tml Partners and Design Bridge and Partners brought together senior B2C marketing leaders at WPP’s Sea Containers HQ, London, to discuss a question every brand working with creators now faces: when you hand over control of execution, what must stay fixed?
This report combines research from WPP Media, System1 and TikTok with the discussion that followed a presentation by Matt Boffey, Chief Strategy Officer, UK & Europe at Design Bridge and Partners. The answer was clear. The brand has to be clearer, not looser.
In the room
We were delighted to welcome marketing leaders from food and drink, health, finance, travel, sport and hospitality. They included:
- Eleanor Barker, Lipton Teas and Infusions
- Gamze Oztoygar, Nelsons
- Michael Benson, Church & Dwight
- Simon Breckon, Mark Anthony Brands
- Noam Buchalter, Kimberly-Clark
- David Brewerton, Monzo
- Camille Beaufils, Audley Travel
- Thais Tsui, Chelsea FC
- Anna Munkenberg Fecci, Catapult
- Barbara Scala, Unilever
- Anna Abbott, Doyle Collection
The discussion was led by Matt Boffey of Design Bridge and Partners, and hosted by Linzi Cameron, Emma Calder, and Sean Tribull of tml Partners.
In the report
The full findings, data and roundtable discussion are in the report. Here’s a summary of what’s inside.
The research
Most purchases are decided before shopping begins. WPP Media and Oxford’s Saïd Business School analysed 1.2 million purchase journeys and found that 84% of purchases go to brands people are already biased towards.
Creators help build those memories. The Creator Effectiveness Playbook found that creator ads delivered 23% more Brand Memory Lift than brand-made ads, across 1,217 paid TikTok ads in eight markets. But that is an average, with wide variation behind it, and one cause is under-branding: people enjoy the content and never register whose it is. Across 129.6 million engagements, engagement rate had effectively no relationship with brand memory.
What we heard on the day
- Creators are one channel. Brand identity connects them. Creator activity alone does not build a brand. Distinctive assets link a poster, a Tube panel, a pack on shelf and a creator’s video into one memory.
- Authenticity is about credibility, not finish. Brand direction should cover what must be recognised and what the brand means, then leave how the content looks and sounds to the creator.
- Consistency is a strategic decision. Marketers usually tire of their assets long before consumers do. Creators can keep an established brand idea fresh without changