Remember in the good old days when we used to go to conferences, events and in-person meetings? Invariably, there was that person who was always on their phone. When speaking, you didn’t seem to connect with them since you never seemed to get them to give you their full attention.
Attention. Is there anything more valuable in the world?
This article brings together some of the most creative minds in the industry with decades of experience between them. The co-founders of cleansheet have won Agency of the Year honours eleven times and propelled leading brands forward. In Partnership With connected with these founders, Neil McOstrich and Catherine Frank.
The goal is to discover what is behind the magic of winning campaigns that gained global attention. We All Play For Canada became a rallying cry for Canadian Tire’s brand efforts for years. As proof of its resonance, it continues to motivate Canadians to this day.
Gaining Attention is a Partnership
Working with cleansheet starts with its highly collaborative on-boarding process for all clients. This is fitting since cleansheet is so named because Neil and Catherine believe in this core principle:
There is nothing more inspiring than a clean sheet of paper in the presence of people who believe ideas can change the world.
And they believe that talking to target customers is equally important. When targets for a new brand platform are brought in to the creation process, outcomes are stronger. It’s a partnership with the end result in mind from the very start. It’s how brands can be built optimally to motivate their target and earn their attention.
Left Brain Versus Right Brain
The cleansheet process works so effectively because it’s built on psychology. It’s the simple truth that people evaluate things with their left brain (logically). The challenge is they decide with their right brain (emotionally). Much of the industry’s work puts too much emphasis on what target audiences think exclusively. The challenge is that it doesn’t put as much emphasis on how they feel. So they came up with a process that considered both holistically.
The cleansheet process is about discovering what is authentically true of the brand’s attributes and equities.
From there, creative strategies and brand territories are developed and deconstructed into different stimuli, culminating with a provocative visual and ‘bumper stickers’. A proprietary research technique, called Incubation Sessions, is then used to engage the target audience in helping refine and build the positioning that is most motivating to them. And if it’s more motivating, it’s far more likely to gain their attention as well as inspire them to action.
In some ways, the agency is giving up creative control in order to create a partnership with the target. One that gives the agency and the client richer, more interesting, more insightful input. They’re almost co-creating until they can settle on the most compelling logical brand truth and emotional human truth which can be linked by creating a new, leverageable insight. A new insight and brand platform really accelerate a brand’s success, by appealing to both sides of the brain.
Building a Brand Platform to Attract Attention Long Term
There’s all kinds of benefits. Finding deeper motivations that people have a hard time articulating is one. Going beyond ideas to brand platforms, that are motivating to external and internal audiences is another.
Catherine and Neil have been part of successful campaigns that both took courage to bring to market and stood the test of time. The Oh Hungry for Oh Henry and the We All Play For Canada platforms ran for years.
The We All Play For Canada platform was first created in 2013. One of the spots went viral months after it first aired and has achieved over 252 million unpaid views and 4 million+ shares globally.
Digging for the truth about a brand and its target(s), also helps link it authentically to a cause. Very early on, cleansheet was advising their clients that doing good for things that your target cares about can actually both strengthen your brand and sell products. That’s an incredible start. But what’s often missed are the broader connections you can make with a longer-term platform.
Marketing Platforms, Not Campaigns
A true brand platform can have far-reaching benefits. In cleansheet’s experience, it has even affected how their clients recruit and talk to media, investors and stakeholders. A lot of marketers still think about campaigns… and it’s often something new that you make every year. Brand platforms that stand the test of time must be inclusive (even before this was the buzzword).
It’s about building a good foundation. Then anything is possible.
Like with any house, if it has a good foundation, you can renovate that house and you can change it; you can add things that can optimize it based on new needs, styles, or innovations, but it’s always the same foundation.
Catherine used to work on Coca-Cola and was responsible for the youth market which is their single biggest segment. Youth, as we all know, are very concerned with the current anything – the absolute latest and greatest – so the Coca-Cola team had to be on top of global trends before they even hit North America. But whether it was the constantly evolving elements of fashion or music and design, the marketing team knew that the foundation for the brand was that Coca-Cola refreshes the mind, body and spirit. They never lost that keel, which allowed the brand to sail faster.
The biggest mistake marketers often make is thinking they need to trade off between the newest thing and the brand’s truths (its foundation). You can do both and still win together.
The Opportunity of Optimism
It’s critical that all brand platforms have to convey a sense of optimism. This applies to all the work that Neil and Catherine are the proudest of, the best creative, with the best results, the best client relationships. Invariably, they all have one thing in common: it’s the kind of work that would make you feel proud to support that brand… and you’d be proud to talk about at a cocktail party.
Fifteen years ago when cleansheet was launched, optimism was not popular. After 20 years at some of the most industry-lauded multi-nationals, Neil and Catherine knew that clients and the industry were often rewarding edgy, mean-spirited, salty advertising that was all about irony; it was all about taking the piss out of everything. The trouble was that no one internally wanted to stand next to that work. Not the call centre staff. Not the frontline cashiers. So it languished and faded quickly from the mind of the target.
Key Takeaways to Gain Attention
The key learning here is that there is value in following a proven, creative process that actually brings people together: targets, clients and the agency. That is how cleansheet creates strong brand platforms that accelerate success for their clients. Through partnership and co-creation, you can create work that is more relevant, authentic and engaging. And that is motivating not just externally, but internally, too. And that will not only grab people’s attention, but hold it for the long term. Now that’s worth its weight in gold.
In Partnership With
Neil McOstrich and Catherine Frank are the co-founders of cleansheet, the marketing agency behind many of Canada’s most audacious launches and re-positionings. This innovative firm has been named to Profit Magazine’s Hot 50 New Growth Companies, nominated for Canada’s 10 Most Admired Companies, shortlisted to Strategy’s Agency of the Year and celebrated as one of the Top 10 Design Agencies in Canada. They are the creators of powerful social media content and the worldwide viral phenomenon “Wheels” with over 252 million unpaid views created for their Canadian Tire We All Play For Canada campaign.
Tim Bishop, CM is a multi-disciplined executive with a proven record of optimizing strategic efforts to expand the influence of leading organizations, such as the Canadian Marketing Association, Cineplex Entertainment, Lavalife.com, IMI International and Northstar Research Partners. In Partnership With is his latest focus to curate Canadian marketing experts to celebrate the power of strategic partnerships in a perspective-based content series.