Sam Howes

Diageo and Guinness continue to understand exactly what OOH is all about 🍻 #OOH delivers reach within proximity to over 3,000+ pubs and bars, Guinness' directional messaging helps you find the right one for you. ➡ As they continue to own the summer, activating on those hotter days means their display works harder than ever, owning a key category entry point which is often taken by lager and cider 💡 If you want your OOH to work hard for you, think about your triggers for purchase, which category entry points do you want to own (we can help with a recent research piece around this called 'want to take this outside') and keep your poster simple. It will work. Thanks to PHD, Jennifer Gabbarelli, Amy Papaphotis, Molly Jones, Anita Sztrizsak, Holly Fischer, James Weatherill and all involved.

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Exciting Announcement: Launching Revelation Audio Lincoln Ltd For those that don’t yet know, my journey with Tannoy has drawn to a close. The last two years have been incredible - never did I imagine that I would Launch 5 new speaker models globally. Launching the Stirling IIILZ SE & the Autograph 12 have been the biggest highlights of my career so far. I feel sincerely grateful to all those that have supported me at Tannoy internally and externally. I wish everyone connected with Tannoy all the very best leading up to the 100 Year Anniversary. However, a new adventure awaits… I am now thrilled to share that I am embarking on a new journey as the Director of my own business, Revelation Audio Lincoln Ltd. This marks a significant milestone in my career and a dream come true. Music has had a profound impact on my life for over 25 years. It's a medium that transcends boundaries, evokes deep emotions, and enriches our daily lives. With Revelation Audio Lincoln, I aim to create a space where customers can explore and experience a curated selection of the finest audio brands. My mission is to provide personalized consultations, helping each client find the perfect audio solution that resonates with their unique preferences and needs. I look forward to sharing more updates and welcoming you to Revelation Audio Lincoln very soon. I’d like to personally thank you all for your continued support and encouragement. Please feel free to share this update with your connections. #smallbusiness #startup #entrepreneurship #businessgrowth #innovation #marketing #leadership #networking #businessdevelopment #newbusiness #luxuryaudio #hifi

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Not everyone likes to hear this I know but standardisation and getting the fundamentals right are key to the success of retail media. Let’s work together as an industry to make this happen

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Day 3 of #12AdsOfXmas 🎄 is nothing to write GNOME 🏠 about. Yes, it’s the #Christmas #advert from Asda that I’m reviewing today for #AdsAlexAppreciates Positives: I love puns, so all the gnome wordplay I appreciated, but it felt forced at times. The music is strong from the A Team driving recognition and equity, and there are plenty of pop culture references like Indiana Jones and Ru Paul’s Drag Race. It’s also heavy on the merchandise - I haven’t been into Asda this Christmas yet, but I presume they have these Gnomes for sale. And if they don’t, what a missed opportunity! Negatives: Came at an odd time for Asda to imply a large workforce makes their Christmas possible when they cut a large chunk of their workforce and it was in the news. Also, too many Gnomes. Too, Too many. - Stand out: 2 (I remember Asda doing Gnomes) - True to the brand / proposition: 4 (It told me Asda has everything I need for Christmas - “Gnome more, Gnome less”) - Strong emotional hook: 0 (Nothing connected me to this advert, bar the music, but the amount of Gnomes killed out the love for the A-Team I’m afraid) - Total score: 6 Summary: Does it deliver on a bit of jolly cheer? I guess so (albeit not my cup of tea). The Elf advert featuring Will Ferrel from a few years back was so much better and really showed the power of what Asda could do, this just seems like a huge step backwards. Do you disagree? Maybe you Gnome more than me and want to tell me where my thoughts are wrong? As always, all views are my own. #brand #marketing #advertising

