Brands should stop framing advertising as an investment, according to Nationwide’s director of brand, marketing and corporate affairs.
Speaking today (24 April) at Thinkbox’s ‘New business case for advertising’ launch, Nationwide’s Richard Warren said the word investment is “problematic” when discussing advertising in the boardroom. He claimed the exco and boards within many businesses don’t see advertising as an investment, but as a running cost.
“Whilst we [marketers] might think this is really clever and shrewd to cloak advertising in the word investment, they just think it’s bollocks,” said Warren.
He recalled in the past overhearing CFOs say the easiest things to cut are “training and advertising”, pointing to the long-term payback of brand equity as a key reason.
“Just don’t bullshit. Don’t call it an investment, because they will not think of it as an investment,” Warren argued.
Whilst we [marketers] might think this is really clever and shrewd to cloak advertising in the word investment, they [the exco/board] just think it’s bollocks.
Richard Warren, Nationwide
The key argument marketers need to make to persuade boards to spend on advertising is the longevity play and the need to keep “watering the garden”, he added.
Fellow panellist Matt Chappell, global client success officer at Gain Theory, agreed marketers should not “try and bullshit”, as “a CFO is going to see through it”. Instead, he advised marketers to speak the language of risk.
“Show the risk of not doing anything,” said Chappell, who believes this will demonstrate to the exco what can be lost if spending is not directed towards marketing.
The benefits of committing to marketing are clear, said Warren, who pointed to the internal benefit of creating a “strong brand campaign.” He claimed Nationwide’s brand revamp has had an “enormous” impact internally.
“When you’ve got 18,000 colleagues on
