Earlier this week, News Corp Australia announced the launch of The Growth D_Stillery, a dedicated research and intelligence service offering consumer insights to help marketers navigate brand challenges, anticipate consumer trends and understand where best to invest.
See Also: Behind The Growth D_Stillery: News Corp’s newest research and intelligence offering
The Growth D_Stillery amplifies key research insights on trade marketing platforms, and on News Corp Australia channels. As a part of its release into market, the platform has has launched the Essentials D_Stilled report and a series of vodcasts hosted by News Corp Australia’s Director, Growth Intelligence Centre Dan Krigstein, with guests from all corners of the marketing world.
Released fortnightly, the vodcasts aim “to really humanise these insights,” according to Krigstein, and tackle a new marketing challenge every episode.
Dan Krigstein
First up is Jaimes Leggett, former CEO of M&C Saatchi in Australia and Founding Partner of Today the Brave, who spoke to Mediaweek about why he joined the Vodcast and what he hopes people get out of it.
When asked why he said yes to appearing on The Growth D_Stillery Vodcast, Leggett says that he has “a high degree of affection for the team at News Corp,” calling the team there “world-class.”
“Dan [Krigstein] is a good guy, he and I have had some good, engaging, conversations – not always sitting on the same side of the fence.
“We were having a chat a while ago, and he was talking about some of the things that he was planning to do. We got into some good, proper meaty chat and he said, ‘I’d love to get you on’. I said that I’d be more than happy to. It was a good opportunity.”
With the world making its way (slowly) back to precedented times, marketers aren’t quite out of the woods yet. For Leggett, there is one major hurdle the industry will have to overcome in the foreseeable future: uncertainty.
“The pandemic was a terrible time, but from a brand perspective, where brands thought they would be and what they thought would happen compared to what did happen was quite different. The next couple of years are going to be hugely different again, and not in the same way that the pandemic was. Brands can’t simply do what they’ve done for the last couple of years and expect to continue that momentum to be successful. There’s loads of opportunity, but we have to think a little bit differently and come at it with a slightly different lens – and that brings uncertainty.
“You can’t just sit back and ride out the next couple of years, that’s not an option – you have to be really proactive. It builds a sense of marketing anxiety, but also loads of opportunity.”
In the first episode of the series, Leggett speaks on The Growth D_Stillery Vodcast about what the combination of post-pandemic consumerism and an inflationary climate means for marketers. In short, it requires going out on a limb and taking a risk – something Leggett describes as “massively close to my heart.”
“Our agency is called Today The Brave. We’re in the business of driving growth, so clients come to us because they’re looking for growth – and we fundamentally believe that the way to accelerate growth is through bravery.
“Bravery is not bravado, bravery is considered, it’s deliberate, it’s measured. When we talk about what brave work looks like, brave work is work that the outside world sits up and takes notice of, gets excited by, and talks about.
“From the inside work within a business, it’s work which feels like a no brainer, it feels like the most natural, normal next step. We’ve taken the business and the brand on the journey where the data, the insight, and the research supports the platform and the work. If you can find the balance between those things you’re in a super interesting space.”
With his episode of The Growth D_Stillery Vodcast out into the world, Leggett says that he hopes the episode encourages people to “do braver work,” amongst other key takeaways.
“I want people to recognise just how great the News Corp team are, and the value of The Growth D_Stillery and their group of people. I’ve found them to be world-class, and I think the value that they will bring to brands is next level.
“From a personal perspective, there are two things: the first of which is that I’d love people listening to it to sit up and take notice and actively think about this notion of bravery, and just recognise the importance of it. I believe that those brands that are brave over the next couple of years will get a disproportionate share of the pie and will grow faster than the rest of their categories and competition.
“The second thing for me is that I fundamentally believe in the need for brands to invest in brand as well as performance. I look at the market and I can see the dominance of performance based comms. It’s a hugely powerful way to drive sales, the challenge with that is that it doesn’t add up to anything greater than the sum of the parts. You have to spend money to make money, and the beauty of brand is that each brand campaign layers on and builds off the next, and over time generates longer term growth.”
Episode One: Why fortune will favour the brave in 2023
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Top Image: Jaimes Leggett