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CHAOS TO CLARITY

It took longer than some predicted. And it was less of a repudiation than many of us had hoped.But Joe Biden won the election, with more votes than any president in history. He beat an incumbent president whom many of us underestimated, again. Trump’s grip on his faithful is strong (he won the second-most votes ever). He held his base, and did well with voters Democrats too often take for granted (Black men, Hispanics). Democrats, especially in the House, would do well to study this election carefully, with humility. Despite all this, Joe Biden manufactured a win that arguably no other Democratic candidate could’ve pulled off. So what can we learn?<h2>Hope beats fear; values beat cynicism</h2>Biden identified and channeled the fundamental emotional truth of a majority of Americans: We are suffering, we need it to stop, and we can do better than the vitriol, incompetence and immorality oozing from the White House.<h2>Discipline and courage</h2>Biden stayed on message from his May 2019 announcement to this moment, a mark of successful presidential campaigns. His introductory commercial called on us to restore the soul of the nation. Biden stayed with this message through a dark winter, when other primary candidates caught fire. Bravely, Biden resisted the pressure to change his appeal, and it paid off.<h2>Authenticity, always</h2>Biden was Biden, and he seems built just for this moment. Our deep divisions, our economic suffering and our systemic racism set the table for an empathetic man whose family tragedies taught him what too many Americans know: It is darkest before the dawn. As our former boss David Axelrod said, Biden was “culturally inconvenient” for Trump. Scranton wasn’t a line, but his DNA, reflecting his compassion and lack of pretension.<h2>Differentiate, differentiate, differentiate</h2>Everything Biden did contrasted with Trump: on science and the truth; on jobs and healthcare; on socially distanced, small rallies and mask-wearing; on voting by mail or in person; on respect for those with different views.<h2>Inoculate against your weaknesses</h2>Biden’s team knew his weaknesses and addressed them. During the marches in the street last summer, Biden supported the protesters while condemning violence. Trump attacked Biden as captive to the left, but Biden wouldn’t have it: “Do I look like a socialist?!” Biden’s basement campaign minimized the chances of gaffes, but also gave Trump the stage alone during White House COVID briefings, where he self-immolated.<h2>Neutralize your opponent’s strengths</h2>Trump’s strongest card was the pre-COVID economy. After the economy tanked, many voters still gave him the benefit of the doubt, thinking if he did it once, he could do it again. But Biden took that card away with a comprehensive, detailed plan and marketed it aggressively.<h2>Expand to new markets and demographics</h2>Biden’s coalition was bigger than any Democrat in recent memory. He attracted suburban voters, young voters, independents and seniors more than Obama did while keeping his base. He made peace with the left, at least for now. His coalition stretched from AOC to Cindy McCain, a remarkable feat. In the face of Trump’s barrage, Biden ran the ultimate purpose-driven campaign. He set a compelling vision, draped it with values and infused it with substance. In an age of unspeakable despair and anxiety, he invited us to jump on board and believe again. Over 74 million of us did, joyfully.

