A Question of Trust
Our industry recently descended on Cannes Lions. The creative festival, the awards, the networking opportunities. I have never been, so of course I am tinged with jealousy.
Vista doesn’t tend to enter industry awards. It’s a messy story of creating an absolutely stunning campaign and being pipped to the post for Gold by the woman who had been handing out the other awards all night. Never let it be said I’m not a belligerent sore loser, but our campaign was better.
Vista is an agency delivering award winning work and doing precisely what the agencies at Cannes claim we must all start doing:- Delivering communications that positively impact business objectives.
Unfortunately, our industry tends to award projects or campaigns with a start and a finish, that create ‘buzz’, leverage cultural trends and grab headlines. With a defined timeline, most of the business results can only really be viewed in silo. So, judges revert to rewarding reach figures, creativity, engagement and sales spikes. We don't dish out awards for teams who work tirelessly with the same client over years, trusting and respecting each other, sharing a vision, building brands together, building awareness and delivering proven growth in market share. In my opinion, this is the business end, where the magic
lies.
Our Graco client has provided us with this comment about their experience working with Vista, and this feels like a Gold award to me:
“We work as an integrated team with Vista, closely aligning on strategy, with an open and honest approach, daily interaction and absolute trust that we are all pulling towards the same goals. We are under no illusion of the part Vista has played in our success over the last five years”
Luisa Rollins-Svenson, Consumer and Trade Marketing Manager, Graco UK
Not for an award, but because I am immensely proud, here is an abridged story of journey together.
*****
In 2011, I used Graco as the placeholder in my ‘client acquisition business plan’ as a target retained client in our first year of operation. It took 8 years and a change of ownership for them to get the brief over to us.
It was the right size of business for Vista: a global operation; roughly £30m turnover; a recognised portfolio of trusted products that I had purchased for my own children. It was a brand I knew, and one I knew I could help do better.
In the interim period between the lofty Vista business target and receiving the brief, Graco had a serious decline in the UK. Once a real contender, it was now selling volume through mass market online retail and was in the new ownership of an ambitious business.
Hardly manifestation, but a smiled when I received the call, and who doesn’t love championing the underdog. I hadn’t courted them, but our hard work in raising our profile in the industry and with the support and endorsement from another client within the same sector, the brief landed at our door.
We felt the budget and the brief didn’t do this once big player justice. Not that the team was wrong, more that they had been handed a small opportunity to market a portfolio where the emphasis was to compete at lower prices. We felt the brand deserved investment and a more competitive direction in the UK. So, we didn’t answer the brief per se. Instead, we showed them what they needed us to do.
This honesty opened a door with a team who were as ambitious as we were. Although we didn’t know this, we hadn’t met them. No chemistry meeting, until after the proposal. We matched their energy and bold attitude so when we met, we hit it off instantly. It was incredibly rewarding to hear our proposal had been a ‘page turner’.
We ignited new social media channels and advocates, we gave the brand direction, an ownable voice and have always pursued every opportunity for partnerships and media coverage. We have created lasting connections and campaigns that have driven meaning back into the heart of the brand and brought families towards it.
Where they met their match in ambition, our client has rewarded us with financial growth, complete trust, honesty and a willingness to try new things. We track our monthly and year on year results with precision and the client keeps a very close eye on our performance. The challenge of this scrutiny is motivating, as we continually learn and reapply.
Five years in and we have grown together. For years we have joked that the industry had better watch out, and this year we have been rewarded with stand-out growth in market share. The industry can hardly not have noticed. And collectively, we feel like we’ve only just got started.
