MAD//Fest – The Marketeers Festival

The start of this month saw the kick-off of MAD//Fest’s three-day long festival. Full of forward-thinking, fraternising and food, the bean team were in attendance not only to join the hub of innovation but to collect a Wing Award from the Alliance of Independent Agencies. That’s right, Jellybean have scooped up the best B2B campaign for yet another year, this time for our campaign with Philadelphia – ‘You Don’t Know Philly’.

The festival was packed with an array of marketing-minded peers trying to seek out ways to buoy their business and/or clients with cutting edge ideas. The talks this year predominantly focused on ethics, from inclusivity, sustainability, and women empowerment to the impeding ban on third-party data and cookies. A series of progressive speakers added momentum to the festival’s key tenets, with each explaining how the quickly changing landscape can open new avenues of creativity and be a force for good.

Key Themes & Learnings

Third-party Data & Cookies

There are systemic issues with cookies and third-party data across the internet. From 15% of money being lost to fraud in the data eco-system, to data brokering, a lack of transparency, eroding customer trust, and of course, the heavy environmental impact of data.[1] If you haven’t already, it’s time to get ahead of the curve and implement new systems that can waylay the above effects. Stephen Bonner, from the Information Commissioners Office, states that the convoluted ‘manage settings’ button that consumers face the moment they enter a website, should be immediately replaced with a ‘reject all’ button. He also advocates that companies need to refocus on the customer journey, how can you improve their experience and build trust? And lastly, he invites you to work with the ICO to develop a framework that suits your business and is compliant with imminent regulations.

Sustainability

There is an intuitive understanding of the environmental impact of print media. Whereas, due to its intangibility, digital advertising has skirted under the radar. But not anymore. Ben Phillips hosted a panel of experts where it was unveiled that advertising overall is adding an extra 28% to the annual carbon footprint of every single person in the UK.[2] And with ¾ of Gen Z opting for sustainable credentials over brand name, the need to action, deliver and communicate your climate change commitments is vital.[3]

However, the panel discussed that there is a widespread reticence to go on record, with 48% of brands reluctant to convey sustainability attempts due to fears of being accused of greenwashing.[4]  The answer? Be transparent. Whether you’re a brand, agency, or publisher, find out your carbon footprint and seek ways to mitigate it. Whether you can lessen your carbon emissions or not, the knowledge of your impact can help us all to better assess our industry. This collaborative approach provides the foundations for us to better scrutinise supply chains, decarbonise digital advertising and provide an advertising landscape that is fit for the future.

Creativity is king

In a thrilling debate, a panel of experts came together to assess whether the pursuit of digital performance has killed creativity. And, although digital advertising and paid for media are still relevant and key to many campaigns, creativity is king. Digital media has created performance pressure and the need for companies to deliver tangible results that can be measured. Which is all well and good, but with paid advertising and digital media being an every-day method of delivering messaging there is more information to cut through – the key to standing out is your creative.

What does this mean for jellybean?

As ever, we at jellybean strive to stay ahead of the curve so that we can be pioneers for our industry, from the campaigns we create to the ethics at the core of our brand. The teachings from Mad//Fest have served to prove that jellybean remains a trailblazer. Although our website uses cookies, we have always been transparent in how we use cookies and how you can opt out so to remain anonymous when roaming our website. We routinely measure the impact and sustainability of our business, setting out our action plan for what we have done, are doing and plan to do in our ESG report. And lastly, with our roots embedded in creativity and a mantlepiece full of awards, our creative genius is the core of jellybean. Underpinned by our digital capabilities, our creative campaigns stand above the rest to cut through social noise and reach our target. By no means do we think we’re perfect. But by consistently seeking out areas for improvement and ways to better our business, we have stayed ahead of the curve and adapted to disruptive social changes.

[1] Stephen Bonner, “We’re All In The Gutter But Some Of Us Are Reaching For The Stars”, 2022

[2] Purpose Disruptors, Advertised Emissions, 2021

[3] Ben Phillips, “Sustainability & ESG”, 2022

[4] Ben Phillips, “Sustainability + ESG”, 2022