How Biden ran the ultimate purpose driven campaign

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Hosts, Camilla Kemp and Tom Firth, were joined for the conversation by Nina Bibby (CMO, O2 (Telefónica UK)), Jake Dubbins (Founder, Conscious Advertising Network) and Damian Collins, MP &amp; Founder of Infotagion (<a href="https://infotagion.com/">Infotagion</a>).This discussion provided an opportunity to highlight some of the biggest issues and opportunities that our industry faces in the fight for good as we head into 2021. Key topics included:<ul><li>The need for brands to make “conscious choices”, and to hold themselves to account</li><li>Considering the implications of the ‘attention’ economy, along with issues such as psychological profiling</li><li>The key role of technology companies in the battle against misinformation</li><li>The question of increased regulation and whether distribution should be considered separately from content</li><li>The value of a positive end to end experience, driven by ‘real value’ to the customer</li><li>The importance of being values driven and acting in an authentic way</li><li>How creativity and data can work hand in hand and are not opposing forces</li><li>How marketers have an opportunity to become a positive force of change in society</li></ul>Nina Bibby: “It is a conscious choice…as marketeers we can use the incredible capabilities of digital tech in positive ways – it helps us to understand our customers, build authentic connections with our customers – it should help enable us to deliver benefits that reduce friction, that make things simpler.”Jake Dubbins: “This is about making sure that we ask the right questions: do we know what our advertising is funding? Do we know where it is going? What sort of standards and policies and pressure can we put (in place) that are aligned to our own brand values or agency values? And how do we make sure that this is implemented effectively throughout a brands supply chain?”Damian Collins: “As a consequence of the way these ad tools have been created, they can be used to help people make better choices, but they can also be used, I think, to promote and cause harm – that is where we want the tech companies to step up.”&nbsp;<h1>Our panellists:</h1>Jake Dubbins, Founder, Conscious Advertising NetworkJake Dubbins is the co-founder of the Conscious Advertising Network (CAN), a volunteer-led group supported by 90 + organisations including O2, WWF and the United Nations. CAN’s mission is to ensure the ethics catch up with the technology of modern advertising. Jake is a passionate advocate of business as a driver of social good.Nina Bibby, CMO, O2Nina Bibby is CMO of O2, the UK’s No.1 network and is responsible for the company’s total marketing functions. Under her leadership, O2 was one of the first to join The Conscious Advertising Network and has a clear plan to deliver on creating a greener connected future. There’s no doubt that O2’s work with organisations including NSPCC and The Carbon Trust demonstrate they are a business committed to making positive change. Nina is passionate about the importance of making brands authentic and relevant to customers, with data playing an important role in achieving this.Damian Collins, MP &amp; Founder of InfotagionDamian Collins is the Conservative MP for Folkestone and Hythe, and the former Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. Damian is also the Founder of Infotagion: COVID-19, an organisation created in response to the information contagion about COVID-19.Watch the webinar <a href="https://mcsaatchi.london/fighting-for-the-human-in-the-marketing-machine/">here</a>

