Cut the jargon, let’s just call it growth

If studies by the Fournaise Marketing Group are to be believed, marketers are in big trouble. Research concluded the marketing profession had a serious issue with the concept of “return on investment”. Incredibly, two-thirds of those interviewed did not think ROI required a financial result.

How is marketing as a profession to be taken seriously as a driver of business performance if we are unable to show the effects we drive?

[More from John Zeigler of DDB Group Asia Pacific, Japan and India and other senior marketers and agency professionals at The Futurist Live! 2014. Join us on 2 December for a series of presentations from leading experts and a panel discussion on key issues marketing will face over the next 12 months and beyond.]

Understanding effectiveness – and the factors that drive it – is a major challenge for marketers. Effectiveness has been confused with efficiency and this has meant marketers are chasing the wrong goals, and failing to get the most out of their marketing budgets and their agency partners.

We are seeing a slow decline of our industry because marketers are downgrading creativity and in doing so – I believe – undermining their best chance to deliver breakthrough results for businesses. This may, in fact, diminish the influence of the marketing department and potentially their personal influence as well.

At the heart of this vicious circle lies the quest for efficiency. And efficiency lies with media. Marketers ask how they can eliminate waste; how they can reach their target audiences as cheaply as possible. The assumption is the creative work or even worse, the actual ad agency, is basically interchangeable. Forget the “big idea” – the media plan calls for a 30-second spot and a radio ad.

It’s an easy trap to fall into if you’re a young client eager to deliver quick savings.

But efficiency is only half the story. There is a big difference between efficiency and effectiveness. If efficiency is about minimising the cash leaving the business, effectiveness should be about maximising the cash coming into it.

In fact, let’s just rename effectiveness and call it “growth”. Rolls off the tongue better, and speaks more directly to the CEO and CFO vernacular.

The best way for marketers to deliver growth – profitable growth delivered over the long term – is an investment in creativity. And I don’t just mean advertising creativity – business creativity can also play a big role in achieving growth.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising in the UK released a series of studies into its database of effectiveness case studies. The bottom line from these studies is that creativity is the key to effective marketing.

Brands with consolidated markets and rapidly changing data and media technology require “business creativity” – the application of creative thinking across business processes to deliver competitive advantage – not necessarily advertising creativity.

Brands are asking what can be done differently. How can they innovate through a service offering or product design? How can fresh understanding of the path to purchase unlock growth? How can brands maintain engagement with consumers beyond an ad campaign that launches and then disappears?

This thinking is a model we have started to develop for our industry recovery. I call it ECG – engaging creativity for growth.

As an industry we need to proactively engage clients by emphasising the value of creativity. We need to present ourselves as creative business experts – not just the creativity of a 30-second spot. And we need to talk about growth – how to grow brands in competitive markets, and how to maximise growth from a marketing investment. Most importantly, how to agree with marketers on growth goals that are measurable.

Correctly reframed, agencies can make this change and make the case to clients. My bet is the clients who listen will be outperforming those who don’t.

The writer is John Zeigler, chairman and CEO of DDB Group Asia Pacific, India and Japan.

Zeigler will be speaking at The Futurist Live! 2014 on 2 December 2014 at the InterContinental Singapore with other high-profile marketers and agency professionals on the future of marketing.

To book your seats for the conference, register here or contact Czarina Solomon at czarinas@marketing-interactive.com or +65 8112 6351, +65 6423 0329.

For sponsorship opportunities, contact Che Winstrom at chew@marketing-interactive.com or +65 6423 0329.

To discuss the agenda, enquire about presenting or to suggest topics, contact Andrew Davy at andrewd@marketing-interactive.com or +65 6423 0329.