Less is more and balanced thinking: Your Marketing Week
At the end of every week, we look at the key stories, offering our view on what they mean for you and the industry. From the shift within brands towards doing ‘fewer things with intensity’ to Diageo and P&G’s search for balance, it’s been a busy week. Here is my take.
More than a mantra
‘More with less’. ‘Optimised investment’. ‘Less things more effectively’. All phrases that have been bandied about in the last few years, often to put a positive spin on marketers being robbed of a sizeable chunk of their budgets.
We offered a new phrase to the lexicon this week ‘Fewer things with intensity’. Essentially, a different spin on being choiceful. A realisation that for those companies with a house of brands, or a branded house in compromised categories, you can’t do everything and should be putting time, money and energy behind opportunities for growth.
Unilever, Direct Line Group, Britvic and Suntory have all rallied around the notion – and necessity – that it’s time for focus. Indeed, some are relishing the opportunity to clean house.
Britvic CMO Cindy Tervoort has adopted what she describes as “fewer things better” as a philosophy. She told us: “If you’re in a portfolio business, it’s easy to get distracted or to fragment a lot of your efforts and then miss the impact in the market.”
Undoubtedly. Whether it’s being forced to take stock, or forcing yourself into action, reviewing habitual behaviour is paramount. Even more so, making sometimes difficult choices. As long as growth remains sluggish, expect to see more doing fewer things better.