Fighting for the Human in the Marketing Machine

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Truly great storytelling is compelling – it draws the reader in and can make them think and act differently as a result.Authors are, by definition, brilliant storytellers.They are the masters of every element of the narratives they manage and craft. The characters. The locations. The values of the cast. And, however many narratives they craft – they are able wrangle them together into a clear and compelling story that has a fixed ending.Contrast that with the task facing brand and business leaders today.Their narratives are constantly being shifted around them, often by things far outside of their control. The parts of the narrative – the values, the positioning, the purpose – are frequently designed in silo, by different people, at different times and under different directions. These moving parts are regularly impacted by external change – and the pace of that change is only increasing.Storytelling for business is not easy. Tying these elements together is complex – but critical – in navigating change. Finding a way to connect initiatives into a clear story is key. Ultimately, a compelling story – or narrative – can help manage internal and external expectations, resulting in buy in and permission to achieve business goals.As a result, storytelling has never been more important as a weapon in business leader’s toolkits.So, how do you craft a narrative that tells the story of your business to employees, customers, investors and other stakeholders in a way that helps drive the business forward and delivers the impact required?&nbsp;<h2>Let’s start from the beginning – what do we mean by corporate narrative?</h2>We are seeing narrative as a recurring theme in conversations with our clients – and particularly post-COVID, we’ve seen more and more business and brand leaders (across all sectors) seek advice on a range of questions from:<ul><li>“how to connect with remote workforces?”</li><li>“how to explain the changes we are making to the business to the outside world?”</li><li>“how to communicate a change in direction?”</li><li>“how to unify and link together different internal initiatives?”</li><li>“how to connect disparate elements of brand and business?” (for example, connecting an Employee Value Proposition with a positioning, or purpose with a digital transformation programme)</li></ul>Sometimes known as a business story or strategic narrative, a corporate narrative weaves together the key strategic elements of brand, culture and business strategy into a coherent and powerful story that can inform and inspire internal and external audiences to change their perceptions or behaviour in relation to the organisation.&nbsp;<h2>"A corporate narrative is a special kind of story. It says who you are as a company. Where you’ve been, where you are, and where you are going"</h2>[<a href="https://hbr.org/2016/03/how-to-build-a-strategic-narrative">https://hbr.org/2016/03/how-to-build-a-strategic-narrative</a>]This is important because, quite often, elements of brand, culture and business strategy are defined in isolation from each other over time. A narrative is the story that brings together and aligns these disparate business and brand elements – joining up various elements, providing clarity on what they mean and helping engage the business with them.&nbsp;<h2>So what makes a good corporate narrative?</h2>Typically split into 3 buckets, good corporate narratives explain WHY an agenda is important, WHAT has been achieved to date and WHAT to expect in the future.“You cannot just look forward, you need to look back too. A powerful narrative takes your people on a journey – explaining why you started out on the journey, highlighting what you’ve achieved to date, and getting colleagues excited about what’s coming next”Marc Whittingham, Engagement &amp; Internal Communications, TUI UK &amp; IrelandAs a result, narratives are powerful internally to engage and unite colleagues against a strategy, and can also be used externally to excite and inspire customers [be those consumers (B2C) or other businesses (B2B)].If done well, a compelling narrative can help businesses in both the immediate, and the longer term:<ul><li>Short term management opportunity to present business changes in a coherent way</li><li>Long term strategy opportunity to engage and galvanise employees / customers on your journey to realising your goals</li></ul>There are many commercial benefits to doing this well – not least that a good corporate narrative can unlock value from previous investments in purpose, positioning and identity – even if those workstreams have been undertaken at different times and by different management teams (and even if those elements have previously failed to ‘land’ inside the business).It’s an attractive opportunity for brand and business leaders, because it takes existing investment and helps it add up to more than the sum of its parts. It’s also attractive because it starts from the premise that the building blocks of the story are not necessarily broken, they simply need reassessing, revising and updating to match the context the business is currently faced with.Yet it is also a different type of brand thinking, in that corporate narrative needs to be reviewed, updated and recommunicated to the audience far more regularly than a purpose or a positioning.