Reflections from MAD//Fest North
Saskia Jury shares her musings from Madfest//North and why emotion, insight and craft are still a winning formula
"Why" data?
A couple of weeks on from MAD//North and I’ve finally recovered from the chaos. With a bit of distance, I’ve been reflecting on what really stood out.
One moment in particular has stayed with me. Very Group’s CMO, Jessica Myers, said something that hit a nerve:
“There are competitors out there that know your customer better than you do… the brands that are winning aren’t just reacting to data – they’re operating on it.”
In my experience, a data led approach to marketing operations is absolutely essential to winning. Yet too often it feels daunting, time consuming, or simply too complex. Brands get stuck on either side of the sweet spot:
intimidated by the investment, time and change required, or
overwhelmed and list in the "data sauce"
Using data effectively demands commitment, planning, and a constant return to the why. When we get this right with clients, it creates momentum and (most importantly) results.
That’s why the final talk of the festival, from System1, Nest Pensions and Aardman really impressed me.
Nest: Starting with the right “Why”
Nest approached their campaign brief with a clear customer insight and a strong understanding of their category. Pensions should be an emotionally rich space - they’re about security, future and family. Yet most providers struggle to welcome customers in. People disengage, or worse, forget the brand and the category entirely.
With only 3% brand awareness, Nest saw their opportunity: build an emotion led campaign that could cut through category apathy.
System1’s long-term brand effectiveness insights helped shape the creative direction:
Ads that score highly on emotion deliver stronger brand effects
They also deliver stronger business results
But advertising overall is becoming less emotional - and less effective at building brands
None of this surprised us. It mirrors what we uncovered in our own Value of Emotion whitepaper: emotional experiences consistently drive better brand and business outcomes. You can view the whitepaper here.
Enter Aardman: masters of emotional craft
This is where our brilliant client Aardman came in. They’re proud owners of System1’s “most emotional advertising” accolade — not by accident, but because characters consistently drive emotional response, and Aardman are world-class character creators.
The partnership between Aardman, Nest and System1 blended data, insight and creative craft to deliver a campaign that scored 1.5 stars above the pension category average, placing it in the top 15% of UK ads. The first pilot campaign delivered hugely encouraging early results.
Craft + Insight + Emotion: proof in practice
Our own partnership with Aardman is another example of what happens when insight and emotional craft come together. By weaving Aardman’s signature “thumbyness” and “wonk” into their website experience - carefully codesigned throughout the project - we saw significantly higher engagement throughout their B2B purchase journey, including service page views and form submissions.
If you’d like to find out more about this work or have a relevant business challenge, drop us a line here.
