Is it time to change your marketing campaign?

“Maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit...”

Most marketing teams have seen this before. A new marketing director/VP/CMO (choose your poison) joins an organization, and one of the first diktats they issue is a complete overhaul of the campaign that has been running so far. The second diktat, of course, is that their entire team should always listen with rapt attention to their Cannes stories.

The former demand is often motivated by the urge to put their distinctive stamp on the marketing landscape and heritage of the company they have joined. The latter is often motivated by the innate human need to impress one’s colleagues. 

Common enough as these urges may be, should they be entertained?

Stopping Cannes stories is not going to happen any time soon. Let us all agree to that and move on.

Campaign refreshes, though, are a different matter. Like lifestyle changes, they should be done only when it’s clear that the net impact is going to be positive. But the reality is campaign refreshes happen with the same alarming regularity as Michael Bay movies.

And just like Michael Bay movies, most refreshes are pretty much rehashes of the same old stuff. 

Evolve, don’t destroy

Long running campaigns that build business are a miracle in today’s day and age.

Consistency of communication is a key component of building lasting brand equity and driving business, and it is for this very reason that long running campaigns are a miracle.  When it comes to campaigns, strive for maintenance or evolution first and foremost. 

As a rule of thumb, long running “miracle” campaigns are both consistent and fresh. A consistent campaign allows for multiple executions in a persistent and familiar manner, using an insight driven campaign idea and recognizable brand assets.

Freshness, on the other hand, allows you to experiment with new executional ideas and formats while sticking to the same core campaign idea. Consumers like to be entertained. When they are shown fresh executions that still feel familiar and cue the brand consistently, they are more likely to remember the brand fondly.

Think of Snickers’ “you are not you when you’re hungry” or Fevicol’s “Bond that lasts”. Think of Coke’s “Joy of sharing” and Red Bull’s “It gives you wings”. These are all good examples of brands that kept their campaign idea consistent and evolved their executions regularly to keep themselves fresh. 

Rather than asking “can I change this campaign?”, ask “how can I keep this campaign fresh?” 

Evolve, don’t destroy. 

So, shouldn’t I change a campaign idea at all?

No. Change is inevitable. Just like Thanos.

We just need to be clear about when change is preferable to evolution. 

There are three filters that will help you make up your mind whether to change a campaign or hold onto it. Consider changing the campaign idea if the campaign fails to clear these filters.

1. Purpose: Campaigns become useless when they stop driving business results like penetration and share. If that happens, it’s best to create a new campaign that helps to solve the latest business challenges. The only caveat here is that the new campaign should be rooted in a clear consumer insight. 
2. Passion: If both the client and the agency start to lose their passion for the campaign, it’s best to start thinking of new approaches. Lack of passion on either side spells doom for campaigns.
3. Possibilities: Can the team figure out ways to keep the executions fresh without having to ‘stretch’ the campaign idea? Does every client-agency meeting close with an agreement to simply tweak the current execution because no fresh ideas could be generated within the boundaries of the current campaign? If yes, it may be time to change the campaign idea.

So, that’s pretty much it. To recap:

1. Build a campaign that’s both consistent and fresh.
2. As far as possible, hold this campaign and keep on evolving the execution.
3. Consider changing only if the campaign fails to clear the filters of Purpose, Passion and Possibilities.

And yes, if you have any funny Cannes stories, tell me. Those are the only ones worth hearing.