&nbsp;<h2>And that’s the catch</h2>A narrative alone isn’t enough to inspire change and encourage action. What goes around it, how often and how well it comes to life in the organisation, is just as critical. Here are five strategies to employ to engage colleagues in change successfully –Start from the top: “This doesn’t come out of the usual competitive landscape, customer interviews, and whiteboard sessions. It takes a different approach and a shift in thinking led by the leadership team” [HBR]The narrative needs to feel authentic – find ways to connect the narrative to the personal style and lexicon of senior leaders, so that it’s a natural extension of their leadership.This can be easier said than done. To get senior support and buy-in, “don’t go in talking narrative in the first meeting. Have the conversation about what your people need to know, how it will land with them and how we can engage with them over time. With varied, senior stakeholders make sure they feel part of the journey. Gather their input along the way rather than sharing your own take on what it should be too early on”Jamie Cardoo, Head of Brand, Grant Thornton UKOnce you have senior leadership buy-in and ownership – make sure you demonstrate it. Consider prominently featuring C-suite in launch activities and publicly assigning accountability to the most senior levels in the business.Make it sharp: if it’s going to really engage employees and embed in an organisation, a narrative needs to have an obvious outcome or goal – a ‘so what’ for employees.A compilation of generic stories without a clear purpose just won’t work.“People in the organisation need to have context, what is this, why are we doing this and what does it mean for me?”Jamie Cardoo, Head of Brand, Grant Thornton UKGet right to the core of the issue – review your existing communications and speak to key stakeholders from across your business to identify the gaps, tensions and questions the narrative needs to really resolve for all your colleagues. Then find proof points and success stories from across your business to bring your point to life, demonstrate the story in action and crucially make the impact of the ultimate desired outcome clear.Inspire and excite: a narrative should not sit alone as words on a page. Real change comes from engagement, and engagement comes when employees feel inspired and excited.Start from a solid base – build the narrative in a way that engages and inspires the business – a rallying cry that unites teams behind a common goal. But, bring it to life for colleagues in a way that inspires and engages – perhaps through a new, fresh creative identity, to encourage action and buy-in behind something that seems original and worthy of their attention.“Make sure the narrative reflects your business and your culture as much as you can. Push the boundaries to bring it to life in a way that reflects who you are so that it fits naturally into your brand and engages your teams. At TUI, we launched our new company story and strategy with a range of activities that reflected our position as a holiday company – including running competitions as part of the launch with holidays as potential prizes”Marc Whittingham, Engagement &amp; Internal Communications, TUI UK &amp; IrelandMake it tangible: business is emotional – with personal hopes, dreams, fears and aspirations all tied up in the decisions employees make every day. To really have an impact, a narrative needs to lean into this emotion, building energy and pride behind the words on the page.But emotive words need a tangible base.“The word narrative can be alienating and hard to grasp for some stakeholders without examples of how it will be used and experienced by your people. Demonstrate how the narrative will play out in reality to ensure all stakeholders see the wide-ranging value of it.Jamie Cardoo, Head of Brand, Grant Thornton UKConsider how the narrative is launched – from top-down townhalls, to follow-the-sun webinars, to localized team meetings. Rather than a single big-bang event, build a steady drumbeat of energy and engagement that launches the narrative in a tangible way.“We relaunched the TUI story and strategy last year – and it was important that our colleagues felt and connected to our narrative. We launched a website that took colleagues on the journey of where we were, bringing it to life visually and weaving in gamification through QR codes and competitions. Supported by a leaders conference and ongoing team activities and events, it ensured the narrative embedded in the business in a way that fit naturally to who we are”.Marc Whittingham, Engagement &amp; Internal Communications, TUI UK &amp; IrelandSet a target: a narrative can be exciting, inspiring and emotional. But ultimately it is just words on a page unless it drives change and has a measurable impact on a business.To make sure your narrative is really working hard and delivering results for your business, link it back to commercial and non-commercial metrics (can you use or adapt any you already have in place?) so that progress in embedding ideas and effecting desired change can be tracked.Be strict in using these metrics to monitor and track the change you are seeing in your business, set a target and be bold in adapting / pivoting your strategy over time if aren’t seeing the impact you need.“Ensuring the business are part of developing the story and ultimately own it will help it naturally spread across the business. Alongside this, it also needs a planned approach to how you’ll measure the success of the story. Measurement can be tricky, so at TUI, we used a combination of weaving our key priorities from the story into objectives, informal chats with colleagues and fun pulse-checks like quizzes avoiding formal surveys”.Marc Whittingham, Engagement &amp; Internal Communications, TUI UK &amp; IrelandStorytelling is a powerful tool.Weaving together stories and aims into a consistent thread, a corporate narrative is a powerful weapon in the toolkit of business and brand leaders assailed by constant change.Far from being the domain of authors, corporate storytelling is a critical business tool that helps businesses cut through noise to articulate what really matters in a clear and compelling way.“Telling stories is one of the most powerful means that leaders have to influence, teach, and inspire.” [<a href="https://www.harvardbusiness.org/what-makes-storytelling-so-effective-for-learning/">https://www.harvardbusiness.org/what-makes-storytelling-so-effective-for-learning/</a>]Whilst it’s not always easy to get right, when done well a narrative can be a highly effective tools to navigate through change and help businesses react to and realise specific goals – helping to galvanise employees, create a culture of success and have a positive impact on almost all business activities.

