Performance Is a Hateful Word, Says IPA's Laurence Green

Above (left to right): Alex Reeves (managing editor EMEA, Little Black Book); Sadira Furlow (chief of global brand and comms officer, Tony’s Chocolonely); ​Harjot Singh (global chief strategy officer, McCann and McCann Worldgroup); Laurence Green (director of effectiveness, UK’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA))

“The only problem I have with ‘brand versus performance’ is two of the three words: performance. Hateful word. Cleverest trick the tech platforms ever played on us, because it made brand look like something that doesn't perform.”

​Laurence Green, director of effectiveness at The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) shared these views on the LBB Beach at Cannes Lions, during a panel discussion with Sadira Furlow, chief of global brand and comms officer at Tony’s Chocolonely, and ​Harjot Singh, global chief strategy officer at McCann and McCann Worldgroup. Chaired by LBB’s managing editor EMEA, Alex Reeves, ‘60:40 Vision: Why Brand Matters from Day One’ sprung from fresh global data gathered by the IPA, Ebiquity, Ritson, and Tracksuit that confirmed a golden ratio of 60:40 between long-term brand-building and short-term activation, for mature brands and emerging start-ups alike.

The startups and scale-ups that invest in brand, Laurence went on, have a 50% higher chance of reporting profit and large sales increases. Yet historically, it’s been tricky to convince CFOs of the power brand holds. To that, Laurence offered sage and simple advice: “Be specific. You can't make the case by saying, ‘Look what happened to Nike last year’. You need to make the case for your company in your category, across an agreed time horizon. They'll lean into the commerciality of switching even a little bit of money out of performance into brand.”

Performance is about attention, added Sadira, which is easy to come by, but short-lived. “Attention is cheap; influence is expensive. That’s what’s going to propel you forward.”

Two recent billion-dollar acquisitions served as her examples: PepsiCo’s acquisition of prebiotic soda brand, poppi, and e.l.f. Beauty’s acquisition of Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand, Rhode. “That was all because the brands were hot and created value. It wasn’t around performance marketing.”

Speaking from personal experience at Tony’s, Sadira narrated how its day-one brand-first approach gave the company the resilience to weather a recent product recall. “In the comments, when people were upset, understandably, it was our fans coming to our defence – not our community manager.” The work put in to build the Tony’s brand proved to be invaluable, as consumers stood up for the transparency and ethics it’s long been known for.

“You don't get those kinds of valuations and you don't get that kind of resiliency if you are hyper-focused on performance, and brand is something you do when it feels convenient or you have enough money.”

For the uninitiated, Sadira shared the origin story that cemented Tony’s sense of brand before a product even existed. Twenty years ago, its Dutch founders – three investigative journalists – discovered that their favourite chocolate used child labour, sparking a mission to expose the bitter truth and demonstrate that great chocolate can be made without exploitation. That identity runs through every brand asset, from its name – Chocolonely hints at the loneliness of a journey to transform an industry from within – to the design of the chocolate bar – unequally divided to reflect the inequality prevalent in so much chocolate manufacturing.

It’s an “impact company that makes chocolate, not the other way around,” said Sadira, when asked how Tony’s manages its own brand-performance split. Having always dedicated its focus to the brand in the form of its mission, it only began to consider product and performance after Sadira had already been with the company for a year and a half. It now realises that a large share of people come into the brand through the product, so leaning into that, and winning more customers with the chocolate, means more people will encounter the brand purpose baked into its design. “You're always leaving with the story of what we're fighting for.”

Harjot built on the importance of having a clear point of view, warning against chasing momentum without meaning. Through his experience across the world, he’s seen how often things fail because an initial captivating and distinct idea can lose steam without something more solid to support it. “What you realise is that you want to graduate from having a point of difference to a point of view. That actually activates people.”

Entertainment is another key commercial driver. “What the IPA knows is what we all know as humans, which is emotional stuff beats rational stuff,” said Laurence, “And what we've also discovered recently is that interesting stuff beats emotional stuff.” That’s why brands like Duolingo and Liquid Death are memorable in a world madly oversupplied with content. “Entertain, at best. Be interesting, at least.”

Harjot agreed: “Brands are built on memory.” He suggested reframing 60% ad spend as a system, instead. “Every single thing you do, if it is engaging, if it is entertaining, is going to build a memory structure.”

With Tony’s, creating that positive entertainment value is less straightforward, raising awareness of a sad and serious issue; but Sadira pointed to the brand’s advent calendar as an example of how it can work well. Having intentionally left one of the windows empty of chocolate, Tony’s received an influx of calls from the grumpy parents of upset children – until the next day, when they got two chocolates instead, and the opportunity to remember the inequality of the industry. Parents quickly appreciated the powerful teaching tool. “We try to find ways to blend the joy of the category of chocolate and what we're offering, whilst at the same time being bold on how we create awareness and toeing the line on both of those things.”

Turning to the topic of how brands can maintain their core identity as they come under pressure to scale up, Harjot stated that they must be careful not to dilute what they stand for as they expand. “The only way that doesn't happen is if you're constantly aware of what two or three things are absolutely non-negotiable about the brand. [...] Translate with integrity. That's when you're not diluting things, you're distilling them, and you're giving people the creative and intellectual autonomy to do something meaningful and build culture, while still protecting what [the brand] stands for.”

Laurence cast his mind back to the launches he’s been involved in where the brands have remained interesting – including Nando’s – and those that have become boring – like a certain chocolate acquired by Cadbury. “The audience is never asking you to change or become more average. The company scales, and it's the enemy within that starts sandpapering the wonderful edges on your brand.”

So how can startups protect their core brand and lay the groundwork of a billion-dollar future? “Have a belief system and take your time to get there,” offered Harjot. “But when you get there, be steadfast and have the courage to demonstrate conviction in that belief system even as the tides change. [...] You have to lead with belief first, and then ambition.”

Sadira noted how perfectionism can stifle progress. Rather than waiting for ideal conditions, brands must simply start, trialling content and iterating based on how it performs. Being “a good student of your brand and listening is what’s going to help create that momentum. Perfection does not happen in the boardroom and on a PowerPoint. It's happening in the real world with real people.” That audience is going to tell it like it is, “and if you're willing to pay attention, they're going to be your greatest gift on the journey.”

Rounding off the discussion, the panelists returned to the concept of the 60:40 split, and how the brand portion should be best spent moving forward.

“It sounds a bit ironic coming from the IPA, but I'm not about to say advertising,” answered Laurence. “The smart brands I've seen show up where their audiences are, but where their competitors aren't.”

Sadira agreed, referencing Tony’s Chocolonely’s ability to punch above its weight, reaching a €200 million annual turnover with minimal spend on paid media over its 20-year existence. “Hopefully that can be a testament to there being so many ways to build a brand, particularly if you lean in with your audience and build it together. That's something that everyone can do.”