{"id":14649,"date":"2022-02-28T09:11:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T09:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=14649"},"modified":"2022-02-28T09:33:03","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T09:33:03","slug":"whats-the-point-of-the-proof-point","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/news\/2022\/feb\/whats-the-point-of-the-proof-point","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s the point of the proof point?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-Z4iJBg wp-block-lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image\"><section class=\"fullwidth fullwidth--overflow \" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\r\n  <div class=\"container container--spaced-lg\">\r\n    \r\n    <div class=\"row\">\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n        <p><strong>Why hard product truth always lies behind any emotional selling proposition.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This famous quote from Maya Angelou can come in very handy when you&#8217;re trying to persuade a decision-maker that it&#8217;s better to underdo rather than overdo the rational component of their advertising.<\/p>\n<p>You will never argue someone into liking you, you have to make them feel something first.<\/p>\n<p>Most advertising theory now accepts this principle, that the heart should have primacy over the head. That&#8217;s why we get models such as love-choose-buy and its various iterations (eg feel-think-do).<\/p>\n<p>The argument that love or feeling should come ahead of thought or reason has been considerably bolstered in recent years by advances in neuroscience, not least our understanding of intuitive System 1 thought processes (or, more accurately, lack of thought processes).<\/p>\n<p>That said, a few years ago the model was threatened by the rapid ascendancy of performance marketing. In contrast to the hard metrics associated with programmatic, SEO and clickthrough, softer measures such as brand fame and brand love came under pressure.<\/p>\n<p>But, after some notable U-turns from some prominent doubters, the big ad and the big feel are back. Indeed, given current double-digit levels of TV media inflation, the return of emotion might well have further to go.<\/p>\n<p>Which leaves a question hanging over the middle tier in the layer cake of love-choose-buy. Just like love, the role of buy is assured. Yes, performance budgets might have been reined in from their peak but, given their inherent accountability, they will continue to command a significant chunk of overall spend.<\/p>\n<p>In light of this, a client might well decide to focus more and more of the remaining budget on appeals to the heart (love) rather than the head (choose) so as not to dilute resources.<\/p>\n<p>If we put our foot on the ball for a moment, this is all a long way away from concepts such as the USP and brand differentiation which guided a lot of thinking in the 1980s and the 1990s.<\/p>\n<p>In one of my numerous advertising apprenticeships (at WCRS) I was taught to &#8220;interrogate the product until it confesses to its strengths&#8221;. No mention of anything so woolly as a brand, let alone feelings. The starting point for most briefs was a product story, a proof point, or a reason to believe.<\/p>        \r\n                \r\n  \t\t\t      <\/div>\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n    \t\t<p><span style=\"font-size: inherit;font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\">Of course, there was always more to it than simply rational substantiation. In another of my advertising apprenticeships (at BBH) I was taught the concept of the ESP (emotional selling proposition).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: inherit;font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\">Like many things you learn young, this has stood the test of time. Perhaps because it was ahead of its time in game-changing campaigns for Levi&#8217;s, Audi, Boddington&#8217;s et al.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But the ESP was, in itself, something of a sleight of hand. Scratch any one of the campaigns mentioned above and you&#8217;ll get to a hard product truth, whether it was stone-washed for Levi&#8217;s, Quattro for Audi or smoothflow for Boddingtons.<\/p>\n<p>The trick was to wear these product truths sufficiently lightly, so that they didn&#8217;t become an impediment to emotion.<\/p>\n<p>What was true then, is 10 times truer now. To use a meteorological analogy, where brands once competed with the equivalent of a headwind in the fight for attention, they now compete with a storm Eunice.<\/p>\n<p>Which means we have to fight harder and harder to be remembered, to achieve the gold standard of branding which is, of course, a tiny little bit of real estate in the mind of your prospect.<\/p>\n<p>Call them what you will \u2013 distinctive assets, fluent devices, brand properties, sonic or visual equity, branded language and nomenclature \u2013 these are the new vehicles for the only measure that counts. And that measure is mental availability. Without mental availability you might as well whisper into the face of the storm.<\/p>\n<p>Which is why Angelou&#8217;s quote is so salutary. If brand distinctiveness is the vehicle to unlocking memory, then emotion is the key. You can say what you like, you can even do what you like, but without emotion you will be forgotten. People only remember what they feel.<\/p>\n<p>Despite appearances, this is not an argument against the layer cake&#8217;s middle tier of evidence and substantiation. I remain a firm believer in the proof point and the reason to believe.