Why you should be building an engaging corporate narrative in 2021

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M&C Saatchi UAE

The Big Box became the no.1 selling item on Pizza Hut’s menu, sales increased by almost 10% and the Big Box reflected 22% of sales for the duration of the campaign

No.1 selling product

We reached 3x our target engagement goal for interactions, massively exceeding our goals in reaching over 22 million people

Increased Interactions

A slice of innovation

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As we begin our tentative emergence from lockdown, a truth is becoming evident the world over, we don’t just want to go back to the way things were, we want change. The pandemic, for all its disastrous consequences, has changed the world at large and our working world particularly.There has never been such a business imperative and creative opportunity to embrace change. So we have thought about 10 lessons from lockdown and the opportunities for change they offer.&nbsp;<h2>1. Time to unify</h2>Lockdown has exposed the gaping chasms in our societies, but has also shone a light on the shared passions that can unite us. Coming out of lockdown, these passions emerge with a greater opportunity to gel communities, cultures and even countries. As Nelson Mandela said, “Sport has the power to change the world, it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite.” Music and cultural events brought people together during lockdown in a similar way; the One World Together concert raised almost $128m million globally.The change:Sponsors and brands in sport and entertainment have to embrace the unifying power that our industry has on a global scale and genuinely make positive change by taking an active, unifying role in the recovery.&nbsp;<h2>2. Activate the archive</h2>Over a 5-week period the world’s attention was held by a sporting storyline from over 20 years ago. Not every archive is lucky enough to contain enough footage to create an original Michael Jordan documentary, but The Last Dance demonstrated the incredible editorial power of the archive and the appetite of audiences for well executed, original long form content.The change:Embracing the archive gives brands an opportunity to break the dogma of short form and snackable content and become producers of longer form editorially driven entertainment.&nbsp;<h2>3. New media world</h2>The pandemic is accelerating the decline of the old media paradigm and quickly bringing a new one to life. As media companies around the planet cut staff and adapt their strategies to a new world, the media that will survive the crisis will be far more agile, decentralized, and less dependent on advertising. New media models are forming through passion economy services like Substack and Patreon, empowering independent journalists to serve small-but-influential audiences.The change:Time to change our traditional media relations and comms strategies in order to take advantage of this new landscape. As these independent outlets become ever more influential they offer an incredibly authentic way to access and engage audiences.&nbsp;<h2>4. Athlete and artist activism should be encouraged</h2>Killer Mike to Marcus Rashford the most inspirational, compassionate and unifying voices across the globe over the last few months have been young athletes and artists. This feels a long way from the ‘Republicans buy sneakers too’ stand. This should encourage not scare brands, as engagement with important societal issues like Black Lives Matter makes these voices far more compelling and deepens their relationships with audiences. Trend reports have been highlighting for years the fact that Gen Z are more socially conscious and active than their predecessors, it should be no surprise that their icons are too.The change:Brands will have to embrace what previously made them feel uncomfortable and give the activism of these icons the platform it deserves as athletes and artists are no longer comfortable staying in ‘their lane.’&nbsp;<h2>5. It’s the year 2030</h2>COVID-19 wasn’t a game changer, it was an accelerant, a terrible fuel added to a rocket whose destination was already set. As an industry, those not ready for rapid digitisation, cord-cutting, and commercialisation will look out of place rather soon. The US saw a 70% jump in cord- cutting homes in Q1 (1.7 million in total), eSports sponsorship deals are up 53% YoY and the live experience is subject to a hiatus with no definitive end in sight. Some changes were expected, others were a shock, but what felt like the distant future is now just around the corner.The change:Get ahead of the game by pre-empting where your audience is going to be in five years’ time and making your move now.&nbsp;<h2>6. Passions are a good bet in a recession</h2>As recession hits people tend to nest – great news for delivery pizza and wine – but they also stick by their passions through thick and thin. During the last recession cable TV subscriptions and sport memberships were some of the last ‘discretionary’ spending to be cut by households. This time around we’ve already seen the Premier League’s viewership record broken in the UK, the PGA tour golf viewership up 50% YoY in the US, the Defected Virtual Festival pull in nearly 8 million viewers and film viewing at an all-time high globally thanks to the lockdown dominance of the likes of Netflix.The change:As an industry we can’t be blasé about this, we must embrace the marketing potential of passions during recession and be ready to help brands become commercially smarter than ever with their rights and showcase the bottom line value added by passions.&nbsp;<h2>7. We need to welcome the class of 2020</h2>The traditional big sponsorship industries – auto, travel, insurance to name just three – have taken COVID particularly hard. We hope their commitment to passions remains strong as sport, entertainment and the arts depend on them, but this is also a wake-up call for our industry to engage the new disruptor class of brands that have reshaped the world over the last decade or so. It’s no surprise that brands built in the digital age haven’t found comfort in the traditionally analogue world of sponsorship, so this is our chance to show them we’re worth their investment.The change:Lockdown has supercharged the growth of digitally-led businesses, traditionally reliant on very direct, sales-oriented marketing channels. As they reach critical mass and their ability to disrupt and differentiate fades, the strength of brand-building disciplines comes to the fore and there is none more effective than sponsorship. We need to keep making the case for building brands through passions but we have to change to speak in the language of these digital disruptor businesses and not rely on a tried and tested approach.&nbsp;<h2>8. The rights package is wrong</h2>The Lockdown has exposed the antiquated way many sponsorships are packaged and sold. This is the legacy of buying a sponsorship like a media plan rather than a tailored way to engage an audience through their passion. If you were to start with a blank piece of paper would you really deliver only one tenth of a sponsorship’s value online when brands spend 50% of their budgets online?The change:To move on from digital rights feeling like a garnish on the top of a package and instead place dynamic, defined and disruptive digital rights at the heart of the sponsorship package.&nbsp;<h2>9. The direct-to-fancomms revolution</h2>Lockdown has driven athletes, artists, and celebrities to embrace direct-to-fan comms channels at unprecedented scale. Patreons, private Discord servers, Cameo, IG Live, Twitch streams, Ashton Kutcher’s “Community” app, Charli XCX hosting her own press conference on Zoom, are becoming the norm. Rather than original content and fan-relationships being mediated by a third party, talent is picking up the phone and broadcasting itself.The change:Large scale sponsorships remain the most powerful tool to engage audiences through the things they love, but these should increasingly be brought to life through individuals. They can allow brands to reach and connect directly with fans in an authentic and credible way.&nbsp;<h2>10. Passion is the original social network</h2>Sport, music &amp; film have been connecting millions of distant strangers for years. We can go to a nightclub or sports bar anywhere in the world and bond instantly with a fellow fan of deep house or Paris Saint- Germain. And if we can’t meet in person, we still feel a sense of purpose and community by knowing that our teammates are out there. Passion is both the “carrier signal” that brings us into the room with people we love and the banner under which we unite. Post-lockdown, we’ll depend more than ever on our passions to reconnect and reunite us.The change:The sort of emotional moments we dream about are about to happen in swathes as we reunite with our passions, brands have the opportunity to be part of the greatest and most emotional reuniting in decades.This article originally featured <a href="https://sportandentertainment.mcsaatchi.com/the-reset/the-reset-lessons-from-lockdown/">here</a>.

