KISS writes...Over the last few years our capabilities and the way we impact audiences has radically shifted. Our team has transformed to reflect this, and our work demonstrates the results, so we felt it was time to bring this to life and clearly articulate the value we bring.
Why the change?
Ask anyone who’s worked with us: we’ve always been forthright and opinionated, slightly obsessed with great creative, looked at the big picture and sought clear KPIs for campaigns. That attitude will always be there; what we add is explicitly expecting and bringing in today’s marketing realities and agreeing early on exactly where we plan to make a difference. We realised that a sharper articulation of what we actually do would also help us with our internal thinking models. We needed to put the multiplier mindset up front and constantly remind ourselves of the opportunities it creates. Applying this mindset to everything we do, at every stage of a client’s journey with KISS means that we stay sharply focused on how to best approach a challenge to drive the best results.
The KISS theory of multiplication
Standout creative has been proven to drive impact. And of course, creative has always worked hand in hand with media buying to ensure it gets seen in market by the right people. What’s new is that technology has completely transformed our ability to reach very niche B2B audiences, on the right channels at the right time, to multiply the impact beyond anything we could have imagined even ten years ago.
Distinctive brand creative, more powerful marketing technology platforms, insights from deep data and powerful analytics really have all combined to shift our offer exponentially.
For example, at events we can use ringfencing and geotargeting to drive audiences to specific places like an exhibition stand, and ensure they see our client’s brand outside the usual trade publications. We do this by targeting them as individuals, cutting through with relevant attractive messages even when they are surrounded by competitive noise. We recently ran a campaign for a B2B client where, as well as targeting their audience in the trade publications on and off-line, we ran programmatic advertising to make sure that key people saw or heard messages on the train home while listening to an unrelated podcast, or as a banner when reading the paper online on Saturday morning. Of course, we also pay a lot of attention to the vital next step: how do we make it super-easy, whichever way they found you, for someone to take the next step and to start engaging with your business? I’m proud of the way we have worked like this for clients like Taylor & Francis and Bayer.
Like so many great experiences, it should feel almost like serendipity or ‘luck’: smooth, intuitive and enjoyable for that busy buyer or influencer to see your brand at the best possible moment. Forrester and others estimate that the percentage of B2B buyers that are millennials or Gen-Z will hit 70% this year. This is a population that expects high-quality digital marketing experiences not just around events, but whenever they use their preferred tools like search, websites, reviews and social channels, which we know are core to their decision making. Of course, making this all appear seamless takes a huge amount of planning, technology and high-speed data processing, but to the end buyer it should appear swanlike: a great coincidence, graceful and effortless to consume, a great beginning to a new conversation with you.
How will this feel for our clients?
This new paradigm can be confronting to navigate, with a plethora of channels and an overwhelming volume of data from multiple sources, but we’re comfortable unravelling this and finding a clear red thread: managing highly technical multi-channel marketing campaigns to drive optimum results. And our clients should expect help to manage this new eco-system, not just from our account directors but even more from our digital experts in channels from social media to Hubspot, paid and earned media, programmatic ads to DSP (Demand Side platform) and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).
We continue to be an integrated agency and for some clients that will mean we operate on a single piece of their marketing puzzle, often a new website, but for others we bring their brand to market through the full marketing mix from programmatic media to social, PR and even print.
Creativity x Technology x Data = Exceptional Results
In essence, expect us to focus on the key multiplier steps: a clear strategy, great creative, enabling it all with the latest technology, and staying informed by the right deep data to drive performance. Done properly this will also immediately provide rich and highly relevant data about today’s buyer, how they make decisions, and what they need next from you.
If you’d like to discuss how we can multiply the effect of your marketing, get in touch now.
