In an industry overflowing with creativity, prioritising effectiveness is a way to streamline to achieve success. At the IPA Effectiveness Conference last week (9th October) speakers shared insights from the IPA Effectiveness Awards and explored industry trends and topics through the lens of effectiveness.

Following recent IPA data that shows agencies that prioritise effectiveness reap the benefits, the conference provided actionable insights in how to better build a culture of effectiveness. With a focus on encouraging agencies to experiment, embrace emotion and keep creatively consistent.

Lessons in effectiveness from the IPA Effectiveness Conference

1. Emotion drives connection

A unique session from UCL Professor Sophie Scott kicked off the day with laughter, as she explored how humour is a powerful tool for connection. As the industry continually cries for more humour, the launch of a dedicated Cannes Lion category underlines its prominent position in creativity. Scott added a scientific argument to the importance of laughter. She shared that humans are the only animals for which laughter is contagious, describing it as a ‘non-verbal expression of emotion and invitation to connect’ that transcends language and geographies. Where Victor Borge says that ‘laughter is the shortest distance between two people’, for advertisers it is a powerful tool.

Getting people to feel allows them to better connect with a brand or product. In a session with Lucky Generals’ Strategy Director, Rachel Hamburger and Uncovered, CEO and Co-Founder Chris Cookson, the pair shared that emotion was imperative in Labour’s election-winning advertising campaign. Whether it's selling tins of beans or electing a new Prime Minister, Hamburger shared that: “The mechanisms of persuasion remain the same, people make decisions on emotion.” Inserting Labour into cultural trends to show an understanding of audiences and make connections to people was key to success. “It all comes down to emotion,” Cookson added.

2. Keep creative and consistent but don’t be afraid to experiment

In a marketing ecosystem in which some campaigns have a life span of just fifteen days, Andrew Tindall, Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships at System 1, focused on the power of consistency and the importance of compound creativity. Pointing to the example of Yorkshire Tea’s ‘Where Everything’s Done Proper’ brand platform as an example of creative consistency in motion, Tindall shared that inconsistency could cost the industry up to £3.5 billion.

“Consistency sees growth and builds brand”, says Tindall, meaning that ads work twice as hard when they are consistent. Consistent brands are able to create higher-quality work, settling on a strong framework gives creatives an opportunity. “Creativity in a framework is a challenge that creatives will relish,” says Osagie Samuel, Creative and T&Pm, adding: “It boils down to getting the proposition right, to begin with.”

However, consistency must not be confused with blind persistence. Einstein’s definition of insanity being doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results remains true.

A session exploring Laithwaites award-winning IPA Effectiveness entry underlined that experimentation is the key to success in a world of walled gardens and fragmentation in measurement. To deliver Laithwaites’ consistent ‘we stop at nothing to bring you great wine’ messaging, the team invested in running rigorous regional tests to commit to learning and understanding the importance of regional ads. Embracing a test-and-learn approach enabled the business to understand the role that growth plays and implement a structured approach to brand building.

Imogen Coles, Managing Partner, UK Head of Influencer at Ogilvy echoed the importance of experimentation in a session on social media with Skin and Me Founder, James Mishreki and Becky Owen, CMO at Billion Dollar Boy. In an influencer landscape where measurement remains cloudy, the trio advocated for a test-and-learn approach. “Adding influencer to the media mix can add a 30% increase to all channels”, says Coles. Yet equally it is important not to treat influencer marketing as a silo. “Failure is critical for learning,” says Owen, adding: “We are going to get it wrong a little to really get it right.”

3. The long and short of it is storytelling comes in many forms

Looking to the IPA Effectiveness Award winners for effectiveness inspiration, the winning entries this year underlined that storytelling takes many different forms.

Yuill’s text message campaign for Concierge Car Wash was a simple strategy that had a big impact. Long text messages filled with personality designed to grab attention brought customers back to the carwash post Covid and brought to life the bespoke nature of the business. Cadbury’s journey to win back Christmas in an industry that treats Christmas as a marketing moment saw the brand look to a pop-up postal service to embody its brand message of generosity. Rather than add to the clutter of emotive television campaigns, the brand forked away from the blockbuster formula. It was a winning strategy and experience can be repeated year on year turning posters into a pop-up service.

Concierge Car Wash by Yuill and Cadbury’s Christmas campaign are two award-winning examples that show both short-term and long-term campaigns can have a large brand-building impact. These case studies underline that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to storytelling.

4. Bring people into a culture of effectiveness

Creating a culture of effectiveness requires buy-in from people outside of core marketing functions. At a time when many will be setting budgets for the year ahead, Dr Grace Kite, Economist and Founder at Magic Numbers, shared the importance of having empathy for finance teams who are up against a turbulent economic climate.

If media inflation stands, marketing teams will need a minimum of a 4% increase to maintain spend, says Kite. Getting more budget is no easy feat but as she explained: “Finance teams really get marketing measurement.” Using econometrics and speaking in measurable terms will help to bring in finance teams on the journey. An evidence-based approach is essential to moving marketing up the funnel. “Give finance teams reasons to believe in marketing budgets,” added Liz Kistruck, Chief Financial Officer at Motorway.

Laithwaites’s James Morrison also shared that bringing people into the effectiveness journey was key to the brand’s success. “Openly discuss the pros and cons of each strategy, be open with everyone in the business, " says Morrison, adding: “You need to bring in the C-suite and embrace being on a journey. Help people learn and show the effects of what you're doing.”

5. There is no effectiveness on a dead planet

Despite purpose and profit being positioned at odds in click-bait headlines, the conference included sessions on the importance of diversity and inclusion and sustainability. Coinciding with the release of Unstereotype Alliance data that encourages brands to get creatively effective progressive work over the line without fear of backlash, there has never been a better time to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion as a competitive advantage.

Leo Rayman, Founder and CEO at EdenLab, challenged the perceptions of what is ‘an effective campaign’. Speaking with Trainline VP Brand & Marketing, Jo McClintock, Rayman shared that the Net Zero economy grew 9% in 2023, meaning that sustainability is a smart investment. Trainline’s ‘Came By Train’ campaign is an example of demand-switching in action. The campaign saw Trainline take off its logo and encourage train travel in general to help people form more sustainable habits. The campaign encouraged behavioural change for the benefit of the whole category, not just a single brand.

“Effectiveness doesn't need to be about measuring what’s been, it can also look at demand switching,” explained Rayman. For him, the true measure of an effective campaign can be one that benefits business, people and the planet.