<\/p>\n<p>The only caveat nowadays is that the point of the proof point has changed. Where once it was an end in itself, it is now a form of logical permission to leave justification behind (perhaps in the body copy or on the website) and take your brand up to the altitude of emotion.<\/p>\n<p>This is where memory resides and Eunice is a mere breeze.<\/p>\n<p><em>Charles Vallance is a\u00a0founding partner of VCCP.<\/em><\/p>  \t\t<\/div>\r\n  \t\t\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"lazyblock-quote-full-width-nLJ3k wp-block-lazyblock-quote-full-width\">  <section class=\"fullwidth fullwidth--top-lg text-center\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n    <div class=\"container\">\n\n      <blockquote class=\"blockquote\">\n        You will never argue someone into liking you, you have to make them feel something first. \n        <cite>Charles Vallance, founding partner of VCCP<\/cite>      <\/blockquote>\n\n    <\/div>\n  <\/section><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":57,"template":"","categories":[191],"class_list":["post-14649","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-agency-news"],"acf":{"author":{"ID":930,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2020-07-02 12:04:34","post_date_gmt":"2020-07-02 11:04:34","post_content":"","post_title":"Charles Vallance","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"charles-vallance","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-19 12:22:45","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-19 12:22:45","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=people&#038;p=930","menu_order":0,"post_type":"people","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"capability_ids":[],"client_id":"","hero_video":"","hero_image":{"ID":14650,"id":14650,"title":"Charles V 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09:02:25","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-300x169.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-768x432.png","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":360,"large":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-1024x576.png","large-width":640,"large-height":360,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-1536x864.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"Header":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-1920x720.png","Header-width":1920,"Header-height":720,"Wide":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-1920x960.png","Wide-width":1920,"Wide-height":960,"Square":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-768x768.png","Square-width":768,"Square-height":768,"Tall":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-307x615.png","Tall-width":307,"Tall-height":615,"Mobile":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-768x960.png","Mobile-width":768,"Mobile-height":960,"Facebook":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-1200x630.png","Facebook-width":1200,"Facebook-height":630,"Grid-Item-Square":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-768x768.png","Grid-Item-Square-width":768,"Grid-Item-Square-height":768,"Grid-Item-Wide":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-768x384.png","Grid-Item-Wide-width":768,"Grid-Item-Wide-height":384,"Grid-Item-Tall":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website-307x615.png","Grid-Item-Tall-width":307,"Grid-Item-Tall-height":615}},"meta-title":"What's the point of the proof point?","meta-description":"Why hard product truth always lies behind any emotional selling proposition.","social-media-image":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website.png","news_id":"191","related_content_title":"You may also like","relateditems":[{"relateditem":{"ID":14368,"post_author":"57","post_date":"2021-12-06 15:58:18","post_date_gmt":"2021-12-06 15:58:18","post_content":"<!-- wp:lazyblock\/two-column-text-quote-image {\"text-left\":\"\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cem\\u003eOriginally published in \\u003cstrong\\u003eCampaign\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e, VCCP's Founding Partner and Chairman \\u003cstrong\\u003eCharles Vallance\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e unpacks the enforced brevity of social media means people are getting to the point faster, why brands must sit up and pay attention or fail to win that of their consumers.\\u003c\\\/em\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eLife is getting pointier. And I'm not just saying that because my third\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003evaccination beckons. In most aspects of culture, commerce and\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ecommunication, success increasingly depends on getting to the point sooner,\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003erather than later.\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eSocial media is inevitably one of the drivers of pointiness. We are learning to\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eexpress ourselves with far greater brevity and spontaneity. Acronyms\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eabound, pictures are displacing words. Limits apply on numerous\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003edimensions, from the number of characters allowed (280 for Twitter) to the\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eduration of a post (60 seconds for Snapchat). TikTok, Insta and Snap are all\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003enamed to sound urgent and fleeting.