Like me, you may have read last week, linked to the Oasis ticket sale debacle, that “the 1990s are to Gen Z much as the 1960s were to Gen X” (Jo Ellison in the FT). Apparently “they think of the 1990s as a simpler time, before social media, when people were more free and had more collective fun”
This got me thinking about the 90s and reflecting on my early career in Marketing at that time.
Much of today’s industry conversation is understandably focused on the latest thinking and advances in technology. But there are fundamental principles that remain as applicable today as they were then, despite the shifts in audience behaviour, retail environment and technology.
I had a fantastic experience during the 90s- working for Cadbury in Bournville, so my view errs on the positive side, Oasis fan or not! I’ve noted here 3 themes which to me are as valid today as they were then.
1.Marketing viewed as a consumer centric and commercial function, with insight key to decision making.
Brand and consumer were at the heart of the Cadbury business with Marketers “owning” the Brand P&L and collaborating with Sales and Operations to deliver the strategy and commercial plans each year. This is still the case in many businesses, particularly in FMCG, but was arguably reflective of a time, before omni-channel and digital/ social media, when both route to market and marketing communications were simpler.
In the 90s, access to #customer data was through IRI or Nielsen for retail sales, household surveys, regular brand tracking and both qual and quant research studies. With more concentrated sources of data, the focus was on its interpretation and implications for the brand and business. Marketers today have access to a huge amount of customer information across a plethora of retail, social and digital channels with much more “real time” and personalised data. Hence, the challenge compared to the 90s is one of being able to manage this and turn data into integrated and actionable insight.
There is often a need today to clarify Marketing’s role in delivering an organisation’s objectives. The CMO isn’t necessarily the brand P&L owner, particularly in omni-channel and D2C organisations. There can sometimes be a lack of alignment on the “job to be done” by Marketing and the interface with other functions. Businesses that get clear on their KPIs across a #customer journey and align on the role Marketing plays in delivering them are generally the most successful and rewarding to work for.
The marketer’s world may be more complex now, but we should remain the champions of #consumer centricity. Focusing on clarity and purely in what gets measured and ensuring data is turned into valuable insight for decision making is critical to success.
2.Defining and executing distinctive Brand positioning across all touchpoints.
The power of a distinctive #brand positioning and essence was key for Cadbury. Some classics were: Crunchie (Friday Feeling), Flake (Abandonment), Roses (Thank you) – all of which will seem obvious when thinking of the famous advertising campaigns that brought them to life. Cadbury was a proponent of experiential marketing then and even launched Cadbury World visitor attraction in 1990. However, this was all IRL and pre social media.
The challenge for marketers today lies in managing a consistent experience in a content and conversation led marketing world with multiple touchpoints and voices. As Jeff Bezos famously said “a brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”. While it is no longer purely a case of bringing a brand essence to life through a broadcast campaign, there is arguably even more need for brands to have a simple framework that nails what your brand distinctly offers and does/ doesn’t stand for, with clear guard rails on how collaborators can bring this to life and in what tone of voice.
Marketers need to understand how their distinctive #brand experience is being delivered at the key #moments that matter in the customer journey and be able to take action when things fall short (linking back to the data into insight point in 1 above).
3.Creating an engaging organisation culture that positively feeds not just employee experience but also brand reputation.
The Cadbury “Character of the company”, written by Sir Adrian Cadbury and reflective of its Quaker origins, had team and empowerment baked into the DNA of how the business operated.
John Bradley (my first boss) expressed this well in his acclaimed official history of Cadbury, “Cadbury’s Purple Reign” where he says “ Cadbury’s unique approach to engaging and empowering employees – became almost as famous as the chocolate itself, and added such attributes as integrity and ethical to the Cadbury name”
My memory of this was that it translated into how marketers were trained to lead and contribute to both cross functional teams and agency relationships. Agency partners were respected and valued for their expertise, with Marketers encouraged to empower and get the most out of their agency partners as an integrated team.
Business purpose and culture are hot topics today. Much has been written about the increasingly fragmented and complex role of the CMO and the variety of disciplines in the marketing remit. With increasingly diverse teams, business interfaces and multiple agency partners, creating a culture that respects and empowers individuals is even more key to success today than it was for Cadbury in the 90s.
With the complexity inherent in marketing and business today, “some might say” we shouldn’t “look back in anger” at the 90’s, given that the important fundamentals are in many ways the same as they always were.
Companies like Lego, Google, Octopus Energy and Patagonia are often cited as delivering on these principles of #customer centricity, #distinctive brand position and #engaging culture.
- Which companies would you would add to this list today?
- Are there other principles you still hold true from the 90s – for those who were in Marketing then.