- Adam, Gary, welcome.
Gary, to you first.
Why is branding so important
when particularly, marketing budgets
are at risk all being cut?
- Yeah, as CMO, US hygiene at record.
I mean, I can't say enough about branding.
I'm a brand guy at heart and it's who I am
and you need to build brands.
I mean, Lysol is one of our top brands
is the number one disinfection brand
in the US and you only get to be that
because you've built brand mental availability
in the disinfection space.
Over time, throughout COVID, we invested in the brand
now we're continuing to invest in the brand.
It's how people simplify their decision making
and brands are important and matter for that reason.
- Yeah, I couldn't agree more with what Gary said.
And you know, at Google, you know, we see this trade off
we see this happen with marketers at times, you know
whether it was, you know, certainly during the pandemic
or other times where things are a bit more uncertain
where the brand
the brand budget is the first one that goes
and I think it was the BCG work that really brought it
to light and all of the statistics
that supports what actually happens
when that investment goes away.
The thing that struck me the most
and I think it was really interesting, was that there was
about a point of share loss that comes with that.
And for every dollar you didn't invest
you were going to need to invest a 1.85 to get it back.
And to me, that just brought it home.
And we've talked with a lot of partners about this
especially when they're trying to weigh that decision of
you know, do we just cut brand and really invest
in lower funnel tactics or how far do we cut back overall?
- Yeah, and I'd absolutely just build on that.
If I may, like, I'd also say I've seen brands that aren't
the strongest in a category that I've had as well
where when you divest from the brand building exactly
at that point, you just see the drop off
you see the immediacy within the first quarter
of not spending and the impact on your sales and
and that just takes longer to get back.
- So give me some examples.
Adam, what are some best branding practices
that you're seeing at the moment?
- Yeah, I mean, look, I'll point
to something that's perhaps not a branding practice.
I'll refer to my friend here to talk about the
the best branding practices, just the importance
of measurement, full stop, and really being integrated
with your measurement across your business.
I think the best in class example right now
that we continue to advocate
and work with our partners for are around learning agendas
and the importance of experimentation.
You know, so many times the
the data that we get back on marketing
if we're relying on our MMMs is dated and it's not current.
And experimentation gives us that view
into what's happening now.
And consumers are nimble, media continues to change and
as a result of that, having a healthy and robust appetite
for experimentation and literally this is one
of those things where it's almost the more
the better you start to see that it's like 15
or more experiments are really what gets you
to the best results and the most impacts.
So best in class work
for us really is about measuring effectively
and thinking about the importance of experimentation.
- I mean, for me it's about
the marriage of, data's our friend
and we need all the measurement in the world
and we need all the data to drive insights as well.
You need the product efficacy
from a consumer packaged goods standpoint
that you're delivering in the world
and you need to know why you're existing
in the world and product plus your purpose in the world.
If I think about Lysol and breaking the chain
of infection as our higher order purpose
we only do that through the benefit of our product.
Now, how we tell our stories, how we connect
with the right audiences and consumers, leveraging data
and tech is our friend to do that
and get that message out in the world.
- There are lots of challenges at the moment
but you are a branding guy, you're super excited.
So I imagine there's lots you're looking forward
to in the future.
- Yeah
You know, for me,
I am really excited about what all the changes
in marketing mean in terms of org design.
I've recently set up a new org design where I'm breaking
down our own silos to better connect
with people in the world
so that the full funnel media investment strategies
whether it's upper funnel
which is so critical to building brands health
for the long term or performance driven marketing
and retail media are connected.
And that we're thinking about the investment strategy
across the funnel and that's exciting
because we're breaking down silos to deliver better ROI
and deliver better brand experiences for our consumers.
- Yeah, I think one of the things
that we're particularly excited
about right now is just the impact that, you know
I'm sure down the road here everyone's talking about,
something in common is AI.
And I think
that the role that predictive AI is already playing
in terms of really helping our partners generate results.
Right now over 80% of our partners
on Google are using some form of predictive AI
and it's truly making a difference in terms of outcomes.
And then there's the generative side.
You know, as people continue to take
in content in so many different places
how do we utilize generative AI responsibly
in order to deliver those outcomes as well
and ensure we have great messages to deliver
to consumers regardless of where they are.
- Adam, Gary, really insightful and absolute pleasure.
Thank you so much. - Thank you.