\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eThere is a general consensus that multi-tasking and multi-screening have fed\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ethe rise of CPA (constant partial attention - keep up at the back, please). This\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ein turn is likely to have reduced our powers of concentration. A study by\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eMicrosoft in Canada found that average concentration spans had fallen from\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e12 to 8 seconds between the turn of the century and 2015.\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eWhere technology and social media lead, culture tends to follow. And so we\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eshould not be surprised to learn that the world of literature is not immune to\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ethe forces of pointiness. According to The Times (22 Nov), researchers have\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003efound that the average sentence in British fiction has dropped from 12.73\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ewords to 11.87 words since the early 90's. Sentence complexity has also\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ereduced, with a 25% fall in the use of semi-colons. There does, however,\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eappear to be one trend in fiction which might put it ahead of the curve,\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003enamely a significant drop in the use of exclamations marks. Let's hope this\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003etranslates over to social media!!!! LOL!!!\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\",\"text-right\":\"\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eThe lesson is very simple. It's getting ever more difficult to win people's\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eattention. Therefore, when you do, you must accelerate to your point rather\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ethan drift towards a generalised resolution. The jeopardy of not doing so was\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ebrought home to me by a very senior Client who'd fired his last agency even\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ethough they'd done some familiar and well-known work. The trouble with this\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ework, and the reason for the move of agencies, was that it didn't get to the \\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003epoint. People had seen it, but didn't know what to do with it. It lacked a\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ecompelling point of view about what to do next. It lacked intent.\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eSo the pointiness agenda can be a very stern taskmaster. We all know that\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eour communication should be distilled and our strategies concise. However,\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003econcentration and compression are easier said than done. To paraphrase\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eGeorge Orwell's paraphrase of Blaise Pascal, \\u0022I would have written a shorter\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eletter, but didn't have the time\\u0022.\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ePruning and cutting back are laborious processes. They can also be fraught\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ewith politics. The fight for brevity and compression can sometimes leave\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003epeople feeling left out, as it requires a certain ruthlessness. Sacrifices have\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eto be made and metaphorical toes trodden on. It is easy to complicate and\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003edifficult to simplify, but many people prefer the easier path.\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eDescribing someone as 'singular' is seldom a great compliment. It suggests\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ethey lack nuance and depth. But for brands, being singular is the highest\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003epossible accolade. Think of any brand you admire and I bet it is shot through\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ewith singularity. Singularity of identity, purpose, values, design, tone of voice\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eand message are the hallmarks of brand pre-eminence, whatever the\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ecategory, whatever the field - from Chanel to Cadbury, from Apple to Ikea,\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003efrom Oatly and O2 to Patek and Patagonia.\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eI wrote about the importance of your brand having a 'thing' exactly a year\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eago. My Christmas present this year is to recommend that your thing also\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ehas a point. In his magnificent new publication Look Out, Orlando Wood talks\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eabout the importance of attracting right brain, 'broadbeam' attention. He also\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003echronicles the decline in advertising of the very features that win such\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eattention; things like wordplay, characters, dialogue, distinctive accents and a\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eclear sense of place.