To unlock exponential growth for us and for our clients, we need to be agile and focused

Ian Millner of Iris and Cheil Connec+ delineates the holistic marketing strategy the network utilizes for exponential growth

кем India Fizer , AdForum

Iris Worldwide
Полный комплекс услуг
London, United Kingdom
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Cheil Connec+
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New York, United States
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Ian Millner
Chair & Co-Founder Iris Worldwide
 

In these uncertain times, adaptability and the ability to connect with consumers is more important than ever. Iris Co-Founder and Chair and Cheil Connec+ CEO, Ian Millner, gives insight on their integrated approach of marrying data, creativity, technology and purpose for sustainable growth.

 

When searching for growth opportunities, how do you determine what is the right fit for the agency?

I think that to be a good, healthy and competitive agency you have to protect your business from anything that might damage the levels of trust, pride and camaraderie in your people, so we’re very selective when it comes to engaging with new clients.

More and more, it’s important for us to have shared values with our client partners – our mission is to excite progress, for our people, our clients and the wider world. We think very hard about working with clients who appear to act against this, and who aren’t up for being positively challenged.

Specifically, we ask all our clients to be ‘climate positive’ – in the way they operate in their business, and in the way we work together as partner companies.

We’ve always thought of ourselves as a challenger in the industry. We were the first truly integrated agency, we talked about ‘media anything idea everything’ before anyone else, and we developed our philosophy on participation brands about a decade ahead of people being truly ready to hear it. We’ve tried to question, challenge and innovate at every opportunity. Therefore, we look for ambitious clients with the same challenger mentality, actively seeking out businesses who are ‘no 2’ in their category.

 

What does exponential growth look like for your agency? For example, project work vs AOR pitches, geographic, interdisciplinary, etc. 

To unlock exponential growth for us and for our clients, we need to be more agile and focused, not just across the Iris network, but across our extended network of agencies.

We’re constantly adapting to changes in client needs: for example, during the pandemic we saw huge growth in CRM and one-to-one communications because of changing media consumption, and right now, we’re seeing huge growth in performance and data driven marketing because clients are looking to drive growth and see immediate results.

Last year we launched Cheil Connec+ - a network-wide proposition spanning 53 offices and more than 6,500 experts worldwide. It enables clients to bring together specialists from across six Cheil network agencies (including Iris), to build bespoke cross-discipline teams focused on delivering high-performing, innovative solutions.

As more clients seek immediate impact and higher levels of performance from their agency partners, we have created a way for clients to work with us seamlessly across time zones and disciplines that brings together strategy, creativity, innovation, technology, data, retail, CRM, pricing, and performance marketing. 

 

What are the key challenges and / or opportunities for brands in today’s marketing economy?

We’re living in uncertain times, and 2023 may not be plain sailing for anyone trying to grow a brand. But history tells us that often it’s in these challenging times that certain brands don’t just perform, they outperform.

Our own recently published research report, ‘The Outperformers’ produced in partnership with Contagious, showed that the most successful brands are those with a stable core with fast tactical reflexes, and a holistic approach to marketing that is capable of extracting growth from increasingly complex environments. This kind of marketing takes creativity and collaboration, an understanding of data and an appreciation of purpose. And as the era of cheap capital has come to an end, and rising inflation threatens consumer spending power, it’s going to become more vital than ever.

Those marketers who shift their focus away from solely traditional recessionary tactics and learn instead from the ‘outperformers' of today’s digitized, consumer-centric world will be better placed to spot opportunities, bring new initiatives and ideas to life, and retain that all-important competitive edge.

We’ll be exploring this subject more at our panel event in London on the 23rd February and at SXSW in March. 

It’s also important to add that these days, consumers respond best to participation brands, that are part of the ebb and flow of consumer lives, and able to play in culture. 

We find that a lot of brands want to be ‘social first’ without knowing what that means. It’s imperative for every brand to understand the lives and experiences of consumers, the role of technology, and identify any barriers to participation.

 

Given the uncertainty of the past couple of years, are there any trend predictions you have about where the ad and media industries are headed?

The agencies that will thrive in the coming years are the ones which can connect creativity with data, media, and technology. The old agency models are blending, and the more agile and fluid agencies can be about navigating that, the better placed they’ll be to succeed.

Agencies need to be more innovative regarding pricing models. There will be less emphasis on time, and more on value and results – as well as shared goals and rewards.

Companies will struggle to retain talent as people continue to question their lifestyles, attitudes to work, health and wellbeing. Businesses that are too rigid will lose this war. 

From a values perspective, the industry is going to face increased scrutiny about its own role in driving consumer habits and behaviors, and there’ll be a move towards using influence positively (with initiatives like advertised emissions, HFSS and the Green Code).