Glyn Shadwell

Is the answer to the race to the bottom for agencies to become more consultative ? Excellent provocation as always from Omar Oakes who makes some great points about the lack of challenging behaviour in agency/client relationships today and the lack of growth in revenue leading to decline in agency fees. There’s a lot going on here. My tuppence worth from the purview of running a media agency group then setting up and growing a marketing consultancy for the last 4 years: * Holdco agencies lost their way when they 1) started to take a principle not agency approach to media buying 2) started to compromise the craft of planning * Creative thinking and innovation has suffered as a result - too much sameness in strategy and reliance on performance marketing * It’s not about brand/the big idea OR data driven activation, it’s about AND i.e finding the right balance and impact from both but most agencies are so siloed they can’t join this up * There’s a big difference between being “consultative” and being a consultant. The latter is focused on business outcomes and the levers that deliver revenue growth not all the noisy media and advertising metrics. This is as much about process and capabilities as it is about platforms and spend.. * Agencies in general commoditise their service and struggle to get paid fairly for the strategic and transformative work - this is largely client and not agency driven and marketers need to be prepared to pay accordingly for genuinely differentiating analytics, strategy and innovation.. * Consultancies scope precisely and instil a robust project management, gated approach to projects minimising scope creep and enabling value based pricing discussions Agencies are full of incredible talent who want to help their clients grow but too often the commercial constraints in the agency business get in the way of good work and partnership. When we consult we see great thinking and talent but it’s often the contractual constraints and the siloes that get in the way.. The major gap we see at CvE - Marketing Consultancy is between the high-level operating model and transformational thinking of the management consultants and the often narrow advertising/media/campaign thinking of most agencies. Brands need expert marketing and media practitioners to bridge this gap or else the promised revenue growth never materialises. This is an opportunity for everyone in the ecosystem but mostly those that lean in to client-led, business outcome focused thinking. Bravo Brian Jacobs & Nick Manning for continuing to bang this important drum and Omar for focusing on journalism focused on the issues that really matter..

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Today's Q1 2024 @IPA Bellwether report showcases a resilient UK marketing landscape, with events and experiences remaining the standout performers with a record expansion. This resilience demonstrates businesses' strong desire to connect with customers, recognising the power of experiences to enable them to achieve this, as well as being a powerful tool to drive their bottom line. Long-term brand building should remain at the forefront amid rising promotional spending. Aligning brand experiences across the different touchpoints with core values and harnessing authentic content created from experiences fosters trust and engagement, and is crucial for navigating the dynamic marketing environment. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eGTDPyN4 #ImaginationGLBL #IPABellwether #UKmarketing #brandexperience #experientialagency #creativeagency

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Recent Jaguar ads are the result of hype getting in the way of core advertising principles. We are at the height of this problem where the packaging of the direction (eg purpose, cultural relevance etc..), and of many agencies’ approach to their work disregards the quality of the ads and the creative. The greatest modern artists understood ‘the basics’. Our business has a strong list of those principles from its deep and rich history. This effort is ‘hype’ without principles. I’m not even commenting on if it’s woke or not. Just not good advertising. Maintain basic principles AND be fresh. That’s the job and it’s not easy. #creativitymatters

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Digital advertising spend is becoming more diverse. Podcast ads, social video and connected TV have made gains according to the 2023 IAB/PwC Digital Adspend report - though Search remains the bedrock. #IABUK #Digital #adspend

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'Proprietary Media' (or 'Principal) is a hot potato in our industry right now. A new report from the Association of National Advertisers is a great, in-depth guide to the pros and cons, with very good recommendations for advertisers. Here I go into the cons and cons and argue that it is bad for everyone and ultimately the Media Agencies themselves. I call it 'unprincipled' media. As the WFA meets in Toronto for Global Marketer Week the health of the advertising industry should be on the agenda. Advertisers may not be able to solve issues such as climate change, but they can take actions with a more immediate impact on the well-being of the people who service their needs through how they spend their money. The news piece contains the ANA report can be found here https://lnkd.in/geKeFjBX All comments welcome, as ever.

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Today's all-new Cog Blog on how a simple example based on newspaper audiences illustrates many of the issues faced within today's media planning and buying business. Or should that be media buying and planning business?

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This is an excellent visualisation from the DMA (Data & Marketing Association) UK of how integral maturing your approach to measurement is to delivering successful business outcomes. If you're not already planning for it, you should be. It will be one of the most significant drivers of future effectiveness for you.