\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eThese are all fantastic ingredients for pointy, thingy communication. And yet\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003etoo many campaigns are actively failing to use them, a problem which is\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ereflected in the sustained decline of creative effectiveness as observed by\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003ethe IPA. Fear not, however, because at this time of good cheer the answer is\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e \\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003esimple. If your brand currently lacks bite, then, to quote Alvin and the\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eChipmunks, it's possible that all it wants for Christmas is some new front\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003e teeth. On which note I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Thingy, Pointy New Year.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/span\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\",\"quote\":\"The lesson is very simple. It's getting ever more difficult to win people's\\u00a0\\nattention.\",\"blockId\":\"761IP\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-761IP\"} \/-->","post_title":"Charles Vallance 'Getting to the Point'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"charles-vallance-getting-to-the-point","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-12-06 15:58:18","post_modified_gmt":"2021-12-06 15:58:18","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=14368","menu_order":0,"post_type":"news","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"relateditem":{"ID":14590,"post_author":"57","post_date":"2022-02-11 11:26:17","post_date_gmt":"2022-02-11 11:26:17","post_content":"<!-- wp:lazyblock\/two-column-text-quote-image {\"text-left\":\"\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eAfter a grueling year in which agencies faced off in a competitive market, IPA president and VCCP international chairman Julian Douglas writes that it\\u2019s time agencies reconsidered the impact pitching is having on their teams.\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cdiv id=\\u0022articleContentBlock\\u0022\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eFollowing last year\\u2019s successful inaugural cross-industry Reset conference, the Advertising Association, Isba and the IPA once again came together in January to set the agenda for the year ahead. This time the theme was \\u2019Renew: Meeting advertising\\u2019s challenges\\u2019, as industry leaders put forward their ideas on key themes including trust, measurement, inclusion and the environment.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eDespite a largely disappointing Cop26, there was a clear strong commitment from the advertising industry to tackle the climate crisis by achieving real net-zero carbon emissions from the development, production and media placement of advertising by the end of 2030 in the form of AdNetZero.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eBut there is another crisis our industry faces that demands immediate resolution: mental health.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cdiv class=\\u0022center advert-container padding\\u002d\\u002dabove\\u002d\\u002d1 padding\\u002d\\u002dbelow\\u002d\\u002d1 advert\\u002d\\u002dhide\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/div\\u003e\\n\\u003ch2\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eMental health crisis\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/h2\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eData from the Office for National Statistics in 2021 revealed that depression rates have doubled since the pandemic began. Particularly concerning is that those in more precarious economic positions or burdened by existing inequalities \\u2013 young people, women, clinically vulnerable adults, people with a disability \\u2013 have been disproportionately affected.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eA survey from The Drum last year found that workers across the marketing industry were under severe strain with heavy workloads to blame, with\\u00a0\\u003ca href=\\u0022https:\\\/\\\/www.thedrum.com\\\/news\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/04\\\/overworked-marketers-and-agency-staff-say-employers-not-doing-enough-mental-health\\u0022\\u003e75% of respondents claiming their mental health had gotten worse since the beginning of the pandemic\\u003c\\\/a\\u003e.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eAs government advice changes around working from home, it remains to be seen whether the return to the office will make matters better or worse. A 2021 Nabs survey showed 61% of employees said they felt a return to the workplace would be unsafe or increase their anxiety.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eIn response, we have seen agencies across the board redouble efforts around wellbeing and looking after their workforces. While hugely important and worthwhile, these efforts are focused on the symptoms rather than the root causes.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eAnd one of the areas where the problem is at its most acute is the agency selection process. That is why at Renew, the IPA and Isba announced a new cross-industry initiative to fix the broken pitching system with the Pitch Positive Pledge, which will launch in Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2022.