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The Social Revolution There was an interesting discussion yesterday hosted by WARC at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity with Grainne Wafer of Diageo's Guinness brand and Callum McCahon of its social agency Born Social. If ad agencies want to locate the source of their power dilution, they need to look deeply at social. Some key points from the conversation. 1. Guinness has always been built on creativity. In 1929, Sir Edward Guinness said we could only advertise if the quality of the advertising matched the quality of the beer. This benchmark for creativity remains today. 2. Our briefs always include the phrase "Only Guinness could, only Guinness would." When reimagining creativity for new audiences, it’s important to take the fundamentals of the past and reimagine them for the future, raising the bar of creativity. 3. In the late 2010s, media consumption changed, the media landscape fragmented, and our reliance on broadcast advertising diminished. 4. Consumption habits also changed, with a rise in premiumization and at-home behaviors. The cultural mood shifted, and some of the dark, masculine associations of Guinness no longer served us for recruiting new audiences. 5. In 2014, Mintel described Guinness as no longer being cool, so we knew we had to do something different. We focused on quality, distinctiveness, and innovation, and reimagined these with a community-first social marketing model. 6. The balance is knowing what you stand for. For Guinness, it’s quality, distinctivity, and innovation. We’ve always had three words at our core: power, goodness, and communion. These remain constant, while we reimagine them in new ways with new audiences and channels. 7. Social media isn’t just a platform; it’s a place with different behaviors. We needed to climb down from the pedestal and lean into these behaviors. Co-creation was key. We partnered with different communities and creators to reimagine our assets 8. It’s about listening deeply to our audiences. We call it creativity with precision. We understand our drinkers and use social listening to adapt quickly 9. Social media allowed our fans to have a voice and be part of the brand I just checked Instagram and Guinness has 359k followers- its most recent post is 20 hours old and it currently has 2,824 likes. #brandmarketing #socialmedia #fans #creativity #diageo #guinness #bornsocial

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There was encouraging news for UK retailers and brands ahead of Black Friday. GfK reported a 3-point rise in consumer confidence, with strong optimism about shoppers' intentions to make significant purchases during the sales. This may be time to make hay while the sun shines, as discussions about price increases following the latest budget are becoming more prominent. Here are my thoughts on what we can expect this year. 🏬In-Store Sales Set to Drive Black Friday Surge 🏬 Black Friday sales are forecast to rise 4.5% this year, up from last year’s 0.4% growth, according to VoucherCodes. Sales on the day are expected to reach £3.18bn (up 5.4%), with the weekend seeing a 10.2% increase to £2.63bn. The high street is poised to benefit, with in-store sales across the four-day period predicted to increase by 9.1% to £4.29bn. However, online shopping will remain the dominant channel, generating an impressive £4.85bn. 🔥GenZ and Millennials are the key to success 🔥 Gen Z and Millennials are set to lead Black Friday spending, with average spending of £181 and £188, respectively. They also boast the highest participation rates, with 86% of Gen Z and 80% of Millennials planning to shop during the event—significantly surpassing older generations. To succeed, strategies must prioritize targeting these key demographics. 💷Brands Must Prioritize Significant Investment in Social Media 💷 To capture the attention of Gen Z and Millennials, brands must meet them where they spend their time—on social media. TikTok has already forecast a record-breaking holiday season, with Black Friday alone expected to drive triple-digit year-on-year growth for TikTok Shop. In fact, 89% of consumers say social media influences their holiday buying decisions. For success during Cyber5, brands, and retailers need to prioritize engagement and investment in social media strategies. However, the biggest hurdle will be earning shoppers trust. Concerns over entering payment information and doubts about product delivery remain key barriers to conversion. The messaging of campaigns must be consistent, clear, and reassuring, which will turn Black Friday into Bright Friday! #HolidayShoppingInsights #RetailTrends #BlackFridayAnalysis #TikTokShopBlackFriday #Cyber5Analysis

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I’ve always been a good line manager. I’m not blowing smoke up my own backside but I have had this feedback from different people over the years. I care about people. It’s important to me that the team are given the space and opportunity to learn, develop and grow into the valued team member that they are destined to be. Sometimes you need to course-correct but I have rarely been let down. So, you can imagine how frustrated I get when I hear of poor team management practices. Especially when I’m hearing it a lot from different sources. Very often the people manager lacks the simple skill of understanding how to motivate different individuals within their team… and here’s the thing…the solution isn’t about monetary reward.

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In our latest case study, we helped a Mens Underwear Brand 🩲 identify how they can stand out from their competitors and produce distinctive content highlighting their strengths. Our partner brand is in a bit of a tough spot, sitting somewhere in the middle between an iconic competitor that consumers view as the quality, fashionable, stylish brand 😎 and a disruptor brand considered to be the easygoing, relatable, affordable option 😌. So how can this brand stand out? We uncovered that consumers view this brand as a modern 🏙, reliable 🤝 Mens Underwear brand that delivers your daily essentials 📅. This brand can additionally highlight these equities in their content: ☁️ Made from soft fabric 🙌 Provides excellent support 👁 Pays attention to every detail These equities are "ownable" for the brand. By having users highlight these differentiating brand equities in content, they'll build a distinctive narrative that will make their brand stand out.

