Adam Ferrier: Branding Was Never Meant To Be Personal
Adam Ferrier is founder of Thinkerbell and unstoppable force in the Australian advertising landscape. Thinkerbell recently partnered with RMIT Online to launch a Brand Experience course. In this guest post, Ferrier warns that in their race to convert customers, many brands are sacrificing brand building and that can ultimately damage their longterm success…
Marketing was, is and always will be a mass market game. In fact, the very point of marketing is to ensure as many people as possible both buy and buy into your brand. We look for brands that have a strong, clearly articulated promise, and the brand gets stronger the more it consistently delivers on whatever it is that it is promising. From McDonalds, to Google, to Nike, and IKEA – these are all strong brands with a promise they keep.
The idea of building a brand was never meant to be personal
A brand must stand for something and people decide to buy or buy into that brand (or not). Now imagine that brand X – a brand with a large and loyal following – wants to build a stronger relationship with its existing customers. It may then start to customise its features or language to better service one customer over another. In theory, this is probably an excellent idea.
Last year, Publicis Groupe acquired data marketing firm Epsilon for an eye watering $4.4 billion, allowing them to own a platform that delivered more personalised marketing messages. Now obviously, data-driven marketing such as this is powerful (for example a study from Invespcro showed 83 per cent of marketers who employ data-driven campaigns enjoy five times more ROI). However, at a base level, the value of personalisation is entirely dependent on what you’re selling. It makes sense for Spotify to get to know me a bit so it can mix Paul Kelly with a bit of Billy Bragg, but do my Corn Flakes need to know anything more about me to deliver a better breakfast?
There is a bigger marketing issue at play here, and that is: with so much access to personal data, behavioural metrics and analytical tools, marketers are investing in the pointy end of the funnel – the personalisation, the attribution, and the conversion – whilst forgetting the important part that sits before all of that. Marketers are sacrificing brand-led marketing at the short-term altar of conversion, and need to look beyond the immediately measurable if they want to build big brands that last. And it is not ironic that it’s the digital first brands who are the worst offenders.
Darren Savage, Chief Strategy Officer at Tribal Worldwide London, evocatively calls this the ‘effectiveness death spiral’. With so much data-driven “personalised” performance marketing cluttering feeds, consumers are subject to a suffocating rhythm – where nothing stands out and everybody is clapping on the one and three. Our short-term focus on efficiency has come at the expense of longer term strategic vision, with companies “incrementally getting better at delivering day-to-day sales, against a very small (and increasingly refined) audience who are ready to buy.” However, at the other end of the funnel no one is coming in – people have either forgotten what the brand promise was, or were never aware of it in the first place.
Big-name brands like Adidas, are now admitting that they fell for the old trap of ‘becoming what you measure’ focusing on simple metrics like last-click attribution at the expense of brand recognition, creativity and magic. Adidas marketers were pruning their marketing model, rather than building a memorable, emotive brand. And this led to all sorts of unforeseen problems, like oversupply, inconsistent messaging and poor projected growth. “We had an understanding that it was digital advertising – desktop and mobile – that was driving sales, and as a consequence we were over-investing in that area,” said the brand’s Global Media Director, Simon Peel. Or put another way, they confused sales with marketing.
Optimising data driven marketing works best when focusing on smaller, tightly defined problems: multivariate testing, micro-exchanges, smoothing the path to purchase and so on. However, this only works if you’re optimising off a brand platform and brand expression that you know is right. It can’t work backwards. You can’t improve the brand foundations via optimising marketing, or by making it more personalised, you can only work within the parameters you have. Personalisation can’t answer big, fundamental questions. Questions like, ‘What should my brand stand for? Why will people like my brand? What channels should I use? How does my brand make people feel? Or even what really drives ‘loyalty’ to my brand?’ Getting stuck in the effectiveness death spiral will spin you into a vortex of brand understanding that makes it hard to extract yourself out.
In a 2019 Salesforce survey, 82 per cent of shoppers said it was important for brands to offer personalised experiences ((un)surprisingly Salesforce has tools that help you do that). But personalisation is the tail, not the dog, and some are yet to be convinced if the tail is needed at all. For example, the UK Advertising Association survey, found 75 per cent of consumers no longer trust digital advertising, and a recent the Gartner study, predicts 80 per cent of marketers will abandon personalisation efforts entirely by 2025. Maybe, after all the hype and promise, personalisation will become one of marketing’s passing fads? Not sure.
