“It’s not a scale game anymore,” says Williams. “It’s about time spent. […] We’re going for attention, for trust, because it’s essential to clients.”
This statement from Dominic Williams, CRO at Mail Metro, seeks to reposition the sales pitch for the organisation in tune with today’s media environment. He was speaking as he launches his new top team (including the incomparable Claudine Collins as CCO).
There’s always been a spectrum of media for advertisers. On the one hand scale is needed to create recognition for brands. On the other hand attention has always commanded a premium. The trusted Financial Times’ audience has perpetually cost more per thousand than a poster on a toilet door. (Although arguably that can be a high attention dwell time moment too). In the media revolution of the last two decades one thing hasn’t changed. People only have 24 hours in the day, and are probably only awake for 17 or 18 of those. How ever many media demands there are on their time, waking hours limit media consumption. Even the most avid of GenZ scrollers or the most sedentary golden oldie daytime TV viewer has choices to make about what they do with their time.
Scale is good. Attention is good. Media that covers topics that people really love, really Give A Fuck (G.A.F.) about, is even better.
The World Cup is a perfect example of G.A.F. media. With a potential audience of billions of fans it is perhaps the ultimate sweet spot of scale and attention. Of course, that’s why it is such a profitable time for media owners. Success follows the efforts of brand marketers who can also persuade audiences that the brand truly G.A.F. About those topics that, again, people really care about. Rather than simply force an association with the brand that doesn’t deliver true relevance. Irn Bru’s We’re Made in Scotland from Girders has been called the “winner of World Cup” ads, and was a deserved winner in light of Scotland’s achievement in reaching the first stages of the competition. Marmite’s “We Mite” packaging is sweet, and reminiscent of the Mars Believe bar from 2006 (where the idea was if you believed enough England would win), if somewhat less mystical or indeed wildly optimistic.
And while many brands have produced great ads, well – there’s a lot of money that has been spent on less salient commercials. You only have to watch a snatch of commercial coverage to understand that there’s a great deal that has missed the mark.
Beyond the World Cup, what does G.A.F media look like?
In many ways it can look like the Dominic’s Mail Metro product. All the great newspaper brands have longstanding skill at creating content that their consumers love. G.A.F content can sit across all channels in fact, unmissable TV, epic movies, loved D.J.s, compelling influencers and more. The real secret to great media placement lies in aligning the G.A.F media with G.A.F content from brands.
This is not the equivalent of content with purpose. There need be no worthy purpose behind the messaging, although brands like Dove have changed cultural norms with purpose. It is not the same as content about passions. As we can see in the World Cup adverts don’t really cut through simply by co-opting or badging something that the audience is passionate about. This alone does not deliver.
Great G.A.F brand content is about messages with meaning. That meaning doesn’t have to be a great noble cause. It can be as quotidian as driving value for or representing reliability for customers. It means that your brand will stand out from your competitive set by delivering something that makes you relevant to customers. Because relevance sells. The one question every marketer must grapple with is why anyone should care about their brand versus all the others.
With the right message of course, all media can sell. If you can create content for the brand, that means consumers will G.A.F, scale media such as posters and search will drive scale and success.
If you can combine G.A.F media with G.A.F brand messaging then this will deliver beyond media attention or scale. Don’t be boring, don’t be wallpaper, don’t meld with the crowd. Look for something to say about the brand that consumers will G.A.F about and find somewhere to run the content where the audience G.A.F and you’ll drive success beyond the norm.