I spent a thoroughly enjoyable couple of days at this years Madfest at the Truman Brewery this week. Aside from an opportunity to bump into old friends and new, the event was notable for espousing a number of unfashionable but entirely sensible theories on what it takes for brands to succeed in 2019 and beyond.
Firstly a caveat. Madfest is promoted as a digitally orientated marketing and branding event and there was certainly no shortage of pioneering martech companies in attendance. And a fine job many of them do too. Much will continue to be written about how martech will change the way we all think and act with brands, but what really stood out for me was how many brands had got back to basics on what good branding and marketing is, rather than chasing the latest digital widget for the sake of it. The second caveat was that with many things going on simultaneously, I didn’t get to see anything like all of it.
With all that in mind, here were the top few things I took away.
Katie Evans from Burger King talked about how the brand has gone back to focusing on its icon, the Whopper. The product that made the brand famous in the UK in the first place. And despite much famous brand advertising since, twenty years on and no one knew what Burger King actually did any more. So the lesson for me was that if you’re lucky enough to be famous for a particular product or service, you can’t assume it will always stay that way. It takes care, love and attention to keep it nurtured.
Huib van Bockel talked passionately about his journey to establishing Tenzing, and how the early days where no one would give you the time of day contrasted with his experience at Red Bull where the expectation of extraordinarily large budgets meant he could pick up the phone to just about anyone. But moreover, he was wary of marketing hype. For him, getting the product right, and keeping it that way, comes before everything. No amount of great marketing will ever disguise a poor product.
It was a theme built on further by Shamil Thakrar, founder of Dishoom. A founder so passionate about the authenticity of his restaurants that he insisted on changing the Philips screws in his new bar to slotted ones so they fitted the time of the design. He also displayed a passion for looking after his people, calling them the lifeblood of his business. Shamil explained how his brand values were not words to appear on a staff poster or tricksy YouTube film, but things to be experienced by staff and customers every single day.
Pete Markey from TSB talked about sticking to the value of what you do, rather than constantly reacting to your competition. And that your core proposition may be seen very differently outside of the ‘London bubble'. Something we all know, but rarely put into practice.
I loved the talk from Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet. She explained how, with hindsight, the fact she didn’t get funding in the early years was a blessing, and meant that she didn’t need to go chasing growth at any cost. Justine expanded on the point that many businesses fail through trying to be very large very quickly, when they may well have made it as a mid size enterprise. She talked of hiring being the most important issue she deals with, and admitted that in Mumsnet’s twenty year history, the most they have spent on paid media is £150 on Facebook ads back in the day (it didn’t work either).
Finally I couldn’t not mention Rory Sutherland’s closing address. Seemingly at odds with some of the other speakers who shunned large scale media investment, and martech providers offering hyper-targeted efficiency, Rory’s key theme was that large scale advertising represents the brand putting skin in the game, signalling that it knows that if it consumers are disappointed in the product the brand will necessarily lose money. And that when you make yourself visible and talked about, random events of good fortune are simply more likely to come your way.
There is hope after all.