{"id":15716,"date":"2022-12-05T10:02:02","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T10:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=15716"},"modified":"2022-12-05T10:02:03","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T10:02:03","slug":"you-talking-to-me","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/news\/2022\/dec\/you-talking-to-me","title":{"rendered":"You Talking to Me?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"lazyblock-text-full-width-ZVH9kt wp-block-lazyblock-text-full-width\"><section class=\"fullwidth text-center\" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\n  <div class=\"container\">\n    \n    \n    <p><strong>For his latest column in\u00a0<em>Campaign\u00a0<\/em>VCCP Founding Partner and Chairman Charles Vallance delves into building brand affinity through enduring media channels and why marketers should not focus too much attention on targetting.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The tectonic plates of communication are forever shifting.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who, for instance, would have predicted the collapse in Meta&#8217;s share price? Or, more<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">generally, the tech sell-off? Big Tech was having such a good pandemic.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Well, ok, there\u2019s some in these pages who\u2019ve expressed scepticism about buying too<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">far into cyber-hype, and the laser-targeted nirvana which it foretold. Money talks, and<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a market where linear TV has inflated by over 30% year on year, whilst the average<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">price of ads on Meta has declined by 20%, says all it needs to about the relative<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">value of &#8216;old&#8217; and &#8216;new&#8217; media.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What the market is telling us is that we should stop trying to classify linear media (or<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">quasi-linear such as VOD) channels as \u2018old\u2019 and, rather, see them as \u2018enduring\u2019.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And the reason they endure is that they offer something increasingly scarce, namely<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">real-time access to mass audiences and shared moments. These will remain the<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">bedrock of brand building because the human condition is fundamentally social.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Brands are built as much between us, as they are for us. They need their moments of<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">congregation to reinforce their shared meaning. Thus the well-spent time and effort<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">that goes into the Christmas advertising moment every year.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This shared meeting of audience, occasion and brand will always be the gold<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">standard for marketers. And linear TV just happens to be one of its surest delivery<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">mechanisms. But it it is by no means the only one.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Regular readers will know my penchant for posters as a mass-marketing asset, but<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">my current favourite is well activated brand partnerships. Brands like cinch, Vitality<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and O2 are all at differing levels of maturity, but have all used their sponsorship<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">properties to great effect in achieving mass traction, mental availability and customer<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">engagement (as well as plenty of visibility on linear TV\u2026).<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is it about these enduring media channels that has proved so resilient? For me,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the attraction is that they are best suited to creative work that is essentially<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">non-transactional. In the case of partnerships, part of the deal is that you avoid an<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">overt selling message. But the same principle applies to the most memorable TV and<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">poster advertising.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The ads which deliver the most long term value operate high above the &#8216;buy&#8217; end of<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the marketing funnel. They are designed to entertain, move and involve their<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">audience rather than overtly sell or transact. This is how they create brand affinity.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Affinity, of course, is the essential precursor to commercial results, so I am not<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">suggesting that TV advertising is an act of selfless brand altruism. But there is,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">increasingly, a charm to messaging that appeals to everyone and that is played out to<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">everyone as part of a shared rather than private experience. We live in a very<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">addressable age, so much of the media we receive is targeted, honed and optimised.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is all very efficient and, often, beneficial to the end user. But we&#8217;re not<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">comfortable with it.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That&#8217;s why, when we see the privacy prompt pop up on iOS, only 16% of us agree to<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">being tracked. There&#8217;s something about the privatisation of online communication<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">that makes us uncomfortable, not least because it&#8217;s likely to portend a sales<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">message. And there&#8217;s already enough of those in our lives.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We&#8217;re more comfortable with offline ads because the value exchange, though not<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">explicit, is better understood. A poster won&#8217;t be able to track me, nor a sports<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">sponsorship. A TV ad that makes me smile (and helps make ITV a free service) won&#8217;t<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">be following me around for the next few days trying to sell me a kettle. I know it&#8217;s<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">doing a selling job (that&#8217;s why it&#8217;s called a commercial), but it&#8217;s there in plain sight<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and, if it&#8217;s good enough, I may reward it with my attention.