Effies - Effective Advertiser of The Year - 2015
Effies - Effective Advertiser of The Year - 2015
Effies - Effective Advertiser of The Year - 2015
Entry Number: 79
Entry Title
Author
Phone
02 9463 9255
Directions appearing with each question must not to be deleted from the completed case; they serve as a guide for both
entrants and judges. Complete entry form in - Type face: black font; lOpt minimum. Data must include a specific,
verifiable source. Any unanswered question will result in entry disqualification.
Executive Summary (Please Attach the Executive Summary to the front of the entry so the
judges can read this first)
An Executive Summary of no more than 100 words is also required (not included in page count).
Clients must be accountable for facilitating strong and enduring relationships with their agencies
in order to produce the best work possible. Today's way of 'divorcing' your agency rather than
'going to counselling' is indicative of a disposable-minded generation. It epitomises all that is
wrong with our industry.
MLA has a stable roster of agencies that it is proud to work with including BMF and UM, both
partners for over 10 years. It is that stability that has allowed us to build rock solid platforms
from which a long line of effective marketing has been built.
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AANA
In the years 2002 2004 (pre Sam) we achieved an average of $10,446,320 in sales in the
week Australia day fell. Using this as our baseline target for the Australia day week, we
have since achieved cumulative $52,405,792.72 incremental revenue on Australia day
week across the 10-year life span of the Sam campaign.
With a total campaign spend of $12,125,986.00 this gives us a very meaty ROMI of $3.45.
For every marketing dollar spent we achieved an incremental $3.45 in lamb sales.
2. Culture of Effectiveness
Describe how the client organization champions effectiveness internally and externally.
How does the client demonstrate a culture of marketing effectiveness within the organization and with external partners?
How does effectiveness underpin the client's strategic vision, organisational/brand performance and the role of marketing to
achieve it?
What training and development does the client entity have in place?
David Ogilvy's famous axiom, "clients get the adverting they deserve," has long been understood
among agencies that clients are central to both the quality and the effectiveness of whatever
gets made. Essentially, the quality of the client-agency relationship is directly related to the
quality of the work.
However, if relationships are key to the quality of the work that is produced, then why is there a
trend towards shorter, more disposable relationships? In 1984 the average client-agency
relationship tenure was 7.2 years. By 1997 that number had declined to 5.3 years. Today the
average client agency tenure is believed to be below three years.
It appears as though most clients simply view agencies as disposable suppliers, rather than
valued partners. Darren Woolley, Managing Director of pitch consultancy Trinity P3, even went
so far as to say (about agencies), "Most, if not all of you, are factory workers, producing the
collateral that goes into the media and marketplace, and then you decry the fact that people
want to lower the cost of the factory. They can get someone overseas in the global market to
produce what you produce for a tenth of the price."
Clearly, somewhere along the way, we've forgotten the importance of people in the process.
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MLA's approach
At Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) we foster a culture of effectiveness. We strive for
improvements across all aspects of our business. We do this because, as a levy funded
organisation, we more than most understand the importance of getting the most out of every
cent we have.
Unfortunately though, for many marketers, when financial pressures loom the first step
undertaken is often a review of the agency roster in a bid to make savings. This trend for
'chopping and changing' in the industry might result in some short-term savings on paper, but
we believe that this type of decision can be counterproductive. In fact, if managed properly,
long-term partner relationships can be an unrivalled source of value.
After all, is that not the role of marketers: to generate value beyond simply cutting costs?!
This is why at MLA we take a different approach: continuous improvement. We seek to
continually find ways to improve the contribution that people are able to make. People both
inside MLA and the people within our extended partners.
By creating an environment that enables people to be at their best and to continually improve,
we get better results: This is how we do it:
1. We immerse our agencies
Clients are unwilling to allow their agencies access to sensitive business information. In
doing so they expect them to deliver effective work with one arm tied behind their back.
Understanding the product and the wider business problems is integral to delivering
effective integrated campaigns. Before we even start the creative process, we take our
agency partners on a true "paddock to plate" tour so they can talk with conviction about all
stages of the production process. They all live in Bondi and have never been west of
Parramatta Road, making this step of the process the most important of the lot. Covering all
elements of the supply chain; from the paddock to sale yard, feed lot, abattoir and
supermarket, this comprehensive experience culminates in a dinner at a local venue
featuring locally raised produce and a few beers.
2. We write the brief together.
Clients have been writing long winded, poorly articulated and rather boring briefs for too
long; hiding the data and evidence in a sea of jargon and red herrings. Then dumping it on
the agency and expecting the planner to decipher. Our creative briefs are not developed in a
vacuum. We engage our agencies and involve them in the brief writing process. This includes
the sharing of all business information delivering full transparency with our trusted partners
and clearly lists the measures which will determine success. The process and the ensuing
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documents are owned by all involved in the process. We believe if there is not alignment at
its inception, the gap will only continue to widen.
3.
Too many clients treat the creative briefing like a WIP meeting. Not a great start. It should
set the tone for the creative process. Whether it is briefing the Australia Day campaign over
a slow roasted Lamb shoulder at Chiswick, or the Beef campaign over Beef brisket sliders at
Vic's Meats, inspiration needs to be there from the beginning. Reading over a document in a
board room doesn't facilitate this. We take our agencies out of their bubbles; we immerse
them in the brand and we enjoy our products just as our consumers do.
4.
All around the globe, clients and their agencies are locked in a pattern of creative
development that has hardly changed since the days of Mad Men. So, we changed the way
we work with our agencies and made the process more cooperative. As a result, we have
reduced the number of presentations and increased the frequency of informal chats. The
informality of this approach means we develop stronger personal relationships and have
much better conversations. That's not to say we don't recognise the importance of giving
agencies the space to go off and do their own thing, but more that we believe clients can
play a very active role in improving creativity and effectiveness.
