Balancing between sprint and marathon for growth in marketing

New Delhi: WARC has released The Pace Principle, an Asian evidence-led guide for marketers providing evidence of what works in Asia.

Until now, most evidence underpinning core advertising effectiveness principles has come from Western markets. This research is built on consistent data from across Southeast Asia, Greater China, and India, to address common misconceptions that hinder businesses from maximising returns – specifically the perceived barrier that “Asia moves too fast for long-term brand building to work” due to the speed of changing market dynamics and innovation. 

A key insight from the research is that “speed” is a defining feature of Asian marketing, thereby the study uses the language of “pace” to make marketing science principles more applicable to the region. The race for growth operates at “twin paces”. The “Sprint” pace uses performance tactics to secure short-term wins at speed; and the “Long-distance” pace, sees investment in brand-building to sustain long-term growth.

To cut through in a competitive marketplace and amplify positive customer associations, brands need to operate at both levels of pace equally.

Addressing legacy assumptions and challenges

To boost sustainable performance and unlock enduring value, marketers should address the following legacy assumptions and challenges:

Speed vs effectiveness: Brands are conflating the need for operational agility with a short-term approach to marketing, assuming that long-term brand investment will be undermined by market changes.

Short-termism: In dynamic markets where change feels constant, trying to sell in the prospect of long-term results is a challenge in organisations prioritising short-term wins due to the focus on quarterly and annual performance.

Brand payback: marketers need to get away from the perception that the payback of investing in brand-building takes years to show.

Key strategies for effective brand building in Asia outlined in The Pace Principle are:

Long-term brand building supercharges performance. The optimum split between brand and performance investment in Asia is 50:50

Advertising in Asia needs to operate at two levels of pace – sprint (performance) and long-distance (brand-building)—to – to drive the biggest instant and long-term impact.

By allocating investment towards both brand-building and performance, brands can take advantage of a multiplier effect. It’s not “brand + performance,” but “brand x performance”.

Brand investment is a growth multiplier in the Asian century that drives performance now and in the future. It provides a strategic platform that cuts through in a competitive marketplace, amplifying positive customer associations and scaling-up future demand.

The evidence from this study shows that campaigns with a 50:50 split between brand and performance investment deliver the strongest effect on both short- and long-term business metrics; and even deliver stronger instant impact than a split that over indexes on just performance. 

Measure campaigns for the long game: The effects of shorter campaigns are four times stronger when measured for a month after the campaign finished

Campaign measurement should prioritise measuring for growth. Using short-term ROI as the primary measurement mindset overlooks the future effects of brand-building activities, such as strengthening brand memory and increasing demand for the brand.

For shorter campaigns (1-4 weeks of duration), the effects observed were, on average, four times stronger across all key business metrics, when measurement continued for a month or more after the campaign finished. 

Win with cultural advantage: demonstrating a shared perspective and value with audiences is nearly twice as effective

Cultural connection is an underlooked key driver of emotional engagement that drives positive business effects. Research shows that brands with high cultural resonance grow 25% more than their competitors, and 92% of respondents in McCann Worldgroup’s Truth about Global Brands study believe that Asia’s culture is its greatest source of wealth.

However, the pressure for speed and budget constraints can leave little time for brands to undertake the critical work of understanding the cultural context of its consumers.

The Pace Principle research shows that campaigns that demonstrate a shared perspective and values with audiences are nearly twice as effective compared to those that make minimal attempts at localisation.

Brands should dedicate time and resources to thoroughly understand the cultural nuances of their target audience to maximise effectiveness by going beyond outdated stereotypes and always investigating how audiences are redefining their identities in new and dynamic ways.

Accelerate with multichannel momentum. Effective campaigns in Asia use an average, 6.5 channels to deliver large business effects

In a fragmented media ecosystem, highly effective campaigns leverage the momentum of using multiple channels to maximise the payback of all advertising.

Evidence from the study shows that effective campaigns use on average 6.5 channels to deliver large business effects, by utilising a smart combination of media to build multiple smaller exposures and positive brand associations across various touchpoints. Key to driving cross-media effects is understanding the most optimal media combinations to leverage the multiplier effect.

Questioning long-held channel assumptions and the “mobile first” depiction of Asian consumers will help marketers make more strategic decisions with the media mix.

And despite the popularity of using influencers in Asia, the study indicates that the most effective campaigns do not lead with influencers (8%) or celebrities (5%). However, when pairing influencers with other channels such as free-to-air Commercial TV, the content reaches far beyond the fan base and the digital environment, thereby becomes 1.5x more effective in driving results.