One of the flagship reports released as part of the EffWorks Conference was the IPA’s Culture Monitor – a wide sweeping survey of marketing professionals to assess the state of the effectiveness nation.
Though the report found effectiveness culture to be in good health, there is likely to be significant selection bias in the results. Those with strong effectiveness cultures are more likely to respond to a survey assessing the same. Despite this, there may be some lessons to be learned from those brands and agencies operating at the top of the effectiveness game.
The Value of Roadmaps
One standout recommendation was for organisations to create effectiveness roadmaps to further improve their cultures. Effectiveness rarely has a single point of accountability in any organisation, so a centralised, multi-year plan is a major accelerant of effectiveness culture.
Start with an Audit
Introspective questioning is the logical starting point when creating an effectiveness roadmap. The Report recommends structuring this around 4 pillars.
- Focus
What does marketing effectiveness mean to the organisation/agency and what are the expectations from an effectiveness approach?
- Process
Is there a clearly defined process and what does it look like?
- Data, Tools, Measurement
Do you have the data to support the meaningful measurement of marketing activity and, if not, how are you going to get it? How do you intend to show the value created from marketing investment and increase the impact on marketing decision-making with this evidence?
- People
Is there a focus on continuous learning and development – and do you learn both from success and failure?
It’s a shared journey
As an agency we believe that in the volatile post-pandemic environment, where distribution networks and advertising consumption have been disrupted significantly, it is crucial for advertisers and agencies to take this journey together.
