The Long and the Short of It

Out now! The new thought leadership paper from the IPA Databank.

Get your copy from the IPA site

Credit where credit is due

Hurrah! 'Snowman helps John Lewis profits snowball' says James Thompson in the Evening Standard (7 March).

You can access advertising, media and marketing effectiveness case studies featuring John Lewis and other retailers using the IPA's free search tool: EASE

Good ads work!

A positive start to the New Year with the Evening Standard's report on John Lewis December sales (4 Jan Page 2).

"Retail experts said the fantastic success of the ad, called The Long Wait, contributed to John Lewis's remarkable sales figures which dramatically bucked the depressed trend elsewhere on the High Street."

"The TV mini-saga had 'struck a chord' with consumers."

Should we be surprised? Congratulations to IPA member agency Adam & Eve! (didn't the lead team there also reinvent M&S?)

Check out the IPA's Advertising Effectiveness Search Engine (EASE) to search our huge collection of effectiveness case studies online. It's very quick and, like John Lewis, you won't have to wait long to read about the value of advertising.

New models of marketing effectiveness: from integration to orchestration

At last! A definitive view of integrated campaign management and implementation.

Based on analysis of over 250 IPA effectiveness awards cases, coupled with client and agency interviews with award winners.

It's being launched on Monday 20th June at the V&A Sackler Centre.

Be there or be square!

Creativity and effectiveness

If you haven't seen it already, check out Campaign Close-Up, page 14, this week.

It features more ground breaking work from the IPA looking at the correlation between creativity and effectiveness based on data from The Gunn Report and the IPA Databank.

It shows that the efficiency of highly creative campaigns is growing. The more creative you are the more you get for your money.

Read the full report here.

We like green

I was reading a piece in WARC News this morning about UK brands reaping measurable, commercial benefits from green marketing.

Kingfisher Group, parent of DIY chains B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, Screwfix and Koçtaş, believes this segment will be a key growth area in the future and is planning an 'eco-squad' where by green experts will assess homes and suggest energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly enhancements to customers, materials for which can be purchased via group companies.

Marks & Spencer has an M&S Energy arm, which is selling energy services into the £40bn UK energy market and has a head - Mike Barry - of sustainable business.

Unlilever too has been looking at the lifecycle impact of 1,500 products in 14 countries and seeking ways to reduce their harmful effects on the environment through e.g. developing detergents that use less water and energy - according to Gavin Neath, Unilever svp, sustainability.

It's good to see these initiatives becoming core parts of brand marketing with real commercial benefits isn't it? At the IPA we have long-since embraced the benefits of sustainable marketing, We have a partner deal with Envido, whereby IPA members can get commercial discounts on specialist advice on ISO 14001 certification, which enables companies to cut energy bills and reduce their carbon emissions

Our members have also created sustainable marketing campaigns for clients which have been submitted as case studies to our Effectiveness Awards programme. These effectiveness case studies include British Glass, Tesco and, last year, Kenco

We like green, do you?