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003ch2\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003ePitched battles\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/h2\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003ePitching can be brilliant. For advertisers, it is the opportunity to source the best advice and new capabilities. It is the opportunity to augment, replace or renew existing relationships, to fulfil governance requirements and, of course, to procure services at the best value. For agencies, it is the opportunity to win new projects and new clients, to compete, to be our best and showcase our capabilities. It is the chance for individuals to flourish and for teams to build camaraderie and, often, long-lasting bonds. A big win can also be agency defining.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003c\\\/div\\u003e\",\"text-right\":\"\\u003cp\\u003eBut pitching can also be bad. Pitching has become the default option, often for smaller projects that previously would not have warranted a pitch process. In short, there are a lot of unnecessary pitches taking place and, even among those that are necessary, there is a lot of unnecessary work taking place. This represents wastage we should look to reduce. Pitches have become more frequent, more complex and more costly. More costly to the agency and advertiser, to the individuals involved and to the environment.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eDue to its competitive nature, there is inherent wastage in the process. Largely unfunded, it demands significant investment in time and money for agencies and clients alike, neither of which have good people sitting on the bench. With the added complications of working remotely and the associated changes this brings, we are seeing an increase in burnout and mental health ramifications at the individual level. At the industry level, we are seeing a talent exodus from advertising.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003ch2\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eTaking action\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/h2\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003ePitching can be positive, but the current system is broken. The need for change is real and the time to act is now.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThere have been many efforts to fix pitching over the years, but little has changed. I am confident of success this time due to the increased awareness of the issues and the collaborative approach we are taking. Today, many companies have ESG commitments including wastage reduction and promoting diversity and wellbeing in their supply chain. The pitch process as it stands represents a challenge to these commitments.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThe plan is to launch the Pitch Positive Pledge in May 2022 during Mental Health Awareness week. The pledge is a commitment from advertisers, agencies and partners to be more intentional, accountable and responsible in pitching. The desired outcomes are better mental health, less wastage, fewer costs and better, more effective work.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThe IPA and Isba are hosting a series of workshops to hammer through exactly what we are asking agencies and advertisers to commit to and so achieve our goals. Thanks to those individuals from agencies, to advertisers that have already made fantastic contributions, and a big shout out to Ingenuity London, which has played a key role since the outset of this initiative.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eIf you are interested in getting involved, please consider this an invitation to join in this collaborative effort to finally fix the pitch process. You can get in touch with us at\\u00a0\\u003ca href=\\u0022mailto:sylvia@ipa.co.uk\\u0022 target=\\u0022_blank\\u0022 rel=\\u0022noopener\\u0022\\u003esylvia@ipa.co.uk\\u003c\\\/a\\u003e.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eI write this as an agency that pitches a lot, and wins a lot. I think you might question my motive if at VCCP we didn\\u2019t win. This initiative is not necessarily about results. I\\u2019ve had negative experiences of pitches we have won and positive experiences of pitches where we weren\\u2019t successful. It\\u2019s about the need for a new model and approach \\u2013 one that will renew and rebuild. By this time next year, I hope there will have been fewer unnecessary pitches take place. And even if we can\\u2019t win on quantity, let\\u2019s make absolutely sure the pitching experience is a positive one for everyone involved.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eJulian Douglas is president of the IPA and international chairman of VCCP\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\",\"blockId\":\"Z1gsonW\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-Z1gsonW\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:lazyblock\/quote-full-width {\"quote\":\"Pitching can be positive, but the current system is broken. The need for change is real and the time to act is now.\",\"quotee\":\"Julian Douglas is president of the IPA and international chairman of VCCP\",\"blockId\":\"14xr1f\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-quote-full-width-14xr1f\"} \/-->","post_title":"Julian Douglas 'Rebuilding the pitching process'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"julian-douglas-rebuilding-the-pitching-process","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-02-11 11:26:17","post_modified_gmt":"2022-02-11 11:26:17","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=14590","menu_order":0,"post_type":"news","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"relateditem":{"ID":13791,"post_author":"54","post_date":"2021-07-23 19:03:48","post_date_gmt":"2021-07-23 18:03:48","post_content":"<!