Dave Levett

We've all had them, the annoying, ill-timed or irrelevant 'how did we do survey'. A short except from my work husband Gareth Brock's article for Mediaweek Australia on why brands must stop mistaking information for intimacy. Link to the full article in the comments #brandactivation #data #measurement #actionableintelligence

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Looking forward to presenting this webinar to upskill the industry on the importance of contracts and some key issues to consider. #influencermarketing #influencers #aimco

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Some things are worth a second share. Last month, I posted the print version of my NZ Marketing Magazine piece on brand fame and the power of earned. Now, it’s officially online, and - if you want a read - still bringing insights on why earned media should be your go-to for building brand recognition.

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Conversion Rates - An Aussie, A Pom & A Saffa walk into a.... Podcast studio! eCommerce is flooded with half-baked tactics: pointless pop-ups, endless sales, and gimmicks that scream desperation. Brands want loyalty, but all they’re attracting are discount vultures. Sound familiar? Adam and I had a cracking time on the eCommerce Australia Podcast with Ryan Martin , diving into the good, the bad, and the downright painful truths of Conversion Rate Optimisation. If you're sick of the discount-driven, “let’s throw everything at the wall” approach, you’ll want to hear this. If your only way to boost sales is a discount code, your brand’s in trouble. Short-term sales hacks bring in low-value customers and eat at your brand’s credibility. How’s that for a “growth strategy” We dished out practical, no-nonsense tactics to drive sales without sacrificing brand value: • Speak to Customers, Not at Them – Forget the flashy UX, and focus on what customers actually care about. • Cut the Fluff – Stop overcomplicating the journey. Less is more – and every click counts. • Nail Your Product Pages – High-quality images, killer copy, and clear calls to action. It’s not hard, but so many get it wrong. • Optimise for Mobile First – The amount of sales lost to messy mobile layouts is insane. • Upsell Without Discounting – If you think discounts are the only way to boost AOV, it’s time to rethink. We’re talking bundles and targeted upsells that actually make sense. Big shoutout to Ryan for letting us have a rant. Want to dig in? Check the comments for links to YouTube, iTunes, and Spotify P.S. remember to sort by most recent to find the hidden comments ;)

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Our subscribers are reading exclusives about Forbes' pre-sale battle with Google, Australia's brilliant men's site, Future's digital plans, the Covid 'hidden' impact on trade shows and Reuters' big launch. Why not subscribe now and join media industry leaders every Friday?https://lnkd.in/eNYM2GAy Flashes & Flames: The Global Media Weekly

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Marketers, brand owners, agencies: Do you know how many grams of carbon your average #advertising campaign generates? I'm guessing not. So you can imagine the surprise - and the horror - the team at NIB must have felt when their #sustainability team came up and told them estimates showed their #marketing & #media activities were 59% of TOTAL GROUP EMISSIONS. Cue a new plan for #digitaladvertising emissions reporting and reduction with the help of Scope3 + GroupM. Turns out there is plenty of low-hanging fruit to be picked to address the problem, if you're able to ditch clicks and take on better and more realistic #marketing measures. #IYKYK In this latest in-depth report for Mi3Australia I take a look at what the health insurer + another Aussie business University of Tasmania have done to try and curb their #advertising footprint. This is a problem for our industry that's only going to become more urgent & important to address. Australia has now introduced legislated #climatereporting for the largest businesses this year and it's extending to even more in the next 1-3 years. Scope 3 emissions are 98% of total emissions - and this is where #advertising, #digital and #media are really going to face a reckoning. It's worth having a read to get your head around the very real challenge we're all going to have to face. https://lnkd.in/gpaZFA5i #marketingstrategy

