Fragmented audiences don’t have to mean fragmenting ideas

It seems to me a little ironic that when it comes to effectiveness, the more we measure, the less we seem to know about how our metrics are connected. We measure everything, from likes on social media to increases in product demand, but as an industry, we’re not much further in understanding how effectiveness truly happens in a contemporary marketing world.

So, in a world where you can measure everything, how do you engage people with the business of brand creativity? And how do you know you’re doing it well?

At McCann, we believe that when the truth is well told, it moves people and markets. I’ve seen this happen first-hand for some of the world’s biggest brands like Mastercard and Microsoft, and for beloved local brands across Central and Eastern Europe. It doesn’t matter if you do it through humour or raw honesty (or occasionally both) - if you can really move people, then you can change behaviours, elevate products and trigger the buying urge.

We start with the truth, and if McCann London’s performance at the UK Effies this month is anything to go by, finding compelling human truths is the key to connecting with diverse communities and creating work that lives in culture. Whether that’s working with Nurofen to tap into the truth that women’s pain has been ignored for too long, or supporting Dettol to spread the love not the germs, because we know that sometimes the people we love the most are disgustingly germ-riddled. These are the big truths that connect people regardless of how fragmented they appear, unifying communities across a world that can often feel divided.

These cases are proof positive that if you start with the truth and you tell it well, there will be great impact for brands and businesses. Our creative power is fuelled by intelligence, and we start by applying creativity to the way we unearth insights, not just what we do with them once we’ve found them. Unhindered by things like house style, we can unleash the power of our creativity across tones, art-forms and connection points because we know that creativity is an underestimated business driver.

The best truths are the ones that seem obvious and fresh at the same time. The powerful truth at the heart of the Electoral Commission Voter ID campaign is that ‘Unless voting works for everyone, it doesn’t work at all’, which simply demands a focus on multiple audiences each with different barriers to overcome. In this case it wasn’t about unifying audiences, but rather engaging multiple audiences and the campaign delivered an 87 per cent increase in awareness of the need for Voter ID, connecting back to the truth that everyone needs to be involved in the electoral process for it to work.

There is often complexity in nuance, but there is magic in nuance too. Being brave enough to lean into the nuance can pay off, when we understand how different communities behave, what they believe and what they want, then we can establish the best way to connect with them.

If Dettol was about unifying audiences and the Electoral Commission was about engaging them, then Nurofen’s ‘See My Pain’ brand platform was about rallying audiences. The work started with a simple truth: women’s pain is ignored. A simple truth, but one with a complex ecosystem of audiences: from healthcare professionals to retailers, educators to those experiencing pain. 'See My Pain' brought women’s pain into the spotlight, building an emotional connection whilst also giving women practical steps for how to have conversations about their pain. This commitment to evolving an idea over time took Nurofen beyond fast product fixes into advocacy, positioning them as a true ally in the fight against the gender pain gap. It also pushed the boundaries of what creativity can do, driving a 650 per cent increase in positive brand sentiment for Nurofen, enabling them to regain their category leadership in pain relief while helping women feel seen.

Nurofen isn’t alone in feeling the impact of truth-based storytelling. XBOX’s ability to earn a way into people’s lives saw them crowned Effie UK’s ‘Brand of the Year.’ Their ‘Everyday Tactician’ campaign transformed a gamer into a real-life Football Manager, delivering long-form entertainment with football fans at the heart of it. The campaign gained Bromley FC a promotion for the first time in their history, and drove a +190 per cent increase in Football Manager 24 gamers for XBOX. Not bad for a creative idea that started with the truth that no football fan is alone in thinking they could manage a team.

So, whilst metrics and audiences may be more fragmented than ever, ideas don’t have to be. The richest ideas can deliver the best results by moving multiple audiences while still staying true to their roots.

AJ Jones is CSO at McCann London.