-- wp:lazyblock\/text-full-width {\"text\":\"\\u003cp\\u003eNearly 15 years after the invention of the smartphone, we may have reached our peak screen threshold, writes \\u003cstrong\\u003eCharles Vallance\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003ein\\u00a0\\u003cstrong\\u003eWARC.\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThe ad industry is famously sensitive to downturns. As soon as sales begin to drop, one of the quickest (if short-sighted) economies a finance director can make is to raid the marketing budget. The only consolation for ad folk is that the advertising sector is also one of the first beneficiaries of an upturn.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThe pandemic has proved no exception to the down\\\/up pattern of advertising in an economic cycle (though hopefully the pattern is rather more V-shaped than usual). There is pent-up demand out there, and advertisers are queuing up to harness it. Media inflation is back, and so are the big, celebratory ad campaigns.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eGiven this sense of an upswing, it is perhaps worth asking what, if anything, has changed for advertising since the start of the pandemic? It's a massive question, and worthy of several articles. But, to cut a very, very long story short, the advertising fundamentals will endure. Bill Bernbach's theory of 'unchanging man' will still apply. Advertising will still be addressing the same primary motivations: our desire to care, to make the right choices and thus to belong, succeed and be admired.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThat said, I think we'll look back on the early part of this decade and notice one very significant change in the nature of communication. And it is a change that has undoubtedly been accelerated by the pandemic. This change is not about the logistics of our material lives, whether we'll commute less, side hustle more, or all live in Cornwall. Arguably it is more fundamental. Because it is a change in the way we appreciate the world and consume media. A change which has seen a pronounced shift in the balance of power between our viewing lives and our listening lives.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003ch3\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eThe rise of the ear\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/h3\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThe eye so dominates perception that it is easy to overlook the dramatic rise of audio culture. In saying this, I am not for a moment claiming that the 'rise of the ear' is somehow displacing or diminishing the way we see and view things. The eye will remain all-powerful. Nevertheless, over recent years the ear has made some remarkable advances.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eConsider, for a moment, life before Spotify and streaming music. Before podcasts. Before smart speakers. Before Alexa. Before Siri. Before Google voice. Before audio-books. Before Headspace. Before airPods, earbuds, Beats or Sonos. Before, TuneIn, Radioplayer, myTuner et al.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eIn many ways, these are merely warm up acts for the audio ascendancy. TikTok has spearheaded the rise of sound in the formally visual and verbal world of social media. Clubhouse, Locker Room, Spatial and, most recently, Twitter Spaces are building on this success. Facebook is following with a suite of audio services, whilst Slack will soon be introducing audio features to its project management software. Our ears have never had it so good.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThere are many explanations for the audio resurgence, some social, some technological, some cultural. The simplest explanation of all is that, nearly 15 years after the invention of the smartphone, we may have reached our peak screen threshold. Indeed, due to so much remote working over the last year, we may have actually exceeded it. Listening is less mentally demanding than looking at a screen, our minds are freer and we are spared the visual pressure, the 'perfection fatigue' that has been stoked by social media. Everyone has a face for radio.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eHistorically, the ad industry has focused on brand imagery, how a brand looks, how it presents itself, its aesthetics and identity. These remain vital ingredients for success. But success in the future will demand more than these visual elements. Leading brands will also learn how to compete when our eyes are shut or not looking. A brand's soundscape and tone of voice will become increasingly important.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eAudio-branding is already something of a buzzword in adland. But we have a long way to go before we can hear brands as clearly as we can picture them. For advertisers and their agencies this is the next frontier. Ear we go.\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\",\"blockId\":\"Z1uofK1\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-text-full-width-Z1uofK1\"} \/-->","post_title":"Ear we go: The audio-branding opportunity","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"ear-we-go-the-audio-branding-opportunity","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-07-23 19:03:49","post_modified_gmt":"2021-07-23 18:03:49","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=13791","menu_order":0,"post_type":"news","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}}],"hide_related_items":[],"visible_on_home_page":["1"],"websites_to_publish":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}