Consumer Goods Company Boosts Sales Performance by 75% with "Smarter" Marketing and Advertising

Situation: A universally-recognized consumer goods company came to Third Angle puzzled as to why their marketing and advertising campaigns were so inconsistent with sales performance, especially in their efforts around viral marketing. They noted that after a few campaigns, sales increased dramatically, while after others, there was little to no change, or even a drop in sales. They asked us to develop a method they could employ for guaranteed, consistent success. 

The Catch: In addition to a method and a tool, they also asked that we teach them the underlying root causes of “viralness”, and variables they needed to account for when designing and evaluating campaigns. In other words, they wanted a solution and an applied learning technique they could utilize for the product line in question, and for other product lines.

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Innovative Actions: In pre-workshop interviews, Third Angle learned a few key pieces of information. The team leading the brands desired to have better intelligence around what did and did not work and why. Furthermore, they wanted to use that intelligence to provide stronger leadership to their advertising agencies who created the campaigns. 

A unique Third Angle offering is “Translating Science to Practical Applications, Mindsets and System Level Change.” In this case, we translated the use of complexity and network science into marketing and advertising applications. After comparing and contrasting the client’s successful campaigns (and those of other companies) to principles and dynamics rooted in complexity and network sciences (the foundation for viralness), Third Angle was able to develop the company’s customized workshop and tool.

We made subject matter and domain expertise useful by walking the team through a model that translated the basic principles of complexity science into design principles. We took them through examples from other companies so they could see for themselves when the principles were and were not activated.  We then took them through their own examples, utilizing the “Campaign Evaluation and Design Tool” we built for them to demonstrate the model.

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Growth & Value: The team stated we “hit a home run.” They employed the tool for their future campaigns. Their correlation with sales increased from 15% to over 90%, making the tool a very reliable asset for predicting success in increased sales and viral growth. Furthermore, the team now felt they could lead their advertising agency advisers more effectively, and provide better informed suggestions and critiques of campaign ideas based on their newly acquired understanding.

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Mini-Lessons: We applauded the clients’ wisdom in asking for more than an alternative set of tactics. They wanted to know the underlying root causes of viralness and how to employ them over and over. Teaching them, giving them a tool to test and use, and advising them on specific applications, gave them the biggest bang for their buck. Value was immediately realized for the product line in question, and the foundation was set to generate positive reputation and sales, and save time and money, across other marketing and advertising initiatives. Providing immediate value and helping clients become smarter is a win-win relationship.

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