This interview is part of our February content series on the 'Changing Nature of the Agency Model' that will explore renumeration, global pitches, competitors and more. To read the full feature, download it here.
Campbell Arnott's global shift to a Publicis Power of One model has allowed for the brand to bypass agency conflict, achieve greater efficiencies and simplify the communications process, the brand's chief marketing officer David McNeil revealed.
In 2015 Campbell Arnott’s moved towards an integrated agency model under 'The Kitchen Table', an integrated product of Clemenger and Wavemaker, in search of a more cohesive agency program. It worked for a while, but it didn’t achieve a single point of accountability and marketing mix integration.
McNeil said the Power of One model created in 2018, called 'Neighbourhood', is “far more” than just creative and media under one roof and delivered shopper, digital, data, social, PR and more, supported by a horizontal P&L and a single stakeholder, the chief client officer - Helge Gruettke.
Under the model, Campbell Arnott’s has already seen several efficiencies, which has resulted in greater speed of delivery and productivity for the marketing team. It means the brand has bypassed internal challenges with agencies and simplified the communications process.
McNeil said perhaps the greatest simplification is the shift from coordinating the efforts of disparate groups to having one single, integrated and accountable chief client officer.
"The relationship has become far more agile and collaborative. Twenty years ago, a brief would go into creatives, a few weeks later ideas would come back on cardboard print outs and a TV script. These days the relationship operates on a more collaborative level," McNeil explained.
He said the Neighbourhood team feels more like an extension of the Campbell Arnott's team, rather than a separate agency, and is working on bigger business challenges than just delivering a singular campaign.
Across both Campbell and Arnott's, The Neighbourhood is tasked with delivering a masterbrand strategy as well as core brand activity on the likes of Tim Tam, Shapes, Jatz and more.
So far, Publicis has delivered several successful campaigns and hit sales targets, such as the Tim Tam Slam social influencer push and its first brand campaign, Open Something Real, which McNeil said has had an “overwhelming” response.
The Tim Tam Slam push resulted in more than 10 million engagements and was the brand's largest socially led campaign in its history.
Campbell Arnott's Tim Tam Slam competition went viral in 2018
Neighbourhood's first big brand push for Campbell Arnott's
Read more from our Changing Nature of the Agency Model content series here:
New enemy of procurement 'making life hell for agencies'
Phil McDonald: Holding companies have divested too much
GroupM’s Mark Lollback: There’s no perfect model for agencies
Clemenger’s Nick Garrett: Agencies need to pick specialism or scale
TBWA Australia eyes media buying, planning
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.