Unified Creativity The surest way to make your marketing spend work harder
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Unified
Creativity
The surest way to make your marketing spend work harder
© Atomic 2021
Unified Creativity
Half empty or half full?
Is this the toughest time to work in marketing,
or the most exciting?
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
Marketers everywhere
are facing extreme pressures. GDP Growth Rate
Compared to Previous Year
The world may feel like it’s getting need. Even the most supportive boards
quicker, but the UK economy has been are asking the hard questions: where’s
growing slowly for a long time now. the ROI? Are you certain? Can you
2020 was obviously dreadful. And whilst prove it? In this environment, you can 2015 2016 2017
we’ll get a bounce this year, things will hardly blame them. 2.36% 1.92% 1.89%
soon revert to the norm.
The bottom-line is that marketers need
This is squeezing team sizes and to do more with less. They need to
budgets. Most marketers have fewer optimise every last penny of spend.
resources at their disposal. People’s At the same time, the opportunities
expectations have skyrocketed. They are unparalleled. The acceleration of
want more relevance and less friction. digital and the emergence of powerful 2018 2019 2020
They’re looking for brands to enrich new technologies is enabling brands 1.34% 1.46% -9.76%
their lives and add value in new ways. to deliver extraordinary answers to
And they expect brands to be there to customer problems.
serve them in whatever channel and at
whatever time they choose.
With customers setting the agenda, the
demands on marketers are 24/7. The 2021 2022* 2023*
media, retail and cultural landscapes 5.92% 3.17% 1.86%
are ever more complex and fast-
moving. Fragmentation is everywhere.
It is increasingly hard for marketers to
command the attention their brands
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
The explosive growth
of e-commerce
Marketers can do things that simply The reality is that marketers need to
weren’t possible before. High levels see it both ways. They must make their
of disruption allow smart brands to budgets work harder.
challenge the traditional order of things.
No area is being more disrupted than And they must change how and where
retail, with the explosive growth of they spend their money in order to seize
ecommerce. these new opportunities. That’s what
it takes to win in a world that’s not just
New battlegrounds give marketers the digital-first, but increasingly direct-first.
chance to upend the status quo. With
the rise of DTC, brands can create new The big question is: Are brands being
relationship models that build loyalty, helped or hindered by the way they
stimulate advocacy and drive lifetime organise their comms strategy? The
value. Marketers can deliver solutions approaches taken by ‘traditional’ and
that are genuinely customer-centric at ‘digitally native’ brands are looking more
every step. and more similar.
Like we said: is the glass half empty or
half full?
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
“Are brands being
helped or hindered by
the way they organise
their comms strategy?”
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
The Linear Model
DEMAND PURCHASE FULFILMENT RETENTION
OVERALL
STRATEGIC BROADCAST SEGMENTED TARGETED ORDER
WEBSITE E-COMMERCE CRM
& CREATIVE COMMS COMMS COMMS FULFILMENT
DEVELOPENT
Operation &
Brand Strategy TV/VOD/Pre-Roll Social/Digital Performance Media UX/UI Product Fulfilment Customer Service
Management
Community Product Delivery
Core Brand Assets Print Sponsorship Content Offer Optimisation Email
Management & Distribution
Brand Architecture Radio Partnerships Search/PPC Management Packaging Retargeting
Community
Creative Assets OOH Influencers/PR Product Offering
Management
Comms Architecture Social/Digital Promos/Events Tech Innovation
CREATIVITY PERFORMANCE
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
CREATIVITY PERFORMANCE
The Problem
with the Linear Model Immeasurable Immeasurable
Measurable
This linear model aligns well with the
business’ operational structure. Most
of the time, it also makes good sense
in terms of media planning and buying.
Subjective Immeasurable
Objective
The problem is the impact it has on
creative output.
A linear model inevitably leads to Long-term Immeasurable
Short-term
vertical thinking. In other words,
different principles are applied to
different types of comms. Activities on
the left are judged mainly on the basis
of ‘creativity’; activities on the right Emotional Immeasurable
Rational
primarily on ‘performance’.
These things are fundamentally
incompatible. Irregular Continuous
Immeasurable
‘Set-plays’ ‘Marginal Gains’
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
Vertical thinking is giving brands
a major headache
For two key reasons: Firstly, it leads • They need to seek out new ways to
to creative that simply doesn’t reflect deliver their promise via 1:1 comms,
how people respond to or choose partnerships, online marketplaces DOES THIS BRAND DOES THIS BRAND OFFER
between brands. We see brands in – and for a growing number, direct FEEL DISTINCTIVE? GOOD QUALITY EXPERIENCES?
the round. Our attitudes, perceptions sales.