The reset: Lessons from Lockdown

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M&C Saatchi Australia

M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment Australia

Optus was recognised as Australia’s strongest brand by Brand Finance in 2019

Australia’s strongest brand

Optus and Re have successfully partnered for 7 years (and counting)

Long-term

The power of Yes

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Like the thousands of empty suitcases gathering dust under beds around the country, the travel industry has been truly grounded by COVID-19. Over half of UK consumers have either cancelled or decided against going on a holiday that was already booked (Mintel). And who can blame them? When it comes to safety, uncertainty is a deal breaker, no matter how good the duty-free, onboard film selection or lure of sunnier climates are. As the saying goes… Safety first."People are getting a bit restless. There’s a real desire, of course with caution and concern, to get to back some version of normality." -Annabelle Cordelli, Virgin AtlanticBut the headlines of horror don’t tell the full story. Nor do they do justice to the resilience of the nation and the travel industry as a united force going forward (and upward)."There has been so much change to operations and procedure, it’s important to remember we’re dealing with people, so keeping the human aspect is key." -Terry Daly, EtihadAlongside the government’s announcement to lift some European travel restrictions from the 6th of July, we’ve been fortunate enough to speak to expert marketers from brands including Virgin Atlantic, Eurotunnel, and National Express about how they’ve navigated and harnessed change in the face of adversity – sensitively and creatively. And we are starting to see little pockets of optimism and opportunity."The new luxury consumer will expect more than even before from a luxury online experience. They will want even more of a highly personalised, private in store experience, and will no doubt influence the return of timelessness heritage and craftsmanship to the luxury sector" - Jenni Benzaquen, Marriott InternationalSo how will the travel industry recover post COVID-19?Download the full report <a href="https://mcsaatchi.london/preparing-for-take-off">here</a>.

