Thanks to the digital revolution and performance marketing increasingly becoming a key focus for brands, it’s more vital than ever that we focus on the bigger picture when it comes to execution.
Digital spend has grown exponentially in recent years, but execution in some cases has become fragmented, with agencies structuring by channel expertise or practices servicing one or two key clients across departments. Whilst this has had its benefits, namely with people getting really good at one particular specialism and brilliant work being delivered on single channel clients or briefs, we still need to remember the importance of working in partnership: client & agency; media & creative.
In theory, this sounds simple. Think about the overall brand objectives, targets and challenges before coming up with media plans? We should have been doing this for years, right? Correct. But it’s easier said than done. We are getting there though; we’re putting strategic planning at the heart of our client relationships to ensure that every single digital media touchpoint – and those above the line – are working together cohesively to achieve a common goal.
Through our Experience Planning team, we’re driving consistent planning principles with the ultimate goal of having an agreed set of activation guidelines in place for every channel. Simply put, these should be a one-page guide of what we want to achieve through media at every step of the consumer journey, as well as what channels, data and tech implications we need to consider. Using these as a basis, our channel specialists can then not only understand exactly what is needed, but also how they can be working with other channels on new tests and betas.
This has been our mantra with Eurostar – a relationship led by iProspect that puts digital first in their media ecosystem rather than your more traditional activity like TV or OOH. In fact, these channels are actually planned around performance executions. This is changing the way we think about planning. It has been a revolutionary approach and one we’re proud of in the agency. We truly believe that this digital-first, and even performance-first structure is the future and we’re now working with other brands, like Square, in this fashion.
We’re also dedicated to ensuring our people are equipped for flawless execution, be this by providing the best training, or supplying the best tools to do their job. Through our strategic partnerships with the likes of Google, Facebook and Amazon, we can ensure our specialists are set up with the very best level of platform knowledge, as well as being able to position them at the forefront of new product releases.
For more information on how we can deliver transformative business outcomes for your business, please contact Emmaclare Huntriss.
