lot of life lessons I have gained over the years. Oh, and I rang the media owner as soon as I messed up with that campaign and guess what? It was all sorted. Those relationships are important, so invest your time into them!

But as I was saying, life lessons… I have in my career allowed myself to be the small person in the room and be bullied. I was at a place within my life and career where I was a scared deer in the headlights and it was a horrible situation which I had zero clue how to get out of. In any industry there will be great managers and also some awful ones, but no one preps you for the latter. Navigation would have been key in this situation, so I do regret learning my navigation skills just that little too late.

I do also question whether I am political enough. In larger agencies people who are more political played the game and in the long run did slightly better, but I do feel I am in a good place and my outlook on things has improved massively. Even looking back at my darkest moments, I still think of the industry as fondly.

Do you have a dream client or an ad campaign you particularly love?

Whilst I do not have a dream client, I think everyone in the world of media greets clients with open arms when they are not risk averse but instead enable agency professionals to shape & mould ideas to prove how bold and brave moves work.

As for ads I love, I was watching a Channel 5 documentary a couple months ago that showcased the top ad campaigns of 70’s and 80’s. It shed light on the creativity of the likes of Milk Tray, McDonalds and Nescafe and how their ads told a story.  In the Nescafe ad, the characters fell in love and got married. Milk Tray’s made the chocolate out to be secretive and daring and tapped in to how that makes people feel. The McDonald’s ad didn’t even state its name, just the use of very arched eyebrows meant consumers knew it was the golden arches!

Who is your role model and why?

My role models (plural!) are all the lovely women who I’ve met through the industry and solidified lasting friendships with. Whilst we have been there throughout each others’ career progression (one is now an MD), we have also been at each other’s side through the turbulences of life. Whether it be having children, redundancies or serious illnesses. Despite all this, we always manage to put the worlds to right and in doing so we are forever guffawing with laughter. It’s a group that is so tightly glued together and we all have the same outlook and drive in life, we push the boundaries and care deeply about other people along the way. Girl power!

Marketing Insight – Avon’s well-timed glow up in the saturated beauty industry

The beauty brand is currently ranked the fourth largest  beauty company in the world and has always prided its brand identity as “empowering women by providing them with earning opportunities, to be financially independent and to work from the comfort of their homes”. Despite the brand being so iconic and well-known, it is often categorised as “used by my mother” or people are aware of the brand but never consider purchasing the products. There is no doubt that the beauty industry is severely saturated and whilst Avon holds market shares and brand awareness,  it does come up against tough competition. To deal with this issue and feel more “modern and contemporary”,  Avon rebranded in 2023, focusing on “Embrace Your Power” and has implemented a multichannel digital strategy and reach wider and broader audiences, all whilst keeping its personalised face-to-face service to blend into its new yet classical image.

Media Innovation

Spreading the brand identity both virtually and physically

Avon like other big beauty brands opted to work with well-known influencers, such as beatboxer Hamza who highlighted how Avon’s products provide her with the confidence to perform. These advertisements spanned across advertisements on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with each channel providing its own unique reach and connection to various audiences. TikTok for young trendsetting, Instagram for owning the best pool of pulling beauty data and Facebook as a connection with its Avon representatives. Using a mixture of media channels can allow brands to gain further exposure, and in Avon’s case, they targeted each individual channel accurately.

Pushing further digital strategies

Whilst the various platforms enabled Avon to share its voice, it still needed to fill the gaps of capturing new audiences and user habits from each channel  in order to push its messaging that bit further. The use of influencers and direct message ads on Messenger and WhatsApp were integrated into the campaign. Building connection was key and the voices of key opinion leaders in the beauty category are an expansion of the brand’s image. Regarding Messenger and WhatsApp advertising, Avon created a digital shoppable brochure called “Avon On”, which digitalised the whole purchasing system. The clever movement here is, it still has Avon representatives to complete the buying, so a mixture of traditional and online purchasing come together to become more inviting for broader age groups. Broadening into online shopping channels such as Amazon has allowed for growth into subscription models, generating a new revenue stream.

 In-store experience expansion

Avon not only made movements online but also opened new stores for consumers to immerse in the in-store experience.  Shops opened across Europe, America and Africa, expanding the franchise in retail. Partnering up with retail giants such as Amazon and Superdrug further increased the brands awareness and taking the omnichannel strategy from brand into conversion.

Accelerating Growth – finding beauty in the process

One of Avon’s main goals of this transformation was to meet the customers’ needs.  Leveraging various channels allowed Avon to open opportunities for more A/B Testing and product recommendations, all whilst demonstrating how vital personalisation really is.  This spans across identifying audience behaviour, building cooperation between social platforms, unearthing the most profitable consumers and targeting them directly. The physical shops were able to open successfully due to these trials and data reporting. Avon has now launched stores across 26 different countries and is able to observe trends from representatives within 5-mile radius range of Superdrug. “Finding things, reviewing quickly, getting the data and then building a strategy around it is definitely a big part of how we want our operation to unfold.” – Alex Long, Avon’s chief commercial marketing officer. The strategy and technology they have used is not complicated but comprehensive. By opening into multi online channels, it’s still on its way to prove that they are not only classical, but also contemporary, good value and understand the audience it needs to resonate with today.