Preparing for Take-Off

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M&C Saatchi Performance Indonesia

The percentage contribution of first complete orders driven by digital marketing campaigns against the overall user base grew from 40% to 57%; an increase of 71% of first-time consultations

Increase in firt time consultations

Mobile first healthcare

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Disappointments. We’ve all had them. That moment when someone or something lets you down. When they fail to live up to expectations. When the promises they’ve made are exposed as untrue. How many times has a brand done that to you in the past year? Welcome to the Experience Gap.Download the full report <a href="https://clearstrategy.com/thinking/experience-gap/">here</a>

Closing the experience gap

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M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment

M&C Saatchi London

Generated 1.3B global PR impressions and 1,600 earned media stories.

Made a big impression

Increased sales volumes by +3.1% and frequency to +8.7%

Grew Sales

Boosted brand love

Gaining lost ground

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How are these changes affecting the e-commerce industry and its users? M&amp;C Saatchi Performance’s new report on the profile of online shoppers in Southeast Asia contains rich insights to help you improve your digital marketing strategy.Download it <a href="https://www.mcsaatchiperformance.com/news/report-understanding-e-commerce-shoppers-in-southeast-asia/">here.</a>

Understanding e-commerce shoppers in Southeast Asia

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Since the campaign launch, over 409,000 people have downloaded the weight loss plan, taking over 2m actions taken to improve physical health

Taking action

Improving the Health of a Nation

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So what can the voices of youth tell us about UK-Africa relations after Brexit? Applying a range of innovative tools, historical review narratives and semiotics analysis, M&amp;C Saatchi listened in to identify four main narrative touchpoints. To see what they found, read the full article by Tom Curran, Senior Researcher M&amp;C Saatchi World Services, and Gerry Power, Chief Research Officer at M&amp;C Saatchi World Services and MRS Delphi Group member, in Research Live <a href="https://www.research-live.com/article/features/our-minds-eye/id/5076602">here</a>.

Youth voices: redefining UK-African relations after Brexit

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M&C Saatchi Kuala Lumpar

The campaign contributed to brand love, with 71% of consumers more interested in the brand and 70% with an intent to purchase following the campaign

Increased Brand Love

The campaign was awarded a YouTube Works Award 2020 and Gold for Force For Good COVID-19 edition

Doing Good

Boosting spirits during a global pandemic

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Ramadan in 2020 will be unlike any other. The Holy Month arrives at a time when COVID-19 has shifted the world’s axis. People are forced to adjust to new ways of coping with life at a blinding pace. Livelihoods of many have been affected. Income ceases to be disposable.‘Mudik’ is banned. Home is the new Masjid. Yet for some, THR – the mandatory bonus – will come as an added blessing, but they’ll want to spend it differently.This study throws light on new consumer behaviour changes during the year’s most important marketable festival in Indonesia, and how brands can cope with it.On the one hand, the pandemic spells doom. On the other, brands can still win in Ramadan 2020. This study from M&amp;C Saatchi Indonesia tells you how.Download the full report <a href="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/how-a-political-strategy-can-bolster-brand-reputation-in-volatile-times/">here</a>.

