Latest news with #MarkRitson
Time of India
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Mark Ritson's 12x rule: Why better ads mean bigger profits
At the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival , amid the usual dazzle of bold campaigns and big-budget brilliance, a quieter truth took stage—one that might redefine how marketers think about creativity. Mark Ritson , branding expert and founder of the Mini MBA in marketing, opened his session with a challenge: Why do so many marketers still treat creativity like a gamble? Despite years of research and industry buzz, a staggering 68 per cent of marketers still see creativity as a risk, not a strategic asset, he pointed out. But new research, jointly conducted by Effie Worldwide and System1, suggests they might be thinking about it all wrong. 'Creativity isn't a risk. Ignoring it is,' Ritson said, summarising the findings of a joint study that could reshape how brands approach advertising effectiveness. Titled 'The Creative Dividend,' the research dug into over 1,250 campaigns across the US and Europe, covering more than USD 140 billion in market share and hundreds of thousands of ad performance data points. The goal was to find out what, if anything, makes creativity pay off. At the heart of the findings is the 'Creativity Stack'—a framework of five proven principles that help ads work harder and longer. Rather than magic, the Stack is built on evidence, answering tough questions marketers often grapple with: What kind of brand effects should we prioritise?Does differentiation matter more than distinctiveness?How does emotion factor into long-term growth?What makes an ad truly profitable? A 12x profit multiplier Referencing analysis by media effectiveness expert Paul Dyson, Ritson highlighted a striking figure: the most creatively effective ads can generate up to 12 times more profit than weaker ones. This isn't abstract theory—it's drawn from real campaign comparisons, he emphasised. But there's a catch: creativity alone isn't enough. The research shows that it's a combination of factors—especially emotion, brand clarity (known as fluency), and campaign duration—that unlock this multiplier effect. 'That 12x figure isn't a fantasy—it's a reality marketers can aim for,' Ritson explained. 'It's not about guessing. It's about building campaigns on what we already know works.' Three pillars of effective advertising 1. Emotion : More than a feel-good add-on Emotionally engaging ads don't just make audiences feel good—they drive results. Across all markets studied, ads that sparked strong emotions significantly outperformed those that didn't, both in consumer preference and bottom-line growth. Interestingly, emotional impact worked best when paired with broad audience targeting—a strategy often overlooked in favor of hyper-specific digital tactics. In other words, emotional resonance isn't niche—it's mainstream. 'If your ad doesn't make people feel something, it's not moving the needle,' said Ritson. And in markets like the U.S., where emotional engagement lags slightly behind other regions, the opportunity for creative improvement is especially large. 2. Fluency : The art of being remembered Even the most moving ad falls flat if viewers can't recall who made it. That's where brand fluency comes in. The research shows that clear brand identification is crucial—and often underestimated. Distinctive brand assets, like a jingle, product shape, or mascot, make a measurable difference. Used consistently—ideally seven times per ad—these 'codes' can boost recognition and amplify impact. Yet many brands underuse or overestimate their own codes' effectiveness, highlighting a gap between marketers' assumptions and consumer perception. Ritson pointed to Kit Kat's 'I want to break free' campaign as a masterclass in 'fluent emotion'—a blend of emotional resonance and unmistakable brand identity, refined over decades with the same agency. 3. Time : The hidden ingredient One of the more surprising insights challenges a common industry habit: pulling ads too early. Contrary to the belief that ads wear out quickly, the study finds that most successful ads maintain (or even increase) their effectiveness over time. Ritson recommended, 'fewer campaigns, run longer.' Ads with strong emotional and fluent elements perform better the longer they stay in the market—especially over two years. Patience, not novelty, drives long-term returns. 'We're addicted to change, but repetition is what builds memory and market share,' Ritson noted. For Ritson, the takeaways are simple but not easy. Brands should focus on fewer, better campaigns—built on emotional depth, branded clarity and long-term presence. 'The creative dividend isn't a theory. It's a measurable, repeatable, scalable outcome,' he said. 'If you want to grow your brand and your profits, creativity is the most powerful—and the most underused—tool you've got.' Ritson concluded, 'Creative advertising isn't a gamble. Betting against it is.'
