Two of the panelists were CEOs of arguably the most quintessentially British companies I can think of – BBC Worldwide and The FA. Tim Davie (BBC) and Martin Glenn (The FA) spoke about ‘Brand Britain’ standing for being trusted and having a heritage in brilliant story telling – the attributes of all successful, international brands in 2016.As the day progressed I heard talks from Uber, Three, L’Oreal, Unilad and Missguided, successful brands trusted by their audience, all curating relevant stories with one common thread consistent throughout each of their successes – their ability to create “movements”.Greg Jenkins, Digital Business Partner at Three, spoke of the need to create “marketing movements instead of campaigns” and this is exactly what all of the brands listed above have done; Uber’s #UberGiving seeked to help make a difference to the refugee crisis; Three’s move to #makeitright looked to tackle a number of challenges within the category; Unilad taking over from traditional media channels to talk to young males; Missguided delivering mobile checkout functionality with just two taps.Of all the day’s talks, it was L’Oreal’s recent ‘Because we are all worth it’ movement which was my personal highlight. L’Oreal have chosen 23 influential and inspirational brand ambassadors, some well-known, to promote their foundation which comes in 23 shades. Their use of a diverse range of people from all walks of life feels authentic without feeling forced and almost feels Dove-esque in execution. They are well and truly marketing to the masses whilst managing to make it feel personalised at the same time. A true movement within the makeup category – inspiring!
So much of what we hear on a daily basis about marketing can be quite negative but the focus over the past two days at the Festival of Marketing has been exciting and given me that ‘feel-good’ factor once again. Having the business objective of creating a movement (big and small) transforms the discussion for every advertiser and every advertiser has the ability to do so. Let's make movements, not campaigns.Sharan Cheema, Client Services Director
