Our Monthly Round-up of the key articles in Marketing for April – we’ve chosen six key articles. This month we also include our Ten Take-aways from the Adforum Worldwide Summit which we attended in New York. If you missed any of them – have some time, they are all worth a catchup.

We look forward to catching up with you to see how we may assist you and your teams to help design and grow your marketing ecosystem.

Our April Highlights:

1. Our top pick this month, is this outstanding article from Mckinsey on growth – and the six capabilities for multidisciplinary teams. The business-as-usual approach to marketing is no longer sufficient. To succeed in modern marketing, professionals must develop broad skillsets and prioritize collaboration. At its heart, the modern marketing opportunity is a skills and talent challenge. Although most individuals in a marketing organization will continue to have expertise in one specific domain, people can no longer be good at just one thing. The new marketing superpower is multidisciplinary competency across six core capabilities: customer centricity, full-funnel marketing, agile operating model, multichannel excellence, measurement, and customer data and marketing technology.

Here is the link: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/modern-marketing-six-capabilities-for-multidisciplinary-teams?

2. Secondly, ‘Why marketers are returning to Traditional advertising’ from the Harvard Business Review. Pundits have long predicted the demise of traditional advertising. However, it is alive and well and headed for growth for the first time in a decade. The authors explain seven factors driving this trend, including the ability of traditional ads to break through digital clutter, the decline in third-party cookies, and more.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2022/04/why-marketers-are-returning-to-traditional-advertising

3. Thirdly, we came across this piece by Les Binet on ‘How to adapt your Marketing Strategy in Tough Times.’ The world has been turned upside down in recent years. Pandemic, war, energy crises, labor markets in chaos, rising intertest rates, and the biggest rise in inflation for decades. It’s a cocktail of economic instability and uncertainty. Here adam&eve/DDB’s Head of Effectiveness offers some guidance for advertising in tough times, starting with the need to recognise advertising as an investment.

Here is the link: https://bit.ly/3AUMdm5

4. Fourthly, “The ethos throughout 2023 is spend smarter, not harder”: Fifteen marketers on the AA/WARC adspend growth predictions. What should marketers be doing to reinforce value? What are the opportunities ahead? This expert panel dissect the latest AA/WARC results and the implications for performance marketers in 2023 and 2024.

Here is the link: https://www.performancemarketingworld.com/article/1821190/%E2%80%9Cthe-ethos-throughout-2023-spend-smarter-not-harder%E2%80%9D-15-marketers-aa-warc-adspend-growth-predictions

5. Fifthly, another piece from last month’s Harvard Business Review is a piece on Generative AI. Why are some firms better and faster than others at adapting their use of customer data to respond to changing or uncertain marketing conditions? A common thread across faster-acting firms is the use of AI models to predict outcomes at various stages of the customer journey. It’s a hot topic that was also covered at the Adforum Summit in New York.

Here is the link: https://hbr.org/2023/04/using-ai-to-adjust-your-marketing-and-sales-in-a-volatile-world

6. Sixthly, something totally different, we’ve picked this piece in Forbes on Apple’s new saving account. It has phenomenal growth, and great interest. Who would have thought this company would look to shake up financial services.

Here is the link: https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/emilymason/2023/05/01/apples-new-savings-account-draws-nearly-1-billion-in-deposits-in-the-first-four-days/amp/

Time for the Work: It’s congrats to AMV BBDO and Guinness this month. I fully admit to being a bit of a fan/nerd of all the Guinness advertising – a fantastic piece of art direction that so catches the moment.

Media: It’s always good to see the latest figures on growth from the Advertising Association. UK Advertising grew 8.8% in 2022. https://adassoc.org.uk/our-work/uk-ad-spend-grew-8-8-in-2022-to-reach-34-8bn-inflationary-pressures-persist-with-minimal-growth-forecast-for-2023/

Back to Henley: The Coronation has been keeping us all very busy.Our weekly column in the Henley Standard continues where we interview local entrepreneurs – it’s called Let’s Get Down to Business. We were delighted this month to interview Ben & Priya Watson who run the Golden Ball in Lower Assendon, a food-led pub which uses the best produce from the area. https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/business/179900/let-s-get-down-to-business.html

Ten Take-aways from the Adforum Worldwide Summit in New York: In April, we attended the Adforum Worldwide Summit in New York. Twenty five consultants, from eight countries, saw eighteen agency/company presentations in five days. This year’s summit included meetings with:- McCann Worldgroup, Havas, Orchard, DDB Worldwide, Deutsch, Stein IAS, Argonaut, Zulu Alpha Kilo, Stagwell, Accenture, Grey, Pereira O’Dell & Serviceplan, Critical Mass, Uncommon London, DEPT, System One and Web3 Pro.

1. Brand inflection points are opportunities – technology is driving creativity – we saw the convergence of technology, creativity, strategy and commerce – leading to the emergence of the Tech-Marketing company.
2. Brands are asking agencies to solve business issues, as well as brand issues – customer centric marketing – for big consultancies (like Accenture & the McCann Worldgroup) this means building the runway and infrastructure for the entire marketing ecosystem.
3. Nimble Independent agencies (like Uncommon & Argonaut) and Micro networks (like Stagwell and DEPT) are gaining strength – the new holding companies are flexing through acquisition.
4. We saw how Generative AI will be used to build brands, and what guardrails are needed.
5. The Metaverse was a fad, because no one really worked out how to make any money from it – Web 3 is interesting for Gen Z and some luxury brands.
6. The B2B specialism is buoyant – seeking a premium as they focus on data to drive the B2B process and outstanding results. Media is getting closer to Creativity again.
7. Agencies are shifting from three days to five days in the office, the return to work is driven by better results being back together in the office.
8. We saw the resurgence of the deep desire for Creativity in many presentations.
9. So many leadership changes in agencies which are hampering performance, very few seem to have succession plans in place.
10. Agencies are not building disposable products, but building things that last – sustainability though is a topic that is still too low on the client agenda.

We’re here to help you review your marketing ecosystem and improve marketing performance, so do call us, or email us with any questions you may have.

Kind regards, Will