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In the latest episode of the IAB UK podcast, Dave S. sits down with Sophia Haynes and James Chandler to talk about the IAB's newly launched Environmental Sustainability FAQs, it's rationale, and how we at GroupM UK are using them day-to-day. Listen here 🎧 https://lnkd.in/eTDyKXGD #GroupMUK #Sustainability

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Nick Manning has an excellent piece (https://lnkd.in/ebjX_YUF) in The Media Leader today on how agencies make money on what I always knew as broking and which today has been relabelled 'Principal-Based Media', presumably in the hope that that makes it alright...! There's a danger that Nick's points will be dismissed by many as the mechanics of media buying, the dark arts perfected by the few in order to squeeze a better deal for their clients by the agencies. As Nick shows it's nothing of the kind. And it's far more concerning than that. If you accept that the agency can act as a broker, or reseller of media space and time then you have to accept that the media agencies doing this are no longer objective in their recommendations; that their plans are not worth the paper they're written on; and that measuring the advertising's effect by channel is no longer possible. Trading media becomes just like trading a commodity. If you think that 'media' is more than a commodity defined by largely meaningless numbers on a spreadsheet, that instead 'media' is an integral component of advertising; and that creativity and craft matter, then you can join Nick and me (and an increasingly large group of supporters from all corners of the ad business) in the 'Advertising: Who Cares?' movement, and maybe join us at our event in September. Mail me on [email protected] or Nick on [email protected] for more details. Geraint Davies Julia Linehan

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Don't know where to start or what are the benefits of 'CTV' ... your not alone! Our latest report helps demystify and offers practical guidance. Please drop me or the team a line if you want to chat but definitely download the report! 👇

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B2B buying behaviours are evolving - is your strategy for generating demand aligned with the current trends and needs in the #B2Bmarketplace? ​ Download the knowledge today for valuable insights on keeping your #demandgeneration tactics relevant to today's B2B customers 💡 https://lnkd.in/ed-wc4M9

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Really grateful to two market-leading Editors of subscription-led businesses and terrific ex-colleagues of mine, Catrin Griffiths and Alastair McLellan, for spending time with me last week on B2B content strategy. If you want to watch on-demand there is a link below. Highlights for me included: Impact on content strategy of the move to a paid subscription business model 17min46 Building a high value B2B content proposition 14min02, 23min05, & 31min29 How to motivate editors & editorial teams 29min42 & 50min47 Removing Print as a platform 45min02: https://lnkd.in/gbwftfwR

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Our Croud report in partnership with Raconteur | B Corp™ is LIVE! We surveyed 1,000 CMOs and CFOs across the UK and the US to understand how as marketers we can unlock greater budgets and achieve more, working with the Raconteur team to write up a tidy report to digest easily for senior marketers. *Key themes include*: 💰 Which digital marketing channels are delivering results? 📈 Demonstrating incrementality: equipping the Senior leader for success with the CFO 🚀 Understanding and conveying the value of brand-building 🤖 Practical and valuable applications of AI for marketers Of course, this report doesn't just apply to CMO. Other senior marketers looking to prove commercial value against marketing activity and essentially look amazing in front of senior stakeholders - this also applies to you. Hope you enjoy. #CroudxRaconteur #CMOguide #MarketingInvestment Shout out to digital marketing evangelist and our Chief Strategy Officer Avinash Kaushik who features heavily in this report. As well as Carly Price and Rebecca Edge for working on pulling this all together with team Raconteur. https://lnkd.in/ewCRy-YP

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Today's all-new Cog Blog is unusual. First it comes from two of us, myself and Nick Manning (ex Manning Gottlieb, OMD and Ebiquity). Second it's got a point to it. We are seriously worried about the threat from various quarters to the craft of advertising (creative and media) and the failure of our industry's biggest players to face up to the challenges we all face. Indeed, we suggest many are part of the problem. We've decided to do something about it and we would like as many who share our concern to join us. At the moment we are at a planning stage (as we explain in the post); how far we take this does depend on the level of support our ideas generate. We urge you to read the post; and if what we're suggesting resonates with you then let us know. Talk about it, comment, share as widely as you can. We hope this will be the start of something.

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Brian Jacobs and I tend to write and talk about the same themes, so we thought it might be good to convene like-minded people to share ideas about how we Make Advertising Great Again (without the red baseball caps). We all know what the issues are so we don't need to elaborate, but we would like to discuss practical solutions. Read Brian's blog and if you're interested in being part of the discussion, our contact details are therein.

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We have partnered with Mi3 to survey Australia's top marketers, gaining valuable insights into drivers and obstacles to growth. Follow the link to download the report. Let us know what you think. Jen Davidson Anthony Gregorio Paul McIntyre

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The brilliant James Morrison sharing the headlines of the Laithwaites Wine Medialab Group adam&eveDDB double gold winning IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) effectiveness award at the Effectiveness Conference 2024. Great debate with simeon duckworth Jo Arden Becky France Jennifer Shaw-Sweet around the topic of ‘Seize what’s starting: the role of experiments’ Headlines from the talk: - many brands are missing an opportunity to run more experiments. - keep asking yourself what the control is. What are you comparing your test result to? - keep the story simple to get wide buy in. - commit to the journey. It will take time. - Experiments create the space to be creative! So be brave! - Use experiments as one part of a holistic measurement learning agenda. - Laithwaites have shown there is no excuse not to make a start, anyone can do it. - Download the paper! Amen! Over many years Medialab Group have established a best in class unified measurement approach and I’m always chuffed to help brands put it into play. Extra legendary status James Morrison for coming on stage holding a Medialab Group branded note book! 😎🙏

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