Sky News
08-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Brave Bison strikes latest deal with £20m move on Centaur Media arm
A London-listed marketing specialist backed by Rupert Murdoch and Lord Ashcroft is extending its acquisition spree with a near-£20m swoop on a division of Centaur Media. Sky News has learnt that Brave Bison was on Thursday evening finalising a deal to buy MiniMBA, an e-learning and training business serving marketing and technology professionals, founded by Professor Mark Ritson. The deal, which is expected to be funded from a combination of bank debt, cash and a small equity raise backed by existing Brave Bison shareholders, may be announced as early as Friday morning. It will effectively fire the starting gun on a break-up of Centaur, which also owns The Lawyer and which received an aborted takeover approach last year from Waterland, a private equity firm. MiniMBA, which counts Amex, Carlsberg, Google, Nestle and Tesco among its clients, has trained more than 50,000 people since its inception in 2016. The division recorded about £11m in revenue last year, and is profitable. The acquisition of MiniMBA will create a new division for Brave Bison, which also specialises in fan engagement, social media and influencer marketing. Professor Ritson is expected to inject cash into the deal and will become one of Brave Bison's top-ten shareholders, according to sources. The deal will come just weeks after Mr Murdoch's News Corporation took a stake in Brave Bison by combining their influencer marketing divisions. Brave Bison, which is run by brothers Oli and Theo Green, has sealed a string of transactions this year, and counts Lord Ashcroft and the prominent entrepreneur Luke Johnson among its leading shareholders. Previous deals included the purchase of Engage Digital, a key digital partner to sporting properties including the Men's T20 Cricket World Cup. The Green brothers took over the Brave Bison in 2020, and have overseen a sharp strategic realignment and improvement in its performance. Last year, it bought the podcaster and entrepreneur Steven Bartlett's social media and influencer agency, SocialChain. In total, the company has struck seven takeover deals since the Greens assumed control. At Thursday's stock market close, Brave Bison had a market capitalisation of about £33m.
Campaign ME
12-02-2025
- Business
- Campaign ME
Predictions 2025: The year ahead for media
Let's call 2024 what it really was, an intense year for the media industry when buzzwords such as artificial intelligence, automation and martech dominated our conversations and challenged the core of our business and the purpose of our craft. This intensity was felt throughout the year leading up to December when the news of the Omnicom-IPG merger was announced – a move that signals the dawn of a new era in media. These defining moments of the past year now serve as powerful indicators of the transformative trends shaping 2025. The scale imperative We're entering an era when size isn't just about market leverage – it's about survival. The proliferation of platforms and solutions has created a labyrinth of complexity that only the most resourced organisations can successfully navigate. Major holding groups have responded by architecting ambitious technological roadmaps and data strategies, backed by significant investments in engineering talent and data partnerships. The competitive advantage of an agency's size in terms of trading power – which seemed to matter less in the previous era – has paved the way to something more fundamental: the ability to sustain investment in transformative tools that can decode our increasingly complex ecosystem. Gaming, set, go While gaming has long flirted with mainstream marketing, 2025 marks its decisive breakthrough. The past year saw brands move beyond casual interest to structured strategy, recognising gaming's underutilised potential as a marketing channel. Current advertising revenue in gaming hovers around 15 per cent, where the overall growth is at 2.1 per cent a dramatic slowdown from the 7 per cent surge during pandemic years. This deceleration has catalysed an aggressive push by major players to forge deeper brand partnerships and pioneer innovative solutions. The stage is set for gaming to emerge from the shadows of experimental budgets to become a cornerstone of media strategy. The conversational revolution The evolution of brand-consumer communication has transcended traditional boundaries. What began as simple messaging apps has matured into sophisticated platforms where brands can listen, learn and respond with unparalleled intelligence and personalisation. With 80 per cent of businesses already embracing some form of conversational marketing – from straightforward WhatsApp interactions to rich commerce experiences – 2025 marks a pivotal moment when not only does iOS now support the RCS messaging standard, but also AI elevates these exchanges from mere transactions to meaningful relationships. This isn't just about automation; it's about augmenting human connection with machine intelligence, creating conversations that are not only immediate but deeply relevant and emotionally resonant. From noise to precision Back in 2023, Mark Ritson declared that 'synthetic data is suddenly making very real ripples' and while applications like ChatGPT were still in 'toy stage', he foresaw massive implications for marketing. Fast-forward to 2025, where AI-powered tools have evolved beyond simple data generation to create 'synthetic audiences' – sophisticated models that mirror real consumer behaviours and preferences with unprecedented accuracy. This breakthrough particularly resonates in regions grappling with limited data resources and audience research services. Through advanced machine learning and AI APIs, we can now simulate audience behaviour, predict responses and craft adaptive campaigns that eliminate traditional data biases. The result reinforces 'the scale imperative' idea: precision targeting that combines intelligence with scalability, fundamentally reshaping how we understand and engage our audiences. The new tourism paradigm The convergence of events and tourism has created a powerful new paradigm in destination marketing. Major festivals, sporting events and celebrations have evolved from mere attractions into catalysts for sustained tourism growth. Events such as the Dubai Shopping Festival, Riyadh Season and landmark occasions like the recent Coldplay concerts in Abu Dhabi have set the stage for even grander moments – Saudi Arabia's Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup – both of which promise to reshape the tourism landscape. These events are more than just entertainment; they're cultural currency in our social media-driven world, turning Instagrammable moments into powerful personal branding tools. The real value lies in the data they generate, enabling hyper-personalised campaigns that transform fleeting experiences into lasting brand connections, ultimately shaping the future of experiential tourism. In this era of rapid change and heightened expectations, brands that master the art of blending intelligence with authenticity will lead the way. Success within media in 2025 won't just come from adapting to trends, but from turning complexity into clarity, noise into impact and transient moments into enduring strategies. By Joe Nicolas, CEO, UM MENAT
