We’re already into February, so it seems a little late to be welcoming the start of a new year, but I decided to do it anyway in the first print edition of AdNews this year.
At the start of the year, I read a stat that made me do a double take. No, more than a double take. It was that 75% of marketing campaigns and strategies underperformed last year. Three quarters. So for every one campaign that did its job, three others failed.
The bold claim, made by the Fournaise Marketing Group – no stranger to making out-there claims – is a figure that should shock and appal everyone reading this. If 75% of campaigns are underperforming, what the hell are we doing wrong? And why so much of it?
Fournaise often publishes reports that include jaw-dropping stats about the state of marketing such as the claim that 70% of CEOs had lost trust in marketers, back in 2012. These latest are damning figures, and come from a global marketing effectiveness report that looked at more than 2.5 million marketing campaigns and strategies last year from more than 20 countries – so it seems robust.
I’m writing fresh from the AdNews Agency of the Year Awards judging and in that context I feel reassured that the 75% figure can’t be an accurate reflection of the work produced by agencies for clients. The sample of work and agencies I saw in the submissions showed a different picture.
Yes the submissions are cherry-picked for their standout performance and execution. No agency in their right mind would include a lacklustre performance in an award entry and I’m sure there are plenty of under- performing campaigns around.
However, the entries give a snapshot of work from the biggest – and smallest – agencies in Australia. The picture is not the bleak view of under performance laid out by the Fournaise Group – but a much more vivid and varied vision.
According to Fournaise it is an obsession with style over substance that leads to ineffective work. Thankfully the majority of entries I saw had plenty of both. Some were heavy on style and light on substance – others the reverse.
The winners will be announced at the Agency of the Year Awards dinner on 5 March.
And so while the Awards look back on the year past, it would be remiss of me not to also start the year by looking forward to what this year holds. But, really, how should I know? My guess is as good as yours.
All I do know is that change, as is too often recounted, is the only constant that we face. This year will be defined by the changes that the advertising industry faces and even more so by the way the industry responds.
AdNews is no different and we kicked off the year with some change of our own. This year, Paul McIntyre has stepped back from his role as editor in chief. He’s taken on a contributing editor role and will keep contributing editorially and strategically to the print magazine, our website and events. He’ll continue to be a force to be reckoned with – he’ll just spend even less time in the AdNews offices.
So as the year progresses, the AdNews editorial team myself, Pippa, Sarah, Rachael, James and our newest recruit, Nicola, will continue to learn and evolve and change along with you. Let’s get on with it.
This article first appeared in the 6 February issue of AdNews.