Earning C-Suite Attention

Objectives

The brief is to raise awareness of the industry as a product and its ability to deliver business results. This is not a traditional ‘awareness brief’ as the C-suite are usually the hunters, not the hunted.

Campaign

There’s a list of challenges the winners see the industry up against: advertisers moving media buying in-house to better leverage data; retaining and attracting talent; and media agencies perceived as reactive not proactive.

There are also no MFA members in the Business Council of Australia which they believes removes agencies from the broader business community.

The strategic approach is to reimagine the industry’s creative point of difference and demonstrate the impact this has to grow clients’ businesses. The first step is to define and communicate a clear position for the industry around what agencies offer over other business partners. This sits at the intersection of analytics, creativity, technology and business, delivering creative solutions to business problems informed by data and scaled through technology. Their strategy is to focus on business outcomes rather than marketplace observations and creating value by showcasing agency impact instead of preaching it. Broadening agency perspective is vital by bringing together different viewpoints to any one challenge and honing in on specific categories that corresponding C-suite execs will care about. In 2014, close to 50,000 businesses ran some form of advertising, yet nearly a third of that spend came from only 100. Most of these brands operate with a media agency in some capacity so their strategy is to focus on the 100 individuals – the C-suite leaders – at those firms. 

Results

Success will be measured by the degree to which C-suite level clients change their perception of media agencies as a valued business partner and the level of engagement with the proposed initiatives. The former can be captured through surveys, industry research and reputation studies, while the latter will show a minimum of 70% C-suite clients at events, with attendance anticipated to increase 10% quarter on quarter.

Judges Comments

Earning C-Suite Attention’ was a standout entry. It really zeroed in on the brief, had a thoughtful consumer insight that resonated and would deliver on objectives.

The entry had a great presentation framework and story, making it easy to follow and understand.

A clear winner.