Don’t let novelty bias send your brand off a winning course

Both clients and agencies want to leave their mark on the brands they work on, but unfortunately, it often comes with an “out with the old, and in with the new” attitude.

When Diageo handed its prized Johnnie Walker creative account to Anomaly after 15 years with BBH, rather than letting their novelty bias get the better of them, they saw the bigger picture and kept the 'Keep Walking' brand strategy.

The science is in: Long-term brand building is a key driver of business growth. So why aren’t more brands and more agencies investing in and sticking to long-term brand strategies and creative platforms?

The marketing and advertising industry has long suffered from a “novelty bias”. Both clients and agencies want to leave their mark on the brands they work on, and unfortunately it often comes with an “out with the old, and in with the new” attitude.

While ego is partly to blame (nobody likes working on other people’s ideas), the industry places greater importance on originality and reinvention versus long-term brand stewardship.

This means doing the right thing by the business and the brand is often overlooked in the search for new ground and personal fame.

When clients and agencies respond to a business problem, one of the first things they think needs to change is the brand and its creative platform – only keeping parts of it if there’s an exceptionally good reason to. It’s almost like we have a “blank slate reflex” that kicks in.

In addition, when an ambitious new chief marketing officer comes on board, one of the first things they do to raise their stock price is to throw everything in the bin and start again. And what kind of CMO turns up at a job interview saying they won’t change too much? Similarly, a new agency wants to own the brand narrative. They want to take the credit for transforming the brand versus building on someone else’s legacy.

Fabio Buresti

In contrast, long-term brand building demands marketers and agency folk develop a firm “familiarity bias” to build from. This isn’t about doing the same thing in the same way every time a brand communicates. It’s about keeping the strategic heart of the brand in place and growing the hard-earned equity that has been established and invested in by the business. So unless there’s an incredibly good reason to ditch it, this is what every business in Australia should be doing.

The hard truth is, not every brand needs a new strategy. Sometimes it just needs to be sharpened and better articulated – but the building blocks are often there if people (marketers and agencies) take the time to investigate and debate it.

Building on a brand’s strategic legacy and stewarding its narrative should be the hallmark of our most admired and courageous marketers and agencies, but the need to feed their novelty bias dominates.

In 2011, KFC in the UK ditched the iconic “Finger lickin’ good” tagline for the painfully unremarkable and meaningless “So Good” platform.

“Finger Lickin’ Good” was an instantly recognisable and vividly icky tagline. It signalled the enduring brand strategy of “escapism” and how the deeply satisfying taste of its chicken creates moments of release for its customers.

By 2020, the KFC marketing team and their agency had seen the light and had the courage to reinstate and reinterpret “Finger Lickin’ Good”. Critically, KFC didn’t just stick with the familiar strategy and creative platform, they reinvented what it meant and how it was executed.

The best marketers and agencies know how to mix novelty with familiarity. It’s a fine balance that needs to be nurtured and kept in balance. It requires courage from the marketer and courage from the agency to continue the journey.

Diageo handed its prized Johnnie Walker creative account to Anomaly after 15 years with BBH. Rather than letting their novelty bias get the better of them, they saw the bigger picture and took the higher ground. They chose to continue to invest in the existing brand strategy (Personal Progress) and the creative platform (Keep Walking).

More clients and more agencies need the confidence to do what’s strategically right.

Australian Lamb is a master of getting the balance right.

The brand is built on the enduring strategy of “Unity” – its purpose is “to bring people together”. That is the familiarity part. It’s then mixed with a fresh dose of culturally provocative creativity every year to make it surprising and engaging.

Last year we lampooned state border closures, while this year we reminded the world that Australia is a country not to be forgotten.

And all this despite there being several changes in marketing leadership at Meat & Livestock Australia since 2015.

When your industry rewards reinvention and your business demand transformation, taking such a long-term strategic approach can be the hardest thing to do in your career. But often it’s the right one, especially for the long-term growth and profitability of the business.

So, the next time you’re faced with a tricky business problem, make sure you don’t go straight for the jugular of the brand.

Take your time to understand what’s working and have the confidence to stick to the long-term strategic direction your brand is heading on.

And please, above all else, recognise and resist the temptation for novelty bias to dominate your thinking.

Fabio Buresti is managing director Accenture Interactive, chief strategy officer/partner at The Monkeys