The Ideas That Work Summit distilled the learnings and inspiration behind the 2021 Effie UK-winning entries, tackled the metrics successful entrepreneurs and leaders keep their eyes on, and explored one of the UK industry’s most unconscious biases: class.
Discussions, keynotes and debates were all delivered in 30-minute sessions and each one is available to view on demand. But, if you want our top pick of learnings before you dive in, here are our top 10 takeaways:
1. Keep to your overall strategy: If you are an established player, while everything around you changes, stick to the plan.
2. Stay open-minded: Things change, so embrace the constraints around you.
3. Move fast: To capitalise on opportunities presented to you.
4. Be bold: The vanilla middle is an ineffective place to be.
5. Think long – and short: The pandemic taught us the importance of balancing long and short-term thinking – staying open and responsive to the unexpected while keeping focus on long-term brand building.
6. Effectiveness is a dynamic, iterative process: There is no one-size-fits-all effectiveness measure because the metrics that matter are different for every business.
7. Stop worshipping at the altar of AB: Advertising’s obsession with the AB archetype is shrinking the industry into a bubble of its own making and disconnecting it from mainstream Britain.
8. Avoid lazy stereotyping: Our industry’s views of working class people, depicting their lives as bleak and downtrodden, is one example of lazy stereotyping.
9. Bring back populist ads: The work should be less serious and more fun to engage and entertain mainstream audiences who want escapism – and a much-needed laugh – through dark times.
10. Make downtime mandatory to prevent burnout: Be like Santander and introduce a daily ‘quiet hour’ to force staff to have downtime outside of work – an initiative the bank introduced during the pandemic that became so powerful it’s now a permanent fixture.