So with these insights in play RMIT Online is offering a course on brand experience. This course puts ‘branding’ (and marketing) at the heart of business strategy and is less concerned with the personalisation and optimisation of marketing messaging, and more focused on the fundamentals of good branding. It aims to kickstart a new wave of thinking in business leaders to understand the impact of brand and branding across all parts of their organisation.
At the crux of it, business leaders (not just marketers) should be asking questions like; What’s the market like? Where’s the opportunity? How do we create a brand against that opportunity? And ultimately how should that brand be expressed? The goal here is to create a strong brand – one that has as much value as possible, to as many people as possible. Strong brands play a collective and mass game and draw people in. Marketing, or branding at this level is the very opposite of personalisation.
Personalisation is dancing around the edges, it’s the one to one stuff for people who need that final bit of convincing. It’s the opposite of what strong branding is. And the misuse of the expensive personalisation tool is why personalisation is killing brands.
Please login with linkedin to comment
Adam FerrierLatest News
X Defends Record On Removing Child Abuse Content As It Promises A Safer Environment For Advertisers
B&T warns this article references the murky & sordid world of online child abuse. Plus, the murky & sordid Elon Musk.
Thursday TV Ratings: Seven Just Beats Nine With The Chase Coming Out Top
Is there a study into the correlation between Thursday's diminished TV numbers & the increased sale of pub schnitzels?
Indie Agency Communicado Raids Thinkerbell For Its Two New Associate Creative Directors
Thinkerbell duo depart for rival agency Communicado. Leaving speeches were said to be convivial but restrained.
“Utterly Irresponsible!” Sportsbet Slammed For Near-$20m Marketing Blitz As Gambling Ban Approaches
Smokers have been picked on for 30 years, now it's time for the gamblers. And the drinkers should start getting nervous.
Casella Appoints Dig As Creative Agency On Yellow Tail Wine
There's three givens at B&T's Friday staff drinks - the Yellow Tail, the Cheezels and the incessant bickering.
Seven Prioritises The Matildas Over The News AND The AFL In Extraordinary Decision Ahead Of The Women’s World Cup Quarter Final
Scott and Charlene's wedding now under serious threat as Saturday's Matilda's game threatens to smash all TV records.
News Corp Earnings Down Across The Board Despite Jump In Subscribers
Rupert can't find a coin for his ALDI trolley as News Corp earnings drop calls for renewed round of belt tightening.
Despite The Outrage & The Bans, The Sports Bet Category Remains Adland’s Zaniest (See This!)
The Guardian may no longer be running sports bet advertising, but as you'll read here, B&T has far less morals & ethics.
Last Chance To Buy Tickets For This Year’s B&T Women In Media Awards!
B&T's not giving away too many secrets to the Women In Media Awards suffice to say two words - chocolate and fountain.
The Trade Desk, Magnite & LiveRamp Deliver Growth, PubMatic Flat In Q2 Earnings
B&T's calling this your Q2 earnings wrap. We even considered wheeling out "must read" to help it along a bit.
Cinema Chain Spoofs Classic Movies In Wonderfully Funny Work To Entice People Back Into Theatres
Call it the Barbenheimer effect, but cinema's suddenly cool again. Yet, absolutely no uptick whatsoever for drive-ins.
Mediabrands Launches Internship Program For Aspiring Media Professionals
Mediabrands are on the lookout for young, enthusiastic go-getters for its internship program. But then, aren't we all?
Nike Celebrates The Matildas & Young Aussie Female Athletes In New Work By Conscious Minds
In what can be best described as a rare treat, it's a localised Nike ad. Kinda like finding the milk's not out of date.
Why Your CX Technology Should Focus On Connections
This expert opines it's not about your newfangled tech stacks, it's about your customers. Even the ones you detest.
WPP & Optimizely Partner To Bring Informed Digital Experiences To Brands & Consumers
Often think WPP's a 'canary in the coal mine' for industry trends? Well, avoid the black lung reading this latest.