- Easy to recognise - Simple to get what I need
and willingness to engage or transact
are shaped by four inter-connected Regardless of category, brands - Appealing POV - Always present and available
dynamics. need to ensure every single piece
of communication they produce is - Clear role & purpose - Interesting & entertaining
Collectively, these dynamics make strengthening and driving the brand
up the brand ecosystem. To win and ecosystem. Vertical thinking is ill-
keep customers, brands need their equipped to achieve this. In its place, DOES THIS BRAND DOES THIS BRAND
ecosystem to be seen as more robust brands need to adopt ecosystem KEEP ITS PROMISES? VALUE MY BUSINESS?
and more compelling than those thinking.
- Consistent behaviour - Relevant incentives
offered by the competition.Even the
most traditional FMCG’s now have to - Consistent delivery - Right place, right time
pay close attention to developing their
ecosystem. - Reliable service - Takes nothing for granted
• They need to work harder than ever to
demonstrate distinctiveness.
• They need to provide more rewarding
experiences and more relevant
incentives.
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
Ecosystem thinking:
Part One
For most of its lifetime, Nike was of whom has committed to mirroring the sense for us. One of our core things profit margins of 70%, much higher than
the archetypal TV-led brand – epic services and experiences Nike provides is that we want to own the customer the category average. And its revenues
60” spots, combined with athlete in its own channels). Ecosystem thinking journey, whether it’s a retail store, now exceed £250m, growing by 75% a
endorsement, were the engines is working brilliantly for Nike. 70 million whether it’s online, whether it’s through year since 2015.
that drove growth for it and 30,000 people joined its loyalty programme a social channel”. But it’s not just about
retail partners. But 10 years ago, last year alone, and DTC sales now owning the journey. Gymshark’s entire
it changed tack. account for 33% of total revenues. In comms strategy focuses on bringing
2010, it was just 13.5%. customers closer to the brand, inviting
In place of wholesaling, it started to them into its ecosystem.
prioritise direct-to-consumer sales. Gymshark may operate in the same
“Consumer Direct Offense”, as Nike category as Nike, but it’s a very different That’s why it fosters a cult of
calls it, is explicitly an ecosystem sort of brand. Launched less than 10 personality around Francis; why it builds
strategy. It focuses on providing years ago, Gymshark hit unicorn status long-running, 7 year relationships with
exceptional end-to-end experiences in August 2020 when it was valued at influencers; why its pop-up stores
that forge stronger 1:1 relationships £1bn. Shopify has already delivered include fitness classes, lifting clubs and
with individual customers. the ultimate accolade by turning the gymbox sessions; and why one of the
brand’s name into a verb. “Gymsharking two sales it runs each year happens on
The key pillars are content, community your business” is ecosystem thinking in its birthday in July.
and customisation. These are delivered action. It’s about breaking down every
through its stores (which use digital barrier that could conceivably stand The Gymshark ecosystem is getting
innovation to act as a brand stage); between a customer and your brand. more powerful by the day. It has 1.7
through its apps (which emphasise million followers on Facebook and
both personalisation and the customer’s As founder Ben Francis put it when 4.2 million on Instagram, and enjoys
membership of the wider Nike asked if he would ever consider selling extraordinary levels of interaction and
community); and 40 lead retailers (each through Amazon: “It just wouldn’t make recommendation. It commands gross
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
Ecosystem thinking:
Part Two
The second issue with vertical thinking and re-purposing them for response
is that it makes it much more difficult marketing. But because most agencies
to join the dots across touchpoints see the world from a single standpoint,
and channels. By applying different few are able to deliver both ‘creativity’
principles to different types of and ‘performance’ to the level brands
communication, brands struggle to need. Even fewer excel at bringing the
deliver creative solutions that work as two together and harmonising them.
one. The inevitable result is disconnects
and waste. Rather than being greater The result is that they fail to help their
than the sum of its parts, their comms clients get the most from every available
strategy often adds up to less. This pound of resource.
means brands are leaving money on the
table. They are not achieving as much
as they could in terms of maximising
attention, engagement, acquisition or
retention.