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We spend a lot of our time on targetting because we don&#8217;t want to be wasteful. But<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the art of brand building, ironically, depends on not looking too targetted. Great<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">brands give the impression of talking to us, not me. They act like we have something<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">in common, and behave like they&#8217;re a shared currency. They may in reality only be<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">addressing a small group of those who see their advertising, but they feel more<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">generous than that. They haven&#8217;t allowed addressability to make them look like<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">media mercenaries.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">My festive message this year, then, is that the true spirit of Christmas applies all year<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">round. We shouldn&#8217;t leave people out, we shouldn&#8217;t close ourselves in. Greatness<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">comes from being an open church, because the most valued experiences are those<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">we share. Merry Christmas.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n  <\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":57,"template":"","categories":[191],"class_list":["post-15716","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 website","filename":"Charles-V-website.png","filesize":2179106,"url":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Charles-V-website.png","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/news\/2022\/feb\/whats-the-point-of-the-proof-point\/attachment\/charles-v-website","alt":"","author":"57","description":"","caption":"","name":"charles-v-website","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":14649,"date":"2022-02-28 09:02:25","modified":"2022-02-28 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":"\"You Talking to Me?\" Charles Vallance in Campaign ","meta-description":"For his latest column in\u00a0Campaign\u00a0VCCP Founding Partner and Chairman Charles Vallance delves into building brand affinity through enduring media channels and why marketers should not focus too much attention on targetting.","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":14827,"post_author":"57","post_date":"2022-05-03 09:01:31","post_date_gmt":"2022-05-03 08:01:31","post_content":"<!-- wp:lazyblock\/two-column-text-quote-image {\"text-left\":\"\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003e\\u003cem\\u003eOriginally published in \\u003ca href=\\u0022https:\\\/\\\/www.campaignlive.co.uk\\\/article\\\/connect\\\/1754246\\u0022\\u003eCampaign\\u003c\\\/a\\u003e.\\u003c\\\/em\\u003e\\u003c\\\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eWe live in a hyper-connected world and yet, in numerous ways, connection is becoming harder than ever.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eWe travel to work in our own media bubbles and, certainly on the wide pavements of Victoria, weave our way between pedestrians watching their phones more closely than the way ahead.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eOur attention spans are shrinking, our media habits fragmenting and our communities morphing from real to digital.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eAs a species, we have an innate need to connect but, as an industry, we tend to prioritise content over connectivity. Far too many conversations about the content we create happen in isolation of, rather than in unison with, the business of how people will connect with it.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eMedia and creative output are too often dislocated. Creative awards are too often allotted to work that has barely been seen or celebrated in the real world.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eThis highlights an irony for an industry that sees itself as content-driven. Because, contrary to the received wisdom, content isn't king. Connectivity is.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eThis may sound heretical at first glance, surely it's all about the work? Yes it is. But only in so much as the work connects people and gives them something to share. Otherwise, the effort is close to worthless.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eThere's little to be gained from making the best ad no-one ever sees or, if they do, have no desire to talk about. Hence my reference to EM Forster's authorial homily in\\u00a0\\u003cem\\u003eHowards End\\u003c\\\/em\\u003e; \\u0022Only connect! Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die.\\u0022\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eConnection is the opposite of isolation, and it is the lifeblood of brands. But we constantly face the competing forces of fragmentation. These are the modern beasts and monks of our trade, time-shifting, micro-casting, multi-screening and isolating what used to be shared and consumed collectively, in real time, by social groups (known as families) on single devices (known as tellies).\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eFear not, though. The future is better than the past.\\u00a0\\u003ca href=\\u0022https:\\\/\\\/www.campaignlive.co.uk\\\/article\\\/uk-adspend-hits-all-time-high-smashing-predictions-does-pride-fall\\\/1754266\\u0022 target=\\u0022_blank\\u0022 rel=\\u0022noopener\\u0022\\u003ePartly because levels of adspend have never been higher\\u003c\\\/a\\u003e, and partly because the ways we have to connect with audiences have never been more diverse or prolific.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cdiv id=\\u0022c502Ad\\u0022 class=\\u0022commercialSlot\\u0022 data-location-code=\\u0022C\\u0022 data-sizes=\\u0022300x250\\u0022 data-google-query-id=\\u0022CJyGubXswvcCFZe-UQod2zYIwQ\\u0022\\u003e\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/div\\u003e\",\"text-right\":\"\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eWe can build connections that were simply not conceivable 10 years ago, we can create partnerships and activations, platforms and experiences, which are both more immersive and interactive than traditional media channels.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eFurthermore, traditional media is fighting back. Television is enjoying soaring demand, with better products, a more entrepreneurial business model, more destination programming and more appointments to view.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eJust as the Jeremiahs were predicting the demise of linear viewing, it is back in demand, precisely at the point that Netflix has suffered its first setback in years with a drop in subscribers prompting a 35% share price correction.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eAnd the possibility of it introducing an ad-funded model. A bit like, erm, linear TV.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003ePut simply, there's more content out there, on more platforms, that's more accessible, of greater variety, of higher quality and available via more devices, more flexibly in more places on more occasions than ever before.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eThis is not to suggest that quantity is inherently an advantage. To the contrary, one of the challenges that the content industry now faces is the sheer abundance of choice being produced (and attendant subscription costs).\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThere is a danger that this creates a replaceability spiral where the level of supply exceeds the strength of paid for demand.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eMargaret Schlegel, one of the main characters in\\u00a0\\u003cem\\u003eHowards End\\u003c\\\/em\\u003e, draws a similar conclusion, albeit about life in early 20th-century London: \\u201cThe more people one knows, the easier it is to replace them.