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No Affixxius story today but wanted to share some work from our more recent past. We've produced a large number of what we call 'Awareness Films' over the years for various Constabularies with huge success. In fact on a few occasions our films have directly lead to declarations being made and convictions taking place. Which is 🤯! Below is one we did about County Lines, which not only looks amazing but also carries a really important message about the subtilty involved in identifying such crime. Creative + Production + Post by Affixxius #productioncompany #production #videoproduction #producer #productionhouse #advertising #video #filming #productions #commercial #marketing #branding #digital #marketingstrategy #advertisingagency #creative #advertisement #content

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Really interested to hear from talent management agencies/ managers/ creators who are consistently chasing incredibly late payments for completed services in the influencer/ celebrity marketing world. Already in conversation with a few key players who have identified the same repeat offenders, so keen to see if this is becoming too standard within the industry and how we can tackle collectively. Please DM me, there is a conversation to be had to make change! #influencermarketing #celebrity #marketing

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There are some great insights in our latest study regarding the changing expectations of customers when it comes to attending a sporting or live entertainment event. Our analysis also highlights that venues can play more of a supporting role in ensuring customers have a great experience outside of the venue itself (pre and post), as this is a holistic experience starting from when you book your ticket, to getting home safely. Any pain points across the journey can harm the overall experience, so anything venues can do to enhance the experience will be positively received. If you are interested in learning more, download the report or message me. #sport #customerexperience #fanexperience #stadiums #venues

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What’s next? That’s the question I asked myself when I first joined Xmars earlier this year. The team was fresh off winning Amazon Advertising’s Innovation Award and seemed poised for big growth. It was clear that this was the year to reach for new heights. So it was important to me that we set big lofty goals as our North Star. 1) Build a world-class team from around the ecom industry, pulling from adtech, agencies, and the brand side… We’ve added a dozen new people since the start of the year and will add a dozen more before the year is over. 2) Make sure that every brand and agency in the US knows who we are and what we’re capable of… We’re investing heavily into marketing, conferences, and other opportunities to spread the word about what we’re building and how it’s changing the way brands advertise on Amazon. 3) Rollout major product updates to double down on AI and AMC... Two of the biggest innovations in tech are AI and Amazon’s AMC platform. We are dead set on building the future of how these two technologies interplay and elevate advertising strategy. That’s our focus for this year… and we’re well on our way. Beyond that, it’s international markets, new marketplaces beyond Amazon, product releases, and more. A big shoutout to our team for having the guts to go after something this big. This is the journey of a lifetime, and it’s just getting started. #Amazon #Ecommerce #XMars #Culture

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Harriet Perry Omnicom Media Group and Alice Anson Nectar360 with Hashim Mian and Ben Sylvan sharing their experiences and predictions for #retailmedia #canneslion2024 Some of the themes and points from this panel: - Self-service platforms - Brands need the cross retail media view - 📣 to ISBA and the paper "Responsible Retail Media Framework will accelerate the UK’s retail media opportunity" from Nov 2023 - Enable planning upper and lower funnel while managing the reach and frequency is key - What's coming unified auction for sponsored content and will be a big unlock (remember this happened in programmatic 10 years ago) which solves for the fragmentation across retail media - Sales attributed effectiveness models are critical - Transformation of JBPs

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A partnership so good that this is our **sixth** collaboration, Domino's have partnered with Channel 4 and #4Studio for another brilliant, barmy, bold piece of Branded Content that explores the world's first 'pizza spa'. 🍕🍕🍕 It's weird, it's arresting, it's a perfect example of how to create bold, best-in-class Branded Content. https://lnkd.in/ekCCscTf #BrandedContent #Channel4