Agencies must shoulder their fair share
of responsibility for the problem. Lots
are good at developing brand platforms
and campaign ideas – although too
often, they’re still led by old world
TV thinking rather than in-the-round
ecosystem thinking. Lots of other
agencies are good at taking assets
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
Brands need
a mindset shift
In order to optimise spend whilst have grown massively in importance.
strengthening their ecosystems, there The result is that the linkages and
needs to be a fundamental re-set. co-ordinations on which integrated
Integrated solutions have been the solutions rely are much harder to
dominant play for the last 30 years. achieve.
Back in 1993, integration was defined
as “understanding the strategic role of At the same time, a significantly higher
different communication disciplines and percentage of customer interactions
combining them into a comprehensive now fall within the brand ecosystem
plan”. That hasn’t changed much – and often, just one click away from
since. Strategies are still designed the point of purchase. This has shrunk
and deployed in the literal sense of the gap between communication,
integration: Integrated, adj = with experience and transaction to the point
various parts or aspects linked or co- of invisibility. This doesn’t mean that
ordinated. the marketing funnel is irrelevant. Far
from it. But it does mean that comms
But the world has moved on a long way need to be designed to work in more
since the early 1990s. The explosion simultaneous, through-funnel ways.
of digital has led to exponential growth In the integrated model, comms are
in the number of comms channels, deployed to target one single level of
whilst the way in which individuals the funnel. This is no longer sufficient.
engage across channels has become
increasingly unpredictable. Meanwhile, So what should replace integration?
less controllable factors like social
commentary and recommendation
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
The case
for unified creativity
It must make the brand
ecosystem feel distinctive
If integrated solutions are about co-ordinating
and attractive.
disparate elements, unified solutions start from the
other end of the spectrum:
Unified (adj) – made uniform or whole; united.
Unified creativity rejects the notion that there is an
inevitable, unbridgeable trade-off between ‘brand’ and It must give existing customers
‘response’ outcomes. Its goal is to ensure every piece a compelling reason to return to
of communication delivers on three levels.
the brand ecosystem.
These define the holy trinity for modern comms:
every creative unit, and every pound put behind it,
must help the brand gain attention, retain attention
and redeem attention. That may sound like a high bar,
but it’s the surest way to maximise your return
on marketing spend.
It must persuade people to
spend time and money within
the brand ecosystem.
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
“Every creative unit
and every pound put
behind it, must help
the brand gain, retain
and redeem attention.”
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
The $64,000 question: how do
you achieve unified creativity?
Step 1
Develop a 360º platform
A platform that is truly 360° has to
do more than simply express how
the brand wants to position itself in
communications. It must encapsulate
everything the brand says and does
across every part of the ecosystem:
• The purpose and POV that make it
distinctive and attractive to a specific
audience.
• The totality of the experience it
provides, across every channel and
touchpoint.
• The rationale for the different types of
incentives it offers.
• The way it delivers its service
promise, and why it should be trusted
to do so repeatedly.
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
Step 2
Rigorously define your
communication building blocks
Having developed the platform, you
need to establish the building blocks
that will tie every piece of creative
inextricably to your brand. These are the
signals that drive audience recognition
and response. They enable the brand
to assert immediate ownership of its
comms, wherever and however they
appear. They are therefore a powerful
multiplier of effectiveness.
There are eight building blocks:
Logo, Creative Platform, Colours, Tone,
Brand World, Brand Device, Sound,
Voice each of which can flow effortlessly
across channels.
We call these building blocks for a good
reason. Brands that assemble their
blocks in a consistent manner, time after
time and across multiple touchpoints,
build stronger, deeper foundations.
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
CREATIVITY
Step 3
Apply a set of unifying
creative principles.
Too many brands and agencies still
allow TV-led thinking to define the
overall comms strategy.
• Brand narrative & storytelling • Wall to wall information
The world has changed radically, but
most TV advertising relies on the same
ingredients it did half a century ago: • Emotional engagement • Rational engagement
– Brand narrative and storytelling
– Emotional engagement • Fame & memorability • DR principles
– Intrigue & reveal
• Intrigue & reveal • Brand upfront
These may be best practice in terms
of TV, cinema and other long-form,
video-based media. However, they
are ill-suited to an environment
which is increasingly dominated by
shorter-form comms. The truth is that
these are channel tactics rather than
unifying creative principles.