5. We challenge our agencies to challenge us
In the modern day with an abundance noise and clutter in the marketplace, too many clients
and their businesses remain risk averse. They continually push work to the middle seeking
safety. The idea being you can't lose your job if you don't make a mistake. MLA doesn't have
the budgets to pussy foot around. We think our way out of a corner rather than spend our
way out. Our agencies love us because we buy brave work and we love to push them hard;
challenging for good ideas to be made great. This can only happen with trust between client
and agencies and willingness to accept great ideas come from anywhere. You won't find
better agencies at collaborating with Clients than our partners. That's why we work with
them. Effectiveness sits at the heart of their DNA and we love that about them.
6. We're part of the collaboration
Clients want their agencies to collaborate. They want the big idea to be delivered through all
their media channels. But none of them are willing to roll up their sleeves and get in the mix.
As a business that champions effectiveness, we have worked hard to be the driving force
between our agencies collaborating. We have developed a 'Charter for Collaboration' that
we have all our agencies sign on to making collaboration contractually binding.
It is not a natural fit for agencies, with competing 'bottom lines' to work together, for they
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have a vested interest in fighting for the budget available. However, by the client placing
themselves in the middle of the team, it removes the barriers and makes it easier for
agencies to pull in the one direction. The result is holistic presentations where the big idea is
executed by each agency through their respective channels.
7. Test and learn is an iterative process
The reality is that campaigns need to deliver. However clients too often view the results of a
campaign as black and white and in doing so miss an opportunity to learn. When MLA
reviews the outcomes, it is a 'test and learn' process rather than 'pass or fail'. If you can
learn from what you have done, then the process has been of value. That's not to say we
don't strive for best in class results. We most certainly do. Effectiveness is in our DNA across
the whole business. Just ask our R&D team. We foster a relationship with our agencies that
allow honest and frank conversations are had when reviewing the outcomes of campaigns.
We take the learnings and put them at the forefront of the next round of briefing. It is
through this process that we are able to deliver the most effective work, campaign after
campaign.
CONCLUSION
Meat and Livestock Australia has a reputation in the Australian marketplace for delivering
innovative and entertaining communications. It is a legacy that is embraced within the company
and a responsibility that gets passed from 'generation to generation' with a belief by all that
they should leave the place in better shape than what they found it. In doing so, the bar is
constantly being raised.
In today's environment of short-termism and agencies being chopped and changed, we believe
that the most important thing that any marketer can do is to remember that this business is a
people business. To drive the business forward, to improve standards and to make the work
better, we as clients need to be more accountable for making the relationships work and
helping bring the best out of people.
3. References
Provide 3 written individual endorsements from the advertiser's marketing partners e.g. agencies, market researchers ideally these will be from different companies. These references should each be no more than one page and can be
additional to the main submission.
AANA
Universal McCann
100 Chalmers Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
PH +61 2 9994 4200
FX +61 2 8586 2080
www. um vvw.com
abn 19 002 966 001
Yours sin
Mat Baxt
CEO, U
ely,
/
ustralia
"The team at BMF are fortunate to have enjoyed many longstanding client relationships of
15 years or more, and MLA stands proudly among this group. Marketing is a key deliverable
for MLA who act on behalf of their constituents, Australia's sheep and cattle farmers. The
task is made more challenging by the fact that unlike most marketers, MLA cannot change
the price, format, packaging or the presentation of the products, so
marketing communications become particularly important. Additionally given the vast scale
of the meat industry and the task at hand, MLA budgets are always dwarfed by comparison,
so every dollar has to work particularly hard.
Long-term effects require a bedrock for amazing work and results to flourish over time. MLA
has a long history of excellence as a client and can legitimately claim to be the most
awarded Australian marketer over the past thirty years. This success does not come by
accident but rather by creating a strong partnership with the agency built upon trust, shared
ambition and strategic rigour. The MLA team have empowered the agency and together
with BMF team there is a strongly held passion to push creative boundaries to create value
and deliver the very best 'bang per buck' for our farmers".
Matthew Melhuish
CEO
enero. corn
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Enero Group Limited. ABN 97 091 524 515
The Monkeys
May 8, 2015
Whilst our partnership with the MLA began only 12 months ago, the marketing
team has gone to extraordinary lengths to give us a thorough understanding of
the business and build a tight relationship.
This has been instrumental in developing creative work that delivers outstanding
business results. And some of the best work The Monkeys have ever done. The
Australia Day Lamb Campaign featuring the legendary Richie Benaud was a
career highlight and a sign of things to come.
The trust and openness in sharing knowledge has enabled us to achieve great
things together. The relationship that we already enjoy points to a long and
fruitful future together.
MLA have had a great history of doing fantastic work and it is easy to see why.
The current marketing team is as good as I've seen and they deserve the
recognition of being rated one of the best marketing outfits in Australia.
Mark re n
CEO and Co-founder, The Monkeys
826,
AUSTRALIA
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TCC & AANA Members: Entries Received By 23 April 2015
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that the information submitted for the attached campaign is a true and accurate portrayal of the objectives
and results of that campaign.
We also certify that the campaign has not been found in breach of an advertising or marketing codes or
in breach of any law within the Australian jurisdiction.
We acknowledge that the case study of this campaign m be publish by The Communications Council
or with the authorisation of The Communications Councjl, but that we ll have the opportunity to remove
such information from that case study that we regard as' market sensit
or confidential.
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