Forget the partridge in the pear tree, how about 5 planner predictions?

Purpose needs a purpose

So many people have weighed in on the “brand purpose” debate this year – investors, CEOs, the ever-vocal LinkedIn Brigade, and occasionally the public.

Is it a load of dangerously naïve horseshit cooked up by Kool-Aid consultants, wide-eyed agencies and idealistic marketing departments, or is it a powerful driver of change and sustainable, long-term business growth?

The simple answer is it can be either, depending on how well it’s understood, used and connected to the cold, hard commercials. Regardless of where you stand, I hope we’ve all learned to stop pontificating and start interrogating.

Funny is serious business

Maybe it’s because the world has gone even more to shit in 2023. Maybe it’s because we’ve rediscovered our collective funny bones.

Maybe we’ve just remembered that emotion has always been the secret potion for effective brand building. Maybe it’s all of these things and more. But either way, it’s been a relief delight to see the return of sharp, funny, creative work – like Channel 4’s Illegal House Party, the Beeb’s ‘Not Just Telly’ spots, Liquid Death’s thrash metal grannies, or even Olivia Colman’s darkly satirical turn for Make My Money Matter – that gets people giggling and googling.

Maybe in 2023, we’ve learned that the best way to do serious business is to not take our business too seriously.

Price, price, baby

The cost of living crisis has thrown into stark relief how much, and in some cases how little, we’ve done to protect our brands and businesses from moments of intense economic shock. It’s also taught us, I hope, that one of the most effective outcomes we can and should be measuring – better still, incentivizing – is improved pricing power.

Is it a little bit icky to be talking about maintaining (or even raising) prices at a time when household spending is severely squeezed?

Maybe. But – spoiler alert – that is the job. So, if that means Santa and his elves put me on the naughty list this year, so be it. With energy prices, as they are, a bit of free coal wouldn’t go totally amiss.

What gets measured gets made

It’s been fascinating to see the evaluation conducted by System1 and Kantar on this year’s Christmas campaigns. (Although, am I the only person who finds it just a little bit odd that seemingly they can measure and publicly evaluate any ad they choose?).

Anyway, by their reckoning, this has been one of the most effective seasons on record, with big hitters like Amazon, Tesco and everyone’s favorite innuendo-dropping carrot smashing it out of the park.

Will all these predicted effectiveness scores translate into real-life business outcomes? I really hope so. But more than anything, I hope we use this as an impetus to make even more emotional, entertaining work that really works next year.

We’d all benefit from an end-of-year switch-off

I don’t know about anyone else, but I reached the end of this year absolutely knackered. I can’t wait for a break. I can’t wait to rewatch The Office Christmas Special. But more importantly, I can’t wait to escape adland for a few weeks; there is no better way to reset and remember what matters outside the industry than to escape it.

I doubt anyone will be talking about brand purpose, the return of humorous advertising, the importance of connecting brand to price, or the stellar predicted effectiveness of this year’s Christmas ads. And you know what? Everybody’s life will be all the better for it. Merry Christmas.