To find the principles that work BROADCAST SEGMENTED TARGETED
hardest to drive commercial and
customer success, we need to look CUSTOMER JOURNEY
further upstream…
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
Clarity,
relevancy Absolute clarity High relevancy Deadly consistency
& consistency Brands need attention to grow. But It’s increasingly difficult to create We’ve already talked about how
attention is consumed by information, meaningful advantage at the product applying communication building blocks
and we’re now knee-deep in the stuff. level…and even harder to make it in a consistent manner maximises the
The average adult in the UK spends stick for any length of time. This has impact of your marketing spend. This is
over nine and a half hours a day robbed brands of what used to be partly to do with efficiency. But just as
exposed to content of some sort, most one of the most important weapons importantly, it’s because it builds trust.
of it ad-funded. in their armoury. The only adequate In exactly the same way as we respond
replacement is relevancy. From a to other people, we trust brands who
To have any chance of cutting through comms perspective, relevancy needs to speak and behave consistently.
the noise, brands must be crystal clear be proven on two dimensions:
in communicating who they are and We believe they’re much more likely to
what they stand for at every opportunity. a) The personal – providing consumers deliver on their promises. In turn, this
Clarity in comms correlates directly to with an answer to their problem at encourages us to engage with their
business success. Research shows that exactly the time and place they need it ecosystem, return to it frequently and
brands that exhibit a high degree of most. spend money within it.
clarity contribute 70% more to revenue
generation. b) The cultural – understanding the flow
of events, making a positive contribution
to the agenda and thereby earning a
place in the social discourse.
Like clarity, high relevancy translates
directly into improved effectiveness.
Google has found that “ads that are
relevant to both the viewer and the
moment get three times the attention of
average ads”.
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
“Consistent brand
presentation
across all channels
increases revenue
by as much as 23%.”
Source: McKinsey
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
The ‘Cut-out & Keep’ version of why unified
creativity matters and how to acheive it
1
THE ECOSYSTEM
2
THE EFFECTIVENESS
3
BRANDS NEED
4
THE ANSWER IS
5
DELIVERING
IS CRITICAL. OF INTEGRATION IS CREATIVE UNIFIED CREATIVITY
BUT MOST BRANDS BEING ERODED SOLUTIONS THAT UNIFIED REQUIRES:
STILL THINK WORK IN MORE
VERTICALLY, Explosion in the number of SIMULTANEOUS,
CREATIVITY A platform that is
comms channels. genuinely 360°
FOCUSING ON THROUGH-FUNNEL
DEVELOPING WAYS
Unpredictable patterns of Robust comms
INTEGRATED audience engagement. building blocks
CREATIVE
SOLUTIONS More interactions Three unifying
happening within the brand principles – clarity,
ecosystem. relevancy & consistency
© Atomic 2021Unified Creativity
Unified creativity,
it’s in our blood…
We founded and built Atomic on the from brand architecture to channel If you want to hear more about how
belief that ‘Brand’ and ‘Activation’ must optimisation. By contributing in unified creativity has driven commercial
work as one. We have never accepted the round, we help accelerate and customer success for Homebase,
the false dichotomy between creativity the necessary shift from vertical HeyCar and Peperami, or if you’d like
and performance. As the needs of our to ecosystem thinking. We have us to conduct a free Brand Shapes
clients have evolved, so has our offer. developed proprietary research and analysis on your brand, please get
We now house multiple specialist skills insight tools to help companies know in touch
under one roof, including partnership where best to invest their money.
marketing, response marketing and PR. Jack Williams
Brand Shapes focuses on how jack.williams@atomic-london.co.uk
But two things haven’t changed: successfully brands are communicating 07712 438257
their full ecosystem. It combines primary
1) There are no baton passes. Every research and analytics to provide a
aspect of a client’s comms challenge is whole-world view on how distinctive
met by a single team with a shared POV they are; how effectively they’re using
and common goal. experiences and incentives to drive
repeat engagement; and how hard
2) We guarantee that the agency their comms are working to convert
principals will take full creative and engagement to sales. By identifying
strategic responsibility for every where there are gaps in terms of
piece of communication developed, gaining, retaining or redeeming
regardless of touchpoint or budget. attention, it enables brands to re-focus
their comms strategies and make their
We work with our clients across all marketing spend work harder.
upstream and downstream activities,
© Atomic 2021147-149 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3HN
www.atomic-london.co.uk
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