Dylan Alcott & Hnry Team Up To Relieve Aussie Sole Traders Of Scary Tax Admin
Can the effervescent Dylan Alcott make tax admin even remotely interesting? Watch as he gives his best shot here.
D&AD Shift With Google Sydney Announce Class Of 2023
Need to poach some hot young agency talent? Poach away here, but just don't rat on B&T for the heads up.
Digital Media Agency Bench Rebrands To The Digital Disruption Agency
You could say Bench has been benched, as agency rebrands to the Digital Disruption Agency.
Seven Appoints Indie Creative Agency Emotive To Reshape Broadcaster’s Brand
Seven planning a brand zjoosh and spring clean. Although the offical corporate red and the number 7 is off limits.
Elon Musk Says The ABC Prefers “Censorship-Friendly” Social Media
It appears the ABC's found a new enemy in Elon Musk. However, News Corp remains entrenched at the top of the enemy list.
Wednesday TV Ratings: The Chase Just Beats The Block To Entertainment Win
Nine wins Wednesday night. However, Seven tells rival you'll get that and more come Saturday's Matilda's match.
B&T’s Best Of The Best Technologists, Presented By Finecast, Part Of GroupM Nexus
Somewhat ironically, this top 10 technologists list wasn't written with any help from ChatGPT or AI whatsoever!
Former Woman’s Day Editor Fiona Connolly Appointed Head of News’ Lifestyle Network
You could say ink runs in the veins of women's magazine veteran Fiona Connolly. And sponge cake recipes.
X Adds Brand Safety Tools In Bid To Bring Back Ad Dollars
Elon back contemplating the colonisation of Mars after finding this whole Twitter thing one huge headache.
ACMA Rules Kyle Sandilands’ Monkeypox Comments Breached Decency Rules And Were Offensive To Gay Men
Watchdog rules Kyle offended gay men. Punishment includes listening to Barbra Streisand & Céline Dion CDs on repeat.
Ozzy Osborne Bites Off More Than He Can Chew With Banned PlayStation Ad
Ozzy Osborne continuing to surprise. No more so than the fact that he's actually still alive and kicking.
Swisse Wellness Wheels In the Celebs To Stop Late Night Doom Scrollers
Is your sleep routine two Quaaludes and a swig from the sherry bottle? There's tips here for a more blissful night.
“All Good Things Must Come To An End, Well This One Barely Got started!” Jerker Fagerström Quits Thinkerbell After Eight Months
Thinkerbell fridge sans all smörgåstårta & pickled herring as Jerker Fagerström heads for the utgång (exits).
Footballing God Cristiano Ronaldo Bumbles His Way through New Work For Fan App Zuju
This ad proves Cristiano Ronaldo is just one of the guys. Just a filthy rich one of the guys, that is.
Samsung Ads’ Marj Hetherton On Why CTV Is The Most Exciting Area Of Advertising
Samsung Ads' Marj Hetherton says CTV is the most exciting area of advertising. That and nine-hour client lunches.
CommBank Matildas REMOVES Tim Tam TikTok Following B&T Story
If Tim Tam's marketing team wants to send B&T some freebies for this free press we'll take any flavour but mint or dark.
Tinder’s New Global Campaign Says Online Dating Need Not Be An Unrivalled Hell
If there were truth in advertising, these spots would feature a drunk bloke with poor hygiene who lives with his mother.
ADMA Adds New Speakers For Upcoming Global Forum
ADMA confirms speaker line-up for upcoming Global Forum. Also, 300 arancini balls locked-in for the networking drinks.
IMAA Census Predicts Growth In BVOD/CTV, Digital Video And Podcasts
The IMAA census is like a finger on the pulse of Australia's adland. And we all need a solid finger now and then.
Prestige Brands Targets Gen Z With Racy Billie Eilish Perfume Ad Via Spark Foundry
Billie Eilish the latest celeb to release a fragrance. Meanwhile, B&T still waiting on an Angus Young eau de toilette.
The Australian Women’s Weekly Celebrates Its 90th Birthday
The Weekly celebrates its 90 birthday. B&T believes the first-ever copy is still in our GP's reception.