Greg Grimmer

In the latest episode of the IAB UK podcast, Dave S. sits down with Sophia Haynes and James Chandler to talk about the IAB's newly launched Environmental Sustainability FAQs, it's rationale, and how we at GroupM UK are using them day-to-day. Listen here 🎧 https://lnkd.in/eTDyKXGD #GroupMUK #Sustainability

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'Proprietary Media' (or 'Principal) is a hot potato in our industry right now. A new report from the Association of National Advertisers is a great, in-depth guide to the pros and cons, with very good recommendations for advertisers. Here I go into the cons and cons and argue that it is bad for everyone and ultimately the Media Agencies themselves. I call it 'unprincipled' media. As the WFA meets in Toronto for Global Marketer Week the health of the advertising industry should be on the agenda. Advertisers may not be able to solve issues such as climate change, but they can take actions with a more immediate impact on the well-being of the people who service their needs through how they spend their money. The news piece contains the ANA report can be found here https://lnkd.in/geKeFjBX All comments welcome, as ever.

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Today's Q1 2024 @IPA Bellwether report showcases a resilient UK marketing landscape, with events and experiences remaining the standout performers with a record expansion. This resilience demonstrates businesses' strong desire to connect with customers, recognising the power of experiences to enable them to achieve this, as well as being a powerful tool to drive their bottom line. Long-term brand building should remain at the forefront amid rising promotional spending. Aligning brand experiences across the different touchpoints with core values and harnessing authentic content created from experiences fosters trust and engagement, and is crucial for navigating the dynamic marketing environment. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eGTDPyN4 #ImaginationGLBL #IPABellwether #UKmarketing #brandexperience #experientialagency #creativeagency

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In the words of Dan Black, Teads’ CTV Pulse is the culmination of a deep dive into the 'shift factors' affecting consumer content consumption, marketers willingness to commit shifting ad dollars and the driving factors for agencies looking to help advertisers move into CTV. Please click on the link below and have a read. #CTV #bestinglass

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Travis Lusk Good to see you highlighting this report again. It needs to remain in the spotlight even at the risk of repetition for those already aware. Bill must be able to recite this blindfold. Yes, we need more advertisers adopting the extremely comprehensive playbooks in the report and hopefully they will. Education is the key. But more than anything we need the big agency groups to gradually wean themselves off the drug of easy money from programmatic trading, arbitrage and undisclosed margins. No agency group has supported the study and they won't, so advertisers have to make it clear that they won't allow this to continue and then work through new compensation methods that work for both parties. Trying to fix this problem without addressing fees and performance-led rewards is not going to shift the needle. Bill Duggan Association of National Advertisers

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Nick Manning has an excellent piece (https://lnkd.in/ebjX_YUF) in The Media Leader today on how agencies make money on what I always knew as broking and which today has been relabelled 'Principal-Based Media', presumably in the hope that that makes it alright...! There's a danger that Nick's points will be dismissed by many as the mechanics of media buying, the dark arts perfected by the few in order to squeeze a better deal for their clients by the agencies. As Nick shows it's nothing of the kind. And it's far more concerning than that. If you accept that the agency can act as a broker, or reseller of media space and time then you have to accept that the media agencies doing this are no longer objective in their recommendations; that their plans are not worth the paper they're written on; and that measuring the advertising's effect by channel is no longer possible. Trading media becomes just like trading a commodity. If you think that 'media' is more than a commodity defined by largely meaningless numbers on a spreadsheet, that instead 'media' is an integral component of advertising; and that creativity and craft matter, then you can join Nick and me (and an increasingly large group of supporters from all corners of the ad business) in the 'Advertising: Who Cares?' movement, and maybe join us at our event in September. Mail me on brian@bjanda.com or Nick on nick@encyclomedia.international for more details. Geraint Davies Julia Linehan

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Today's all-new Cog Blog is unusual. First it comes from two of us, myself and Nick Manning (ex Manning Gottlieb, OMD and Ebiquity). Second it's got a point to it. We are seriously worried about the threat from various quarters to the craft of advertising (creative and media) and the failure of our industry's biggest players to face up to the challenges we all face. Indeed, we suggest many are part of the problem. We've decided to do something about it and we would like as many who share our concern to join us. At the moment we are at a planning stage (as we explain in the post); how far we take this does depend on the level of support our ideas generate. We urge you to read the post; and if what we're suggesting resonates with you then let us know. Talk about it, comment, share as widely as you can. We hope this will be the start of something.

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Brian Jacobs and I tend to write and talk about the same themes, so we thought it might be good to convene like-minded people to share ideas about how we Make Advertising Great Again (without the red baseball caps). We all know what the issues are so we don't need to elaborate, but we would like to discuss practical solutions. Read Brian's blog and if you're interested in being part of the discussion, our contact details are therein.

