The role of creative

Column Ronald Jansen – Consulting Partner

2020 was immediately off to a great start with our expansion to Germany! This launch also means that our Brand Growth Study is being expanded to the German market. The annual study among marketers on the most important ingredients for brand growth continues to grow. After the first edition in the UK last year among over 250 marketers, the first German version is starting this year in partnership with Werben & Verkaufen. In the Netherlands the study celebrates its 4^th anniversary – last year among over 300 marketeers – and is truly starting to become a concept. And with a new year we of course have a new theme: the role of Creative Development in brand growth.

As the initiator of the Brand Growth concept, I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished. We started the initiative because on the one hand we noticed that a lot of great marketing science is not (yet) familiar and isn’t used in the market. As a research agency, science plays an important role. We were – and still are – genuinely curious why this does or doesn’t happen. But of course, there’s more than just science. What makes that marketer successful, and not the other? In short, this set up makes the Brand Growth Study a fantastic continuous learning process. Not just for us, but for all participants involved. Not just marketers are learning from it, but well-known marketing gurus are using important learnings. It’s great to see that a lot of our results are now invariably used by Les Binet in his presentations on the effects of short-term sales activations versus long term brand building activities!

But first, we of course have a lot of other great things to look forward to, such as MIE which takes place on Wednesday and Thursday February 5th and 6th. Traditionally our Brand Growth Study is included in the programme. Next to that, we’re organising a masterclass on innovation and presenting a case together with a.s.r. It’s a new year, and I’m looking forward to all the new developments in the market we’ll be discovering in 2020. The most important ingredients for brand growth, and what the role of creative development is in that process.