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I’m a little amazed at the level of discussion over Tesco’s new campaign by BBH London. The work speaks for itself, as all the best campaigns do. It's a simple, single-minded concept, instantly recognisable, and with just the right level of fun and cheek for Tesco. Some people seem to think it’s just advertising for ad people. But no: it’s exactly the sort of delightful, join-the-dots campaign that connects so well with consumers. Those dismissing it as “difficult” forget the power of such an established identity: the remaining assets are more than enough to tell you this is Tesco. Solving the rebus is a bonus, not a barrier. Naturally, I want to point to the tagline as an especially powerful asset. Taglines, when they’re both meaningful and given time to embed, can be as distinctive as a logo. “Every little helps” was always a brilliant line. As an appropriation of a folksy proverb, it had an instant, almost irresistible, combination of resonance, authority and charm. Just as importantly, it’s been Tesco’s tagline for over 30 years: Lowe Howard-Spink (now a name from adland's yesteryear) created it back in 1993. Like Nike, Tesco had the intelligence (and nerve) to stick with their line, rather than changing up every couple of years. (Tell me the current Coca-Cola tagline without googling. I couldn’t.) When we test taglines in our workshops, “Just do it” is invincible. You can write that line in a random font, in any colour you like, and everyone knows who it is. For UK consumers, at least, “Every little helps" provides similar recognition. (I don’t have stats to back that up – let me know if you can prove me wrong!) Which means, as BBH understood, you can drop the name itself and people still know who it is. (Yes, the dotted line – given such a clever twist here – and the tagline font both help. But I’m willing to bet you could scribble the line on a napkin and most UK shoppers would know it.) This is what we mean by “verbal branding” – words that become so much your own, they don’t even need the support of visual cues to be recognisable. Lines as strong as “Every little helps” and “Just do it” are rare because they’re extremely hard to nail. But they’re not the only way to achieve this degree of recognition. When you’re thinking about the language of your brand, think about it as a whole – as a “verbal identity”. A tagline can be an extremely powerful part of that. But many brands don’t have, or need, a tagline. (And many have such generic, forgettable ones that they’re worse than useless.) The point is: verbal assets can deliver as strongly as visual ones, if they’re given (a) serious attention and craft in their creation and (b) the time and support to establish themselves. When you’ve got that, you don’t just have some nice words – you have a whole platform for future creativity that’s every bit as rich as the visuals. Maybe even more so. #copywriting #verbalbranding #tesco #OOH #taglines #slogans

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Loved judging at the Effie UK awards again last week. These are my favourite awards as they are the ones where ROI and business outcomes is the key metric of success not creativity. In fact you are briefed to watch the work after you have read the paper so you aren’t led by it. At Merlin Entertainments marketing has always had a commercial & sales remit to drive the P&L with multiple levers across price, promotions, channel mix, product development and guest experience. Marketing investment has a significant impact on our business & so do other levers and uncontrollable factors like weather, inbound and outbound tourism. It was fascinating to see at the shortlist stage how few papers really understood the place that marketing plays within all the drivers of performance or indeed what an industry leading ROI is. It's tough to get shortlisted so please be extremely proud if you do. Equally if you are an agency strategist or upcoming marketer who wants to go far remember your role is to understand the whole business, customer insight and the place of marketing within that not just the contribution of the advertising

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Winner, winner, chicken dinner! (and McCain chips 🍟!) I’m thrilled to share that Circana’s collaborative effort on the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) entry with McCain Foods and adam&eveDDB has achieved remarkable recognition at the IPA Awards 2024, winning... 🏆 A Gold 🏆 The Charles Channon Prize for Best New Learning 🏆 The Grand Prix! This unprecedented achievement is a testament to the hard work and innovative thinking of all contributing authors including the legendary Les Binet. A special shoutout to Amanda Rowe and Steven Jones from Circana, whose dedication and expertise in media, price and promotional analytics played a crucial role in our measurement success. They are not ones to enjoy the limelight but as the leader of Media and Analytics at Circana, I am incredibly proud of our contribution and the teams expertise. McCain's continued brand building efforts contributed a 56% increase in sales value from 2014 to 2023 and a +32% margin contribution. Key Learnings from the submission Long-term Brand Building: Investing in emotional brand-building strategies can significantly reduce price elasticity, leading to increased profitability even amidst economic challenges. Resilience Through Strong Branding: A strong brand can withstand market fluctuations and cost pressures better, maintaining its market position and profitability. Focus on Longevity: Effective marketing strategies are built over years, not quarters. Consistent brand messaging creates lasting impact and resilience. Proactive Branding: Building a robust brand during stable times ensures resilience during crises, enabling companies to navigate price increases or demand fluctuations effectively. Advertising's Impact on Price Sensitivity: Beyond driving short-term sales, brand advertising plays a crucial role in reducing price sensitivity, enhancing long-term profitability. Congratulations again to all involved in this groundbreaking achievement! #IPAEffectivenessAwards2024 #Marketingeffectiveness #EffectivenessAwards #marketingmix #cpgmarketing

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I don't know what's more impressive... This Circana analysis shows that Co-op Media Network's instore advertising drives halo sales in rival grocery stores, which - when added to the Co-op store sales uplifts - quadruples the campaign's total incremental sales... Or that I did this video in one take(?) ...Definitely the Halo 😀 Thanks The FMCG Guys for giving me the chance to talk about this exciting [first of its kind] study. #RetailMedia #InstoreMedia #Coop #CMN #HaloAnalysis #FMCGGuys #BelieveTheInstoreMediaHype #Circana

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