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Should brands do good? 96% of Aussies think so 🤔 Earlier this year, Leo Burnett released their “What Good is Doing Good?” report in collaboration with The UTS Business School and Zenith Media. The report found that 96% of Aussies believe it’s important for brands to be doing some form of good in the world. So, does that mean brands should be rushing to ingrain some form of social, environmental or political cause into their overall strategy if they don’t already? Definitely not! Consumers gravitate towards brand authenticity.  The report also supports this. Adjusting your strategy to revolve around something that your brand doesn’t actually believe in - consumers see straight through it. Not a good look. I personally believe it’s important for brands to strive to do good, especially on an environmental, social and staff well-being front - even better if it’s genuinely at their core. But don’t go fakin’ it. Greenwashing… no thanks. Here’s the thing about doing good though. The report found that 90% of Aussies believe a brand is good if it treats people respectfully and fairly, and has positive financial integrity. This encompasses: → Treating staff & the public with respect → Paying employees and suppliers fairly  → Providing stable and fair employment → Paying the appropriate taxes So if brands are already doing the basics of business right, which they should be, they’re already perceived to be doing good. ~~~~~~~~~~ Want to see more thoughts, insights and advice on branding and marketing? Follow me for more - JYE BECKETT

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Mi3Australia recently released their Marketing & Customer Benchmarks: FY25 Outlook. The report gathers insights from 105 top marketers responsible for $3bn-plus of budgets of an emergent three-speed marketing economy and upended KPIs and priorities. Some highlights to note: - The FY25 Marketing & Customer Benchmarks report finds a three-way split on investment trends across those pulling back hard, those holding and those powering into the new financial year. For many (43 per cent) performance or lower funnel investment will rise. - Marketers now have heightened responsibility for customer thrust upon them, adding to already complex remits that are leading many to rethink their agency supply chains and how they are managed. - In turn, KPIs are shifting hard to customer lifetime value (CLV) with metrics like net promoter score (NPS), cost per acquisition and purchase frequency in decline. We are seeing these trends a lot with our clients both in Australia and overseas especially the KPI focus shifting harder to CLV. The good news is that CLV is a core metric that a sound loyalty program can drive enabling businesses to effectively measure and exponentially improve their customer lifetime value.

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Great analysis of how to 'Do' and 'Not Do' customer service

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Highlights from the final episode in Series 1 - The Rise and Rise of Retail Media - and what brands need to know to succeed...

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Directors - the way decision-makers buy products and services has shifted over the last few years. A LOT... Most of their decision-making is done BEFORE they even speak to your sales team 🕵️‍♂️To prove the point...How do YOU make high-ticket buying decisions? You go to the internet first and learn about options through Social Media, websites & videos. Right? You only speak to a salesperson once you’re reasonably sure what you want The same is true for selling your B2B services online...

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In marketing, it’s the little tweaks that set big things in motion. Ready for your brand’s chain reaction? Let’s get things moving. #Hummington #MarketingOptimisation #marketing #businessgrowth

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If you want to achieve a higher return on your advertising spend (ROAS) for your ecommerce store, ask yourself this question. Who is more motivated to generate a higher ROAS for your business? A company that charges you a flat retainer, regardless of the ROAS they reach, or one that earns more for reaching a higher ROAS for you? If you run or know someone that has an ecommerce store and you think they may want better results. Please let them know they can always reach out to us to find out how our performance model can work for them https://lnkd.in/gtTVEYJ8

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So far this year, according to the Ad Standards Case Reports, 6 advertisers have been the subject of complaints about breaches of the AANA - Australian Association of National Advertisers Code of Ethics when it comes to distinguishable advertising, with one complaint involving 8 different posts. With 3 of those complaints upheld, 2 remain listed as not modified or discontinued on the Ad Standards website. Last month, the ACCC released its 2024–25 Compliance and Enforcement Policy and Priorities, noting that consumer and fair-trading issues in the digital economy, particularly misleading or deceptive advertising within influencer marketing, online reviews, in-app purchases, and price comparison websites, remain a top priority for the regulator. The ACCC also noted in their findings of their internet sweep of testimonials and endorsements by influencers, released in December 2023, that the ACCC will monitor adverse findings made by Ad Standards to assess whether they involve ACL concerns, and take enforcement action where appropriate. With 17 case reports listed on the Ad Standards website with "Upheld - Not Modified or Discontinued" as their determination in relation to the distinguishable advertising obligations under the AANA Code of Ethics, watch this space to see what action, if any, the ACCC takes in the coming period in relation to these ads, determined by the Ad Standards Community Panel to be non-compliant with the relevant self-regulatory code in Australia. The products advertised in these ads span clothing, food and beverage, health products, retail and information technology. Whilst the ACCC of course cannot pursue all matters that come to their attention, and some advertising of certain products may fall into the jurisdiction of other regulators, the ACCC does have a range of compliance and enforcement tools at their disposal to encourage compliance with the law, and focus on circumstances likely to impact consumers experiencing vulnerability, harm the competitive process or result in widespread consumer or small business detriment. What do you think? Putting aside the fact that proper ad disclosure builds confidence and trust in influencer marketing, and is therefore important for the industry, in your view, is hidden advertising in influencer posts advertising the abovementioned types of products likely to impact consumers experiencing vulnerability, harm the competitive process or result in widespread consumer or small business detriment, and therefore worthy of an allocation of regulatory resources to stamp out? #influencermarketing #accc #adstandards #aana #influencers #digitalmarketing #policy #priorities #opinion

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Further to this post, I expect that we will see the ACCC take action in relation to influencer posts in the coming period. Here's why:   1) We still see influencers failing to comply with Ad Standards Community Panel findings despite the potential for damage to a brand’s, agency’s or influencer’s reputation following negative publicity about these adverse findings. 2) Non-compliance with self-regulatory codes doesn't attract any financial penalty to significantly deter non-compliance, and therefore whilst most brands will take steps to ensure compliance, others will continue to fail to do so.  3) Influencer content can often reach a large audience, and significant sales can flow to the brand (and their agency) from increased publicity from influencer campaigns. 4) It's often evidenced in follower comments on influencer posts and in the conversion rates using influencer codes that followers are influenced to make purchasing decisions based on content uploaded by influencers they admire and trust. 5) The ACCC had concerns about posts uploaded by 81% of the influencers they monitored.  Risk is increased in my view where influencers have not been appropriately briefed about the products or services they are advertising, where no formal influencer agreement exists, and where influencer content is not vetted by the brand or their agency for false or misleading statements about the products or services and to ensure that appropriate ad disclosure is evident. What do you think? Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. #influencermarketing #influencers #adstandards #aana #accc #adlaw

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From coming back into Aro Digital, Jarrod and I have been ruthlessly pushing improvements to deliver an even higher calibre of the ‘Aro experience’ - Working on all facets of our delivery when it comes to digital performance media, analytics + other areas. We are also looking to refine our offering this year (watch this space)... As an agency you can easily get stuck going through the motions. I know of agencies who haven’t looked to improve their processes for years because ‘that’s how things have been done’. With such recent advancements in technology it’s imperative that agencies embrace and improve upon what they can deliver, in my opinion it’s they have a duty to their clients to do so… In-house marketing teams are a lot savvier as well, not hesitating to dive into ad platforms, question tactics and approaches. Coupled with simplified technologies that make it easier to launch campaigns, legacy agencies fear that you are going to be able to do everything yourself... and gaslight you into submission, bamboozling you with unnecessary jargon and ways of working, restricting access to your ad platforms and more. That’s why we also started Kepla, to improve the collaboration between the agency and their clients, providing a way to work more transparently together, and deliver better results. If you’re a marketing manager who’s keen to get a second perspective (whether it’s good, or not so great) about how their digital marketing is performing, don’t hesitate to DM me. I’ve managed the largest ad accounts in New Zealand who spend multi-millions a year, right through to the small businesses looking to maximise the value their campaigns can bring. #digitalmarketing #digitaladvertising #marketingnz

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From chess champion to Chief Tinker, Adam Ferrier spills the tea on brand... and turning awkward into awesome. A couple of key take-outs in my words (not the only ones)… brand is connection between business strategy and consumer… everything in the middle is brand. We need to stop being consumer centric. No consumer needs your brand, they need the category… ie I don’t need an Audi, I need a car. Your brand needs to stand out in the category. The stronger your vision of brand is, the deeper the connection with consumer. In a market where multiple brands are trying to meet consumer needs and therefore doing the same thing, stop trying to be a car, be an Audi (you’re welcome, Audi 😊). Loved this Adam… made sense to a non-marketer marketer, if you know what I mean. #strategy #marketing #lovewhatyoudo Thinkerbell Lynda Pallone Margie Reid B&T Dan Krigstein

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