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Pretty much every organisation we speak to currently is reviewing how they approach measurement . This Entropy blog by Amy Dawson-Hawkins takes you through the pros and cons of digital attribution models, econometrics and the difference between the two. The myriad of suppliers jostling to explain why they have the silver bullet can be pretty confusing. If you are finding that and are under increasing pressure to prove the impact of marketing budgets then read on... Regardless of the size of your marketing budgets, navigating the marketing measurement space is essential in order to get a clearer understanding of what is driving your performance. A key place to start is understanding the available measurement methods and which is most appropriate for your business. 👇 https://lnkd.in/eKFyEx4F

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Understanding the nuances of #OOHadvertising effectiveness is crucial for maximizing impact. Talon OOH UK's research unveils key insights: simplicity and central placement are paramount, with brand logos noticed only 42% of the time. Understanding viewer behavior and optimizing creatives pre-campaign or mid-flight ensures a stronger impact for brands. 🗣 #OOHAdvertising #CreativeEffectiveness #TalonOOHUK

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This is a very well-informed and detailed examination of the complex and murky area of 'principal-based' media buying with particularly insightful comments from Ruben Schreurs It shows just how difficult it is for Advertisers to truly know what is going on in their name and with their money, so seeking independent advice, the tightest contractual terms and the most thorough audit rights are all vital to avoid the many elephant traps. But why has the world of media reached a point where the advertiser has to count their fingers after they've shaken hands with their media agency? Radical new approaches to accountability and transparency are needed, but these have to include a grown-up discussion about terms of business. We can't get to a point where fees are zero and all the margin is made on media trading, surely?

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This is an excellent visualisation from the DMA (Data & Marketing Association) UK of how integral maturing your approach to measurement is to delivering successful business outcomes. If you're not already planning for it, you should be. It will be one of the most significant drivers of future effectiveness for you.

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Media Marketing Compliance helped the Association of National Advertisers study the market for 'Principal' (or 'Proprietary') Media, and the results have landed. The report is incredibly thorough and provides great guidance for advertisers. While not a new phenomenon, PM is increasing dramatically and becoming a much more controversial way for Media Agencies to make extra profit at the expense of transparency into their true revenues. Advertisers should take a firm view on whether this is in their best interests.

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For all those returning from all the ad effectiveness talk at Cannes Lions this week get in touch if you'd like an objective chat about what the right measurement approach is for you. It might be that developing a measurement framework is the right place to start and then thinking through the right measurement solution following that. We can help clients work that through. The blog link in the comments can be a good place to start if (like most advertisers we speak to currently) you are reevaluating how you approach measurement.

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Trust is advertising has improved albeit from a very low base. Although media remains at 26% and on par with government (which given the current state of UK politics certainly says something). Trust is the hardest to build and the easiest to loose. We talk about it a lot with the clients we work with as it's so essential for brands. Advertising quality remains a key driver "Chiefly, whether a consumer finds an ad enjoyable is most important to creating trust. Other main reasons cited for trusting ads include whether the ad provided useful information, whether there existed a clear value exchange for viewing the ad and whether it made some social contribution" On the other hand, bombardment remains the biggest challenge to it "The feeling that ads are not only seen too frequently but also get in the way of enjoying the content they are bought against. Additional distrust drivers include whether ads target vulnerable groups, issues related to data privacy and targeting, and advertising deemed “unhealthy” to people or the environment. So good to know things are improving, but essential with the rise of AI and automated creative that we keep the user experience of the consumer as a priority. Otherwise the small gains will evaporate in a flash. It's something we've been really leaning in on at DAIVID 🦩helping advertisers measure creative quality quickly and at scale so they can measure all of their content. For our media partners we are helping with best practice creative playbooks for new formats that get the UX right.

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The latest Cog Blog updates on the Advertising: Who Cares? topic of a month ago, that has morphed into something of a movement. This is about helping progress improvement through discussion, as opposed to finger-pointing and blame. Nick Manning and I both really appreciate the support and want to encourage more to join us. We can be reached at brian@bjanda.com or Nick@encyclomedia.international IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising)

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I chatted with Rory Sutherland today, about our venture, Scoops. His insights reminded me of the 'coming wave' and potential of AI in marketing—that it is not just there to crunch numbers but to help us (humans) create better brand experiences that make an impact. It also backed up a simple but significant understanding that Sam Judge and I have about our tool: "Marketing is most effective when it feels personal and human, and to do that, we need to involve them, people, customers, clients, you know humans..." That's the philosophy behind Scoops. It’s not about distant, months-long research but about immediate insights from customers that add value to brands' marketing decisions. Rory's opinion? It's not just a pat on the back. It's a signal that we're on the right path, the path that understands marketing is about people, not just data. #foundersstories #scoops #hyperrealinsights #directtoconsumer #research #dataanalysis

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Marketers have an important role to play in building a new world of sustainable businesses that break the link between consumption and environmental and social destruction. A great piece in WARC from my brilliant strategy colleagues Georgina Murray-Burton and Frank Lawley on how brands can reduce the green gap - customers who want to buy sustainably but are currently excluded by the price premiums sustainable products often demand. #marketing #marketingstrategy #ethicalmarketing House 337 https://lnkd.in/dbSBRZ8j

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Thank you Andrew Birmingham for your great article on the intersection between sales and marketing, and for sharing the Arktic Fox Sales in Focus '24 report insights further and wider. I personally look forward to your next piece on the wild world (some may refer it to a messy jungle) of sales tech. #sales #salestransformation #b2b #salestech #b2b

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