Page 19 - AdNews Magazine Nov-Dec 2020

Our 2020 Global CMO Study shows that customer growth is a priority, with accountability for reducing costs. This will require greater consumer understanding and greater decisiveness to achieve both long- and short- term outcomes. It’s an increasingly complex landscape and only places greater emphasis on the right type of partnership to help simplify; one that understands a client’s whole business and can join the dots from strategy, to experience, to delivery and optimisation — on any platform.
New thinking is a non-negotiable and will help unlock a new type of partnership that goes beyond marketing to delivering holistic brand value. This also means different commercial models will be key to driving
sustainable growth and increased social good — the ultimate quad play: a win for consumers, for clients, for partners and a win for community. As partners, it’s our role to ensure brands don’t rely on “traditional” recovery strategies. It’s our responsibility to help brands progress, thrive,
and leap from what’s now to what’s next.
With the right capabilities now in place and expertise to mobilise
quickly, I can proudly say “think dentsu”.
Champions of meaningful progress
While every day is different, this year has demonstrated that opportunity is never what it seems.
As we enter the home stretch of 2020 and brands start to think about a new year, it is important that leaders don’t just revert to the known.
Together we can be champions of meaningful progress by continuing to embrace change with an open mind. After all, resilience, trust and climbing high is the key to future-proofing success.
Bring on 2021.
John Broome, CEO, AANA
This year we got to know each other like never before. Quite intimately, in fact. The combination of Zoom and WFH exposed the real us. I’ve found it fascinating. But for others it’s been just too scary.
Many were quick to dash down to Ikea to invest in well positioned aspidistras or a trendy lamp. Not for me. Many fellow Zoomers have commented on the endless rows of books behind me. Call me a sucker for long-form content but I love books, particularly modern history. History is a sanity check. It allows us to look to the future through the lens of the past.
As much as we like to think we live “in unprecedented times” we do not. For example, Spanish Flu killed more than 50 million people in a single year. So my first comment about next year is a pessimistic one. A vaccine will create hope but little else. In fact, it will lead to confusion. If you think the entire world is going to form an orderly queue to be vaccinated think again. It will be messy and chaotic. So if you are basing a marketing plan on vaccine availability, I would also think again.
But what history shows us is that humans and their economies are amazingly resilient. Adversity always drives rapid innovation and creative mindsets. It accelerates new patterns of behaviour. We’ve already seen how ecommerce behaviour has been transformed. Some categories will thrive. Just ask Gerry Harvey.
Others will inevitably bounce back as dormant categories and sectors re-emerge. However, be careful to distinguish what is artificial (driven by short-term govern-
ment stimulus) and what is underlying and organic. But the good news is that economic recessions are getting shorter and recoveries faster.
Advertising spend will con- tinue to recover but its trajec- tory will be a function of GDP growth in turn heavily
“As we enter the home stretch of 2020 and brands start to think about a new year, it is important that leaders don’t just revert to the known.”
Angela Tangas, CEO of dentsu ANZ
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