Highlights from R3 on marketing and communications industry

R3 is a leader in global, regional and local  consulting on improving the effectiveness  and efficiency of marketers and their  agencies.

We work with twelve of the world’s  top twenty marketers including Unilever,  Samsung, Coca-Cola, Mastercard, Colgate,  Procter & Gamble, BMW, Intel and Shell.

As we inch closer to the end of 2020, the marketing and communications industry can’t help but reflect on the turbulence of a year it has experienced, along with most other industries.

However, one of the most notable things that has happened in the industry has been the marginal increase in inter-industry knowledge sharing sessions and resources.

So to all readers, take some notes as you prepare to step into 2021 with these ideas in mind.

3 Ways Marketers Can Leverage the Growth of Streaming

According to the latest issue of R3’s R3VIEW,  as consumer preferences shifted towards smaller screens and on-demand content, there has been a shift in investment direction with global advertisers as they prioritise spending their money where the consumer is. 

Hence here’s a look at three different ways brands can leverage and improve their presence on OTT media:

1. Start, Test & Learn
   Run existing creatives on OTT media. Test and learn by leveraging tools to personalize  creatives and target, using data. Over time, shift budgets to channels in accordance with  consumer media consumption patterns and ensure your agency partners are incentivized to  test and learn.

… Use every opportunity to both leverage OTT data and to layer your own data to enhance targeting and personalization…

2. Use A Data-First Approach When Targeting & Measuring
Use every opportunity to both leverage OTT data and to layer your own data to enhance  targeting and personalization. There is still a lack of standardization in cross-platform and  cross-device measurement across OTTs. While this may be a challenge, with proper campaign  planning, advertisers can still use metrics provided by the platforms and proxies to fill the  gaps to at least map deduplicated reach and probabilistic performance.

3. Find Ways to Showcase Better Storytelling
Advertisers need to embrace unintrusive ways of promoting the brand. The consumer centric approach of OTT platforms, coupled with technology that enables advanced native  integrations, provides an opportunity for marketers to reach and influence consumers with  the most powerful tool in the brand arsenal – Storytelling.

4 Ways to Better Understand Your In-House Needs

Creating a fully sufficient in-house team can do wonders to your business in terms of turnaround speed and cost savings but according to R3’s R3VIEW, you first need to understand what your existing needs and capabilities are. The complexity of managing certain services in-house, coupled with the lack of existing talent and resources, are some of the biggest barriers for marketers who want to build an efficient and competent in-house team.

1. Understand how you segregate the work
   Before you decide what to invest in, have a clear idea about the number and type of existing talent you have on your payroll. What kinds of work do they engage in and how much availability do they have if they were to take on new responsibilities? Take a closer look at your organization structure to see whether there might be barriers to communication. Do your existing teams work as a group or independently?

… Calculate your project labor and materials at cost and compare these with external rates. Remember to take into consideration any transfer or chargeback rates when working with in-house clients…

2. Understand your current and future needs
Having a clear understanding of the kinds of work that is being done will provide transparency on the types of skills you need to be looking for. Map out recurring marketing work, one-off projects and future campaigns to ensure that your in-house team is not only meeting immediate needs. Calculate the cost of hiring full-time talent and consider the time it takes to on-board new hires.

3. Know which jobs will most benefit from being in-housed and outsourced
You’ll want to put your in-house team to work on projects that will benefit the most from their attention. Look at the volume of work produced each year and analyze them by month and by brand, client or category. This will allow you to develop the average cost schedule and turnaround time.

4. Know what cost savings are generated by in-housing
The Return on Investment for in-housing needs to be quantified and benchmarked to ensure that KPIs are being met and performance is monitored. Calculate your project labor and materials at cost and compare these with external rates. Remember to take into consideration any transfer or chargeback rates when working with in-house clients.

To read incredible insights on the industry, click here.

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