\\u201d\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003eThe same applies to brands. Which is why the greatest creative challenge for our industry isn't how we add to the weight of content out there, but how we help our brands connect with it.\\u00a0\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp dir=\\u0022ltr\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cem\\u003eCharles Vallance is chairman and founding partner of VCCP\\u003c\\\/em\\u003e\\u003c\\\/p\\u003e\",\"blockId\":\"Yfkyh\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-Yfkyh\"} \/-->","post_title":"Charles Vallance in Campaign: Only Connect!","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"charles-vallance-in-campaign-only-connect","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-05-03 09:01:31","post_modified_gmt":"2022-05-03 08:01:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=14827","menu_order":0,"post_type":"news","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"relateditem":{"ID":15499,"post_author":"61","post_date":"2022-10-10 12:02:04","post_date_gmt":"2022-10-10 11:02:04","post_content":"<!-- wp:lazyblock\/text-full-width {\"text\":\"\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eCharles Vallance Founding Partner and Chairman, VCCP in his latest column for Campaign, explores how previous enforced remote working has meant a return to the prominence of Powerpoint Presentations.\\u003c\/strong\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eOne of the many consequences of enforced remote working was the return to prominence of PowerPoint presentations. We soon tired of staring at each other\u2019s faces (or bookshelves) in that odd, unnatural gameshow format and quickly opted instead for some charts to hide behind.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eSo be it. We had to find our own coping mechanisms back in those days. The problem, however, is that the chart habit seems to have stuck. And it's not as if we were an industry that was averse to slideware in the first place.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eDon't get me wrong. I know we need presentations, and presentations often need some slides. They provide a framework for what we have to say, as well as a record of our objectives, plans and recommendations. Depending on the subject matter, charts can often be essential, particularly for information-heavy topics such as media and market performance. But, as the information load gets lighter, so should the charts. If we're simply framing an argument or point of view do we need charts at all?\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eOne of the reasons I ask this question is from my experience of enforced slidelessness. Unless you're one of those people for whom technology always works perfectly (and I'm yet to meet one), the chances are that you will have experienced more than a few tech meltdowns. This inevitably means that the PowerPoint deck you were about to romp through remains stuck stubbornly on a distant, truculent server.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eIn these situations, whilst the IT technician wrestles with cables and remote controls, and we smile at each other awkwardly, I've taken to asking \\u0022should we have a go at starting without the slides?\\u0022. Sometimes the reaction to my question is one of quiet horror, as if an ancient protocol has been offended. On other occasions we give it a go freestyle and, lo and behold, ten minutes in and everyone has forgotten the wrestling technician. We're swimming without slides. There is even mild disappointment when the recalcitrant HDMI link is restored and we can boot up the slideware.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eThe meeting immediately becomes more formal and more regimented. There are also more interruptions. Perhaps because there is now something to interrupt. Or perhaps because of boredom. What has been gained in terms of structure has been lost in terms of fluency.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eSo we should aim for both. This means dramatically cutting down on the number of slides, and also on the number of words on the slides. If you ever find yourself reading out the fourth bullet point under the third subhead of the forty-third slide then I'm afraid you've got a bad case of chart\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eitis. You're reading, not presenting.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eWe're all guilty of this every so often due to expedience. It's the easiest way of downloading everything we want to say. Chopping words out, cutting down on charts, takes time and effort. Thus Mark Twain's famous proviso, \\u0022if I had more time I would have written a shorter letter'.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eBut lack of time is only part of the explanation. The other is lack of clarity. We end up festooned in charts and bullet points because we're not quite clear what we mean. And for this, there is only one solution. Before you go anywhere near PowerPoint, write what you mean down in normal sentences in normal English. Only then can you tell if it's clear and if it's meaningful. It's much easier to mangle a chart than it is to mangle prose.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eThe cure for chartitis, therefore, can be summed up in four simple steps. Step 1, start with a script (despite the urge to chartify). Step 2, ruthlessly edit your charts to highlight only the essential points you're making. Step 3, where possible, don't repeat on the chart what you say in your narrative - illustrate, visualise or dramatise your point instead.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eThe 4th step is perhaps the most daunting, which is to individualise what you present. Don't assume that your script needs slides at all. Slides can so quickly emphasise similarity rather than difference. Why not handwrite your points on boards? Or drag a Nobo chart along and draw your thoughts up as you go through them? - it worked for Simon Sinek.\u00a0 Devote some time to ensuring that any visual props are an \\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eextension \\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eof you, rather than the other way round.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eWe kid ourselves that presentations are viewed rationally. But they aren't. They are far more about empathy, trust, chemistry, body language. And, as such, though we may be reluctant to admit it, they're far more about the messenger than the message.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp style=\\u0022text-align: left\\u0022\\u003e\\u003cspan style=\\u0022font-weight: 400\\u0022\\u003eSo step 4 is be yourself. The problem with this step, of course, is that it's a lifetime in the making.\\u003c\/span\\u003e\\u003c\/p\\u003e\",\"blockId\":\"Z1qNNew\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-text-full-width-Z1qNNew\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:lazyblock\/quote-full-width {\"quote\":\"If we're simply framing an argument or a point of view do we need slides at all?\",\"quotee\":\"VCCP's Founding Partner and Chairman Charles Vallance \",\"blockId\":\"T1kvQ\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-quote-full-width-T1kvQ\"} \/-->","post_title":"Charles Vallance: Lately, We've Let Things Slide","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"charles-vallance-lately-weve-let-things-slide","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-10-10 12:02:05","post_modified_gmt":"2022-10-10 11:02:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=15499","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\/15716","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=15716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}