Creative Excellence: Let’s Make All Marketing Touchpoints Sing in Harmony

In an ongoing series for LBB, Tag suggests it is time to rethink that overused, and often under-delivered, term: creative excellence. During the coming months, experts from across Tag’s business will argue that the changing world of marketing, commerce, digital production technology and localisation are forcing a rethink of creative originality, inventiveness and imagination.

Steve Pitts, managing director at Tag, considers the role that physical marketing touchpoints play in the wider marketing ecosystem. According to Steve, tangible experiences are just as important as digital activations. The stats back this up; despite a perception that everyone now shops online, last year in the UK 71.8% of purchases were made in store. Steve makes a compelling case that brands need to ‘harness the memorable’ and help consumers experience and create memories which the digital world cannot offer. 

Why the Physical is an Essential Aspect of Creative Strategy and Marketing Output 

Physical, tangible objects have always been connective for humans. From early cave paintings to stone circles, art and creativity in physical objects have proven time and again to draw people in. They have a certain sense of authority, capturing distinct moments in time from past communities and cultures.

Humanity the world over flock to galleries, museums, travel across continents for just a glimpse of the playful eye of the Mona Lisa, or the toweringly impressive Pyramids. Iconic physical creativity has and always will have a pull – creativity with a sense of jeopardy, where quality is king, not quantity.

So how does this manifest in today’s world? And more specifically to brands trying to connect with consumers in an increasingly digital world?

The answer lies in harnessing iconic brand assets and messaging in physical brand experiences. Of course, the digital world has opened many doors over the past decades, allowing us to connect with consumers across continents, in more personalised ways than ever before. But with 87% of consumers keeping a promotional product for more than a year, and 71.8% of purchases in the UK being made in-store in 2023, the physical world remains a key component to unlocking real connections with consumers.

After all, how many of us have a Guinness pint glass in our homes, sourced from our local pub? Or bid on eBay for one of a kind vintage signs to decorate our homes with?

Whether stolen, gifted or bought, we love the collectible. Iconic physical items that become important through shared memories and trends.

This is the power of the physical. This is the power of iconic brand assets.    

So when planning our creative strategy, let’s capitalise on this by ensuring physical assets and activations leverage distinctive brand equity and are developed alongside the all-important digital, not as an afterthought. Let's utilise established brand assets and harness their pull on consumers. This will allow brands to optimise their connection with shoppers and consumers, building memories and more enduring relationships. After all, all channels should be treated equally. 

 

Virtual cheese? Of course not!

In Simply V’s campaign, their goal was to establish themselves as category leader in plant-based cheese. Utilising a physical texperience as the basis for their campaign, together with Dentsu Creative, the team launched the Museum of Alternative Cheese during Veganuary. In the form of a pop-up museum in Berlin, with the playful strapline, ‘Finally, some tasteful art in Berlin’, Simply V created a meeting place for connoisseurs of all types of cheese, with exclusive cheese art and an event kitchen. 

Photo credit: Dentsu Creative

Simply V’s campaign strategy showcased optimal synergy, with the physical pop-up being the basis for their out-of-home, digital campaign and positioning them as the partner of Veganuary.

And the results?

An OOH campaign in 3,500 locations, large scale collaborations over social media with a reach of over 3 million, as well as social ads and campaigns with a reach of over 178 million. 

This campaign highlights the ultimate ‘phygital’ experience, where all brand touchpoints work to deliver a coherent brand experience and a more meaningful story for consumers. The physical manifestation being the driving force for the wider digital piece. 

Harnessing the memorable

There is an unquestionable power, across all generations, in the physical. Shoppers and consumers crave opportunities to experience a brand first hand, whether through physical spaces or objects. They offer an opportunity to feel and connect more strongly than ever before, all that’s impossible online.

But brands must plan those physical interactions early. Why have a stellar digital campaign if the physical retail space doesn’t marry up? The desire for the digital will never leave but it’s important that we all remember that digital is just one of the answers in the retail ecosystem. It’s a way to communicate aspects of the brand, to entice, and to provide information. It can’t do what physical retail can – be a tangible place where your brand is present and communicates what you want it to say with all the elements and senses in that space.

If brands want to achieve the ultimate connected experience, with consumer connections and assets singing in harmony, an integrated planning approach is essential. If done properly, the physical can be a prominent piece of the puzzle, driving sales and establishing brand loyalty. There needs be the same degree of care applied to every aspect, so that the experience, messaging, and personalisation is clear, consistent, and effective.  

One thing’s for certain; there’s no such thing as virtual cheese for a reason…