Digital should not necessarily lead the creative brief. Brands should focus on developing a strong big idea that can be leveraged across all media, including digital. A digital mindset is important and means fostering ongoing relationships and engagement with consumers through dialogue and transparency. Brands must listen to consumers and provide ongoing value in order to nurture long-term relationships that can influence others through word-of-mouth and social sharing.

1. Should Digital Lead the Brief?
Peter Haslett
Ipsos ASI, Head of Digital Strategy, Western Europe

2. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
“
What turns me on about the digital age,
what excited me personally, is that you have
closed the gap between dreaming
and doing. You see, it used to be that
if you wanted to make a
record of a song, you needed
a studio and a producer.
Now, you need a laptop.
– Bono ”
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3. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
Is it the digital medium or the digital mindset that is more important?
We think it is the mindset that helps brands to better develop and nurture
relationships with its (potential) customers.
Yes, ‘Digital’ is increasingly integrated into peoples’ lives, especially as
technologies like TV, mobile, tablets and computers continue to converge.
And, we have all read the ‘headlines’ about
how digital has changed, and continues to
rapidly change, the marketing landscape.
Media fragmentation is leading to a
challenging battle for the attention of an
‘always-on’ consumer, who now has, greater
control over how they engage with brands.
And yes, digital is on every marketers’ radar, and investment in digital advertising is
rising in comparison to other media: this trend is expected to continue.
Share of Total Ad Spend by Media
(% of total)
2010-2014
2014 17 8 40 7 7 21
2013 17.6 8.4 40.3 6.9 6.8 19.4
2012 18.7 8.9 40.3 7 6.9 17.6
2011 20 9.4 40.24 7.2 6.8 15.9
2010 21.3 9.9 39.9 7.2 6.7 14.4
Newspapers Magazines Television Radio
Cinema Outdoor Internet
Source: Zenith Optimedia
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4. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
We have even seen the extreme where a brand budgets their entire advertising spend
against digital. But does this foreshadow a “new normal” where digital
media should be the lead for the creative brief? Should advertisers be
focusing on creating their digital ads first before focusing on ads for
other mediums?
For some brands, the right strategic decision might be to push digital to lead the
brief. For others, however, it really may not be appropriate. The reality is that the
new marketing landscape, or the “new normal”, is both consumer-centric and
multi-media (not just digital). As John Hallward, President of Research Evolution,
recently noted, “focus the advertising on the need-states in each consumer’s life in
which the brand wishes to come to mind. Then establish the link between this
need-state and your brand”. So, the new normal is about recognizing that consumers
“want it all”...where and when they want it. They want experiences – to be
engaged, to be entertained, to be involved. But they want it (and can have it)
on their terms.
In our opinion, focusing on the digital medium above other mediums to ensure
consumers get what they want is a wayward approach. We shouldn’t be asking
ourselves which mediums work, but which Big Idea works. Because at their best
Big Ideas are consumer centric and inspirational. With this in hand, you have the
creative fuel to build a brand across all media, including digital.
4

5. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
But digital definitely facilitates interactions between people and
brands, and with the right Big Idea consumers will be more willing to
share content related to your brand that they have interacted with. For
instance, retransmission did not start with the advent of digital age. People have
been sharing experiences and opinions about brands and advertising since there
were brands and advertising. Our database analysis continues to demonstrate the
impact of Word of Mouth (WoM) as an important form of retransmission, and is,
in fact, the most powerful driver of desired behaviour and attitudes.
Recall X Impact
This is an averaging of many different campaigns.
It is a generalized summary of how each TP works.
Most Important
in Campaign
70%
Product TPs removed
Percentile Rank is on Purchase Intent or Average Equity
W o Mouth
60% and all other
Touchpoints re-
Average Percentile Rank (%)
percented to 100% Flyer
50% In-Store/Island Display P. o. Sale
News Item/PR (Earned)
Magazine Transit Promotion Television
40%
Sample Website Visitation
Posters Newspaper
Radio
Coupon Digital ads
30% Billboard
Direct Mail Event Sponsorship
Cinema
20% Email
High Recall,
but Low Impact
10%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Average Recall (%)
However, digital has exponentially increased the ability for one person to speak
to many, and for one (or many) to interact directly with brands and branded content.
And, digital facilitates consumer-brand connections (should this be desirable)! The
brands that forge the fresh and relevant connections (links) from one
experience to another (without creating roadblocks or avoidance)
should succeed.
5

6. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
“ With everything we do,
we should be engineering
the best path to the
next experience.
– Bud Caddell, Deutsch LA
”
That all said the “Digital Mindset” is indeed critical for the development
of the creative brief in this new marketing landscape. Full stop.
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7. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
So What is the “Digital Mindset”?
It is not really about digital the medium per say, or about the spend for the medium.
It does not presuppose a superiority of any one medium to deliver on brand objectives.
It is easily rooted in the following – Digital embraces the reality of a Pull World:
PULL WORLD
Fosters Communities of Consumers
Dialogue
Engagement
Transparent Communications
Co-Created with Consumers
Brand Stewardship
But what does this mean? What are the implications for the planning process and
the development of the creative brief? Fundamentally it means marketers must focus
on the relationship they have with their consumers and on how they can leverage
these relationships to influence others with what digital clearly facilitates -
interaction and retransmission.
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8. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
First, start by enabling a Relationship
To succeed within the “new normal” brands need to be in ongoing relationships
with people, and their consumers. But despite having more options to create direct
one-to-one connections with consumers, many brands have yet to move beyond
simply having Facebook page, or a Twitter feed where they continue to simply
push messaging, just in a different space. This will not succeed longer term.
Passionate and interactive brand-consumer relationships definitely do exist across the
digital medium. But there is significant evidence that brands might simply be speaking
to the converted. Many people simply do not engage directly with brands in this way,
and this includes the people who are “hooked” or impacted by and perhaps even
advocate a great creative idea pushed through the most traditional of channels (of
which, digital display is one for the purposes of this argument), but simply do not
want to engage online any further. These people cannot be forgotten.
Depth of
participation
Create
Comment
Follow
Share
Like
Scale of
Evangelists Fans Mainstream participation
8

9. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
To enable relationships with a broader set of consumers, brands should
leverage what fans or evangelist are doing in broader reach mediums to excite
and engage consumers who can then aspire to “live vicariously through the
experiences of others”. Because consumers are increasingly seeking
experiences, even if it is to share in the experiences of others.
This means that brands need to ensure they are also working to reach and
impact other users, as well as potential users. To this end, in addition to
broader reach mediums, there is a need to manage “social proof” -
messages that gain power as a result of being retransmitted by someone
known and trusted. Social proof, as earned media, is broader than incremental
reach because of the potential impact on consumers’ brand associations and
perceptions. Remember, perception is reality.
It also means that brands should listen, learn, and leverage the insights and
connections that come from our most intimate interactive relationships. We
can certainly work to ensure those most intimately engaged are indeed
valuable evangelists (advocates retransmitting) for your brand. But we must
also work collectively to create and leverage connections to facilitate and
better manage interaction, when, where and how the consumer wants it.
“
Don’t underestimate
the power of paid for
media to invite, document and publicise
people’s participation
to a wider audience.
– Martin Wiegel, Head of Planning, W+K, Amsterdam
”
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10. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
Then Nurture that Relationship
And, as we stated earlier, digital has been called a “bridge” to the next experience.
The key to nurturing relationships is to identify and customize
community connections and then let them build organically. It requires
brands to be immediate, in the moment and in the know. It also means
that brands provide ongoing value to consumers’ experiences, perhaps their lives.
And the content is always fresh. It is a long-term commitment on the part of brands,
but it should result in a long-term relationship with consumers.
Why did you unlike or unfollow?
content was boring 35%
posts too frequent 31%
content not relevant 30%
content was repetitive 28%
only liked for one time offer 26%
Source: Ipsos ASI - Social Media U&A Survey July 2012
A home grown UK success, Innocent (www.innocentdrinks.co.uk), started by selling
juice at a music festival. Over the course of the weekend, the founders asked music
festival goers to vote to determine if they should quit their current jobs and start
making juice full time, or continue with their “day jobs”. At the end of the festival,
attendees voted overwhelmingly in the career change. And Innocent never went
back on its human approach to connecting with and listening to consumers as they
developed new products, new knitting patterns for their juices, and new community
initiatives. The result – they were named the #1 brand on the Headstream
Social Brands 100 list for 2012.
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11. S H O U L D D I G I TA L L E A D T H E B R I E F ?
Evian is extending the “Roller Babies” phenomenon, and its brand’s youthful vitality,
into a global effort. Together with their brand advocates they are trying to create
the longest music video ever called Let’s Baby Dance (http://www.letsbabydance.
evian.com/). They are currently at 9h54m45s and counting.
Dell leverages the ripple effect resulting from enabling organic discussion about
product development and improvement through IdeaStorm - a powerful fuel for the
organization to do more. Starbucks has taken its coffee shop conversation out of
the store and to mystarbucksidea.force.com to build better coffee shops.
What is common to the examples above is that each brand understood
the importance of building and nurturing relationships with people
within the implementation of their brand’s Big Idea. They also recognized
the value of leveraging those relationships across media and touchpoints
cohesively and consistently as a means to engage a broader audience.
“
Our challenge is that a lot
of people think of TV, print
and billboards, and try to apply
that to Facebook
Case in point
– Paul Adams, Global Head of
Brand Design at Facebook
”
Have you noticed the Nike tagline lately? It is not “Just do it”, and it hasn’t been
for a while. It has evolved to “Game On, World” for Nike+. Nike+ started as a
simple “app” to track runs but has resulted in so much more. Nike+ has connected
a digital community globally. But it reaches beyond the digital community to inspire
everyone to “Find Your Greatness and Make it Count”. Game on.
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12. About Ipsos ASI
Ipsos ASI is a leading global research agency specializing in advertising and brand
communications. Offering state-of-the art research solutions that employ measures
predictive of in-market performance, our research helps clients build stronger brands.
Our areas of expertise include all aspects of advertising development and in-market
evaluation across traditional and emerging media. Ipsos ASI’s goal is to help clients
deliver the right message at the right time across the right media to deliver the best
return for their brand.
The Ipsos ASI team of brand and communications research experts is a global
community of specialists who are passionate about advertising. From concept
development to production, from final execution and into post-implementation
performance, we help inform client decisions at every stage of the process.
To learn more about Ipsos ASI, visit www.ipsos.com/asi
For more information, please contact:
Leah McTiernan
Vice President, Ipsos ASI
leah.mctiernan @ ipsos.com
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