An Unfamiliar Prayer

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M&C Saatchi Talk

The gnomes significantly improved overall brand sentiment with a 30% uptick in positive sentiment in the weeks following the campaign

Positive Sentiment

The campaign pushed an increase in online shares on Facebook and Instagram and drove £263,624 in online revenue from social alone

Sales Uplift

Turning Homebase into Gnomebase

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Successful political candidates know how to win in constantly changing, volatile circumstances. Their future is based on how well they connect with voters when the next day, or next hour, could change everything. The same is true for brands, especially now as we navigate fraught times where head-snapping change buffets every aspect of our lives.To build a relationship in a meaningful, sustained way, candidates must differentiate along two dynamics: the substance they advocate and the values they hold dear. Plotting these elements on two intersecting axes defines the central challenge of political campaigns. The vertical axis—substance—extends from “change” to “status quo” and the horizontal axis—values—from “distrusted elites” to “people like me.”The more a candidate represents the bottom-left quadrant, the more likely they become a symbol of fear. Listen carefully to the chatter today and you’ll hear fear stated as alienation, distrust, anxiety and anger. On the other hand, if a candidate occupies the top-right box, they are likely to signify hope. Today, hope is defined as stability, belonging, togetherness and compassion.This dynamic is powerful: the campaigns of Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Brexit all occupied the upper-right quadrant. Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney and the Remainers, not so much. Why? No two human emotions are more powerful than hope and fear. They propel or paralyze us. From Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure and the Bible’s John 3:16 to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,’s I Have a Dream, history’s most compelling storytellers have used hope and fear to focus, comfort and inspire.&nbsp;<h2>When companies get it wrong</h2>When a brand loses sight of this dynamic, the consequences can be dire. Uber quickly crossed the barricade, dividing the upper-right heaven from the lower-left hell. Uber exploited airport travelers during taxi strikes, condoned widespread sexual harassment and used software that evaded law enforcement. Then, its CEO berated a driver.&nbsp;Uber’s substance and values were offensive. Its model screamed distrusted elites exploiting working-class drivers. It was the status quo chasing profit at all costs. To rebound, brands need to wrap new policies inside clearly stated values. Uber’s new CEO is following the playbook almost exactly: He’s empowering drivers, creating a culture of humility and investing in communities. They are heading northeast.&nbsp;<h2>When companies get it right</h2>Brands should define their future as customers, employees and neighbors hope it could be. And if things go south, companies should use the spotlight to highlight their core beliefs and their promise to make things right fast.&nbsp;Consider Starbucks. Immediately after two African-American men were arrested in a Philadelphia store for waiting for a friend, Howard Schultz said he was “ashamed” by his company. The CEO apologized personally to the two men. The offending barista was terminated. Then, Starbucks closed its stores for training where baristas shared their experiences with race and learned about implicit bias.What might one conclude? Starbucks shares my values, and it’s addressing the problem in a relevant, substantive way.&nbsp;<h2>The promised land</h2>The Starbucks example shows how substance and values work together. Starbucks revamped its customer relations because they celebrate everyone from every background. We call such an effort a signature action. It’s big and bold. It’s a roadmap for the future that speaks volumes about the company—if we follow these principles and take these actions, we’ll make progress together.&nbsp;Signature actions come in many forms, from Goldman Sachs’s 10,000 Women to Google’s driverless cars and from Walmart’s environmental guidelines to REI’s #OptOutside. Signature actions should be unique, effective, measurable, innovative and relevant. Signature actions inoculate against fear and bolster hope.Change is constant. Customers revolt. Competitors attack. Policymakers investigate. But political strategy shows how to navigate these harsh realities and win. Brands can do the same.

How a Political Strategy Can Bolster Brand Reputation in Volatile Times

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M&C Saatchi Abel

Street Store was awarded Gold at Cannes Lions Festival, and was named Best World-Changing Idea in EMEA region by Fast Company USA

World-changing Ideas

What started off as a local activation in Cape Town has now helped clothe over 900,000 people to date

Helping the ‘have nots’

Hang up to Help Out

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M&C Saatchi Milan

M&C Saatchi Berlin

De’Longhi saw a marked improvement in brand favorability, purchase intention and consumer interest in the trade-up

Improving brand favorability

Beyond this, De’Longhi also saw strong campaign recall across all markets

Strong recall

A global authority in coffee

Chaos to cognition

Next Stop: Iceland

Chaos to Clarity

TikTok

When Faith Trumps Fear