We’ve been talking about the power of fresh consistency for many years, in our blog, books, training programs and consulting projects. It’s exciting to now have quantitative data to back up this belief and demonstrate the tangible benefits. The Creative Consistency Score (CCS) is a new brand metric that draws on data from two sources: System1’s Test Your Ad Premium database and the IPA Effectiveness Databank. The research analysed 56 brands across digital and TV, including 4,000+ ads tested with over 600,000 respondents (1).
In this post, I share some highlights and key recommendations from the research.
Overall concept: Compound creativity
The key concept from the research is how “Compound Creativity” drives effectiveness. Creative consistency builds over time, adding incrementally more value, as time passes (see below). “Creativity is to brand building as interest rates are to compound interest. Creativity is a multiplier that adds impact to everything that precedes it,” as Johnny Corbett wrote in Marketing Week (2). We’ll see later that System 1 estimate compound consistency could save brands billions of pounds over the next five years.
1. Benefits of creative consistency
The research shows that creative consistency delivers several key benefits to your brand and your business.
Higher creative quality
The average Star rating of the most consistent brands in the study was 3.3 compared to 2.6. This star rating is a measure of emotional response that is associated with long term share growth
Higher brand fame and popularity
Consistency also pays off in stronger brand metrics. The most consistent brands have higher brand fame and are also more popular
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The more consistent brands also report better performance across a range of brand equity measures including awareness and differentiation (see below).
Bigger business effects
Most importantly of all, the most consistent brands report stronger busienss results, based on the analysis of the IPA Database. Overall, the most consistent brands reported 3.2 large business effects vs 2.5 for the least consistent.
2. How to Deliver Compound creativity?
Compound Creativity requires three things, that we explore in more detail below. First comes Consistent Creative Foundations followed by a Culture of Consistency. The third and final elements, Consistent Execution, builds on the first two.
2.1. Build Consistent Creative Foundations
The research emphasises the fundamental importance of having strong creative foundations. This involves creating and sticking to an insight-first positioning and the creative idea that flows from it. It also requires building a long term relationship with your creative agency. The powerful effects of not changing your creative agency are shown by improved levels of creative quality and driving more distinctiveness over time (see below).
System 1 use the example of GWR (Great Western Railways) as an example of a brand that has done this well. They have worked with Adam&EveDDB for eight years, sticking to the same positioning around the spirt of adventure. This was based on an insight that planes and cars could offering cheaper and quicker ways of transport, but taking train could create a travel experience. The brand has also stuck with a creative campaign idea that uses The Famous Five cartoon characters.
2.2 Create a Culture of Consistency
The second key challenge is to build a culture of consistency. This means leadership from the top of the organisation buying in to the benefits of consistency and committing to make it happen.
System 1 use the example of Yorkshire Tea to illustrate this approach. The brand, with its agency Lucky Generals, launched the When Everything’s Done Proper campaign back in 2017. And it is still using the campaign eight years later. During this time, value share has almost doubled, from c.22% to 39%, taking market leadership. Multiple exceptions, each with a famous celebrity, have kept the campaign fresh (see below).
The brand has also used its individual executions for longer. Its average ‘ad life’ (how many days an is on TV) is two years. This compares to an average for some brands if only 15 days. Ads used for longer have higher Star ratings (see below), with a phenomenon System 1 call creative ‘wear in’.
The other aspects of a Culture of Consistency include a commitment to emotionally powerful communication, amplifying campaigns across channels and re-using brand assets in different forms (e.g. cut-down versions of a film).
2.3 Drive Consistent Execution
With the Consistent Foundations and a Culture of Consistency in place, you are then in a position to drive Consistent Execution. We’ve long made the case to stick with and not ditch distinctive brand assets (DBAs), such as characters, scenarios, strap-lines and tone of voice. We recently posted on how KitKat has being doing this for over 60 years.
This new research shows how recurring use of DBAs, or fluent devices as System 1 call them, pays off with increased effectiveness (see below). Note how the real benefits kick in from the fourth year on, when the star rating jumps from 2.7 to 3.5.
3. The cost of not being consistent
System 1 have explored the cost of not being consistent, by looking at the extra media investment needed to achieve the same results as consistent brands. Based on this analysis, System 1 estimate that inconsistency will cost just the brands in their study nearly £3.5bil over the next five years!
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In conclusion, System 1 and the IPA have shown in their research the compound effects of fresh consistency over time. Delivering this requires the right foundations and culture, to then allow you to drive fresh consistency in execution over time.
