Robert Harwood-Matthews

Looking forward to this discussion on the future of #measurement & the incredible insights from this amazing panel! #attribution, #MMM, #MTA

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Winner, winner, chicken dinner! (and McCain chips 🍟!) I’m thrilled to share that Circana’s collaborative effort on the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) entry with McCain Foods and adam&eveDDB has achieved remarkable recognition at the IPA Awards 2024, winning... 🏆 A Gold 🏆 The Charles Channon Prize for Best New Learning 🏆 The Grand Prix! This unprecedented achievement is a testament to the hard work and innovative thinking of all contributing authors including the legendary Les Binet. A special shoutout to Amanda Rowe and Steven Jones from Circana, whose dedication and expertise in media, price and promotional analytics played a crucial role in our measurement success. They are not ones to enjoy the limelight but as the leader of Media and Analytics at Circana, I am incredibly proud of our contribution and the teams expertise. McCain's continued brand building efforts contributed a 56% increase in sales value from 2014 to 2023 and a +32% margin contribution. Key Learnings from the submission Long-term Brand Building: Investing in emotional brand-building strategies can significantly reduce price elasticity, leading to increased profitability even amidst economic challenges. Resilience Through Strong Branding: A strong brand can withstand market fluctuations and cost pressures better, maintaining its market position and profitability. Focus on Longevity: Effective marketing strategies are built over years, not quarters. Consistent brand messaging creates lasting impact and resilience. Proactive Branding: Building a robust brand during stable times ensures resilience during crises, enabling companies to navigate price increases or demand fluctuations effectively. Advertising's Impact on Price Sensitivity: Beyond driving short-term sales, brand advertising plays a crucial role in reducing price sensitivity, enhancing long-term profitability. Congratulations again to all involved in this groundbreaking achievement! #IPAEffectivenessAwards2024 #Marketingeffectiveness #EffectivenessAwards #marketingmix #cpgmarketing

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I'm nervous about tomorrow, but it gave me a little extra comfort to weigh in on this year's election. CBS Sunday Morning News was a chance to go mainstream with the perspective I can bring. I got the "walk and talk" shot with David Pogue and I got emails from my family and friends who watch the show. In this business I'm in, we're responsible for help shaping messages and experiences that define what people think about brands. Hopefully based on a truth. Can't say the truth piece feels quite as true anymore for political ads. Although that was probably debatable about marketing as a whole, unfortunately. And It's harder than ever to unify people around a message-- we've moved beyond the broad message to much more niche. In many ways good because there was an assumed bigger perspective that left many out. But we're also losing a shared narrative, which makes truth impossible. And in media today we must navigate the complexity of platforms and subculture to try to align people around a set of values and beliefs, if not a message. We must try and break through peoples' bubbles-- that they aren't even aware they are a part of. Or maybe they are and don't care. Luckily with brands we still have to play the long game. So we haven't gone all negative. We need to build the brand over time. In politics, fear of what could happen can be more unifying than the hope and belief of real change. It's an all or nothing for candidates, so they have to go all in. They don't just have a low sales quarter. The winner of the election controls the next 4 years. The loser gets nothing. However while fear can serve as a unifier or at least a barrier to voting for your opponent, it doesn’t work as well as a motivator for most. I just hope we've given people enough to show up for: pride, hope, optimism, joy--belief that moving forward is a good thing.

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“THE POWER OF ONE” IN A WORLD DIVIDED. Just for the record … The key difference between Publicis and other agency holding companies like WPP, Omnicom, and IPG is that Publicis actually has and makes work a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) … “The Power of One”. That is, the promise and delivery of truly and fully integrated Brand marketing communications services where there are ultimately only two questions to be answered: 1) Are we making money for our clients? and 2) Are we making money for ourselves and shareholders? That’s it. Because one follows the other if the individual agencies and their holding company parents do their jobs harmoniously. Hence, the power of one! “One Brand, One Voice. With Distinction” for consumers, investors, and shareholders alike. 😎       

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If you’re thinking about what your Qual strategy looks like in 2025 and beyond, this new webinar with our own Liz White and Karen Lynch from Greenbook is a must see! Don’t miss it!

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Contextual advertising has entered a new era, and AI is leading the charge. Inuvo President Barry Lowenthal explains how privacy-first algorithms can help brands figure out where consumers are - and where they're going next. "Free from the confines of whatever personal data cookies and other similar programs collect, AI essentially reads consumers’ interests with “fresh eyes” by basing its recommendations on a users’ expressed intent rather than a storehouse of demographic data." #FutureOfAdvertising #AI #ConsumerPrivacy

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#CauseAndEffect #BurdenOfProof #BetterSafeThanSorry Unsolicited advice for advertisers making claims about net-zero emissions, bamboo products, or recyclability: Until there is clarity on what qualifies as an “internationally recognized methodology,” it’s probably best to stop making environmental claims - not just in the oil and gas sector -, or have a chat with legal.

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It’s not every day that friends reach out, knowing I work in consumer insights and brand strategy, and ask, “Did you see this?” This week, it’s been all about Jaguar. The buzz has been overwhelming, and the unsolicited feedback I’ve heard hasn’t been great. I’ve been avoiding the news lately (political season survival strategy), so I’m still catching up on the broader conversation, but... WOW. A quote from this article really struck me: “It’s unusual to see [that] a storied brand so radically wants to change its position. That’s brave, and brave can be foolish if the customers do not like it.” This is such a fascinating experiment. For me, it reinforces the mantra: “Brands that lead with consumers win.” That means both legacy customers and the aspirational target audience. From where I stand, it’s unclear if Jaguar will hit the mark with either. What are your thoughts? #consumerinsights, #brandstrategy #consumerintelligence #marketing #strategy

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With a world focused on instant gratification sometimes the importance of consistent brand presence goes unnoticed. Chief Brand Officers are the unsung heroes that keep the ship from hitting that iceberg. This is a good read if you are interested in finding out how instrumental branding is to your success.

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📚 The Impact of Gen Z & Alpha on Back-to-School Shopping New findings from Wavemaker U.S. show that when children play a role early in the shopping process, parents are twice as likely to consider a brand. 💡 Krithika Rosenthal, our Group Director of Strategy, points out: "It's crucial not just to influence the parents, it's also important to think about how we connect with the kids." Curious about this year's back-to-school trends? Read Jessica Deyo's full article on Marketing Dive: https://lnkd.in/eB2V4eQD #BackToSchool #WavemakerInsights

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Let's unpack this "18-month long pitch" (there's almost no one that should be celebrating). Lego's Marketing Team cannot make a decision and clearly is horribly aligned internally. There is no reason why it should take this long to select a media agency. Especially when so much of the budget is digital (~75%). My guess is the regions couldn't agree, the CMO couldn't pull them together and the CEO should be wildly concerned about how much time and money was wasted on this review. Publicis probably gave away the farm to win this. An 18-month pitch is not a battle of titans trying to edge each other, like the famous 11 hour Isner/Mahut Wimbledon Match. This is likely painful negotiations both internally at Lego and with Publicis/the other agency participants. It also sets a horrible precedent for future reviews and agency employees should be concerned. Also don't forget, the best of the best get staffed on these reviews... participating in a pitch like this risks your best talent. Every Publicis client should be concerned. Since Publicis likely gave away the farm to win, they are going to look for it somewhere else. Every client of the losing agencies should be concerned. They spent millions in aggregate to pitch this, they are going to look for it somewhere else. Lego's HR team should be concerned. Their new office in Boston is attracting quite a bit of interest from talent. If it takes this long to make a decision, it's going to be a concern for new applicants. This kind of pitch process is a big part of what is destroying the ad agency model. These Lego clients should be ashamed of themselves and the rest of the ad community should hold them to task. There is only one winner... the pitch consultant. And they should be grateful they are not listed in this press release. No brand client should ever hire them again. (and if you're curious... I've won pitches this big on the agency, held reviews this size as a client, and managed some as a consultant.) #adagency #mediaagency #RFP #Lego

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So quite a potential saving...'The two companies employ over 130,000 people and expect to find $750m (£588.4m) of annual synergies, partly through offshoring and reducing duplication. Cuts are more likely to fall in back-office “overhead”, than “client-facing, client-servicing”... 'That will be achieved through nearshoring and offshoring jobs in cheaper locations, automation and other “platform investments” to drive smarter working... Clearly data and technology with Ai is the north star for any size companies in the sector such as our own much, much, much smaller Salocin Group...still... you have to start somewhere :o) as “a media platform, a CRM platform, a dynamic content generation platform” — and expand in new areas such as generative artificial intelligence... It will be very interesting to see if the vision can become reality and make 1 +1 =3

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File under “how the sausage is made.” Had a really fun time chatting with Brand New's The Follow-up podcast on the context and potential design directions for NYBG's recent rebrand. #branding #brandstrategy #design #marketing #nybg #science #culture

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As the exclusive partner of NBCUniversal, delivering ads across linear and digital TV for the 2024 Paris Olympics, XR Extreme Reach leveraged our AI-powered asset analysis to identify key trends around skin tone and gender representation in this year’s ads. Skin Tone Representation: Darker skin tones were featured in 38% of Olympic ads, surpassing the industry benchmark and the overall US TV ad average of 28% for the first half of the year. Gender Representation: While we celebrate gender parity among athletes and in prime time coverage, women’s representation in ads fell slightly short at 40%, 3% less than the industry benchmark. These findings underscore the power of data-driven insights in driving positive change. We’re committed to enabling brands to unleash their creative intelligence to create more inclusive and impactful campaigns. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3MdDAsG #CreativeIntelligence #Advertising #Paris2024 #XR

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How best to measure brand value gleaned from marketing efforts? Four measures for #CMOs to consider. #marketing #brand #measurement

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In a world that feels increasingly divided, it’s easy to dismiss approaches like educated empathy as idealistic or even impractical. But what I’ve come to believe—and what I explore in my first column for The Drum ⬇️—is that educated empathy is not about “fixing” people. It’s about something far more actionable: understanding & curiosity.   🔗 Read my column here #Leadership #EducatedEmpathy #Understanding

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Arc was the most-awarded commerce agency at this year’s REGGIE Awards. 9 times. Reality: When you choose a life in marketing, you don’t always get to market things (brands, services, ideas) that directly align with your personal values. This year’s award-winning work created in partnership by Arc and Unilever: - Amplifies multicultural voices - Eschews perfection - Promotes family connection and positive self-worth in young women - Provides affordable, healthy meal options to families Do these align with my personal values? Yes. Yes. Yes. And…Yes. It thrills me to see this work connect with people, build businesses, perpetuate good in the world, and receive recognition for all of it. #IrresistibleCommerce #REGGIE #award #Unilever #ClientPartner #arcww

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Some good advice here.

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We craft transformative brand strategies into compelling visual narratives that engage and drive results. Positive happens. Book your free strategy call today and turn your brand’s success into its next level: https://lnkd.in/eFBywzi5 #EngageYourAudience #DriveResults #TakeAction #BusinessGrowth #MarketingStrategy #ElevateYourBrand #StorytellingForBusiness #CreativeStrategy #Entrepreneurship #SmallBusinessGrowth #MarketingExperts #CreativeAgency #DesignThinking #InnovationInDesign #VisualMarketing #Branding #Marketing #DigitalMarketing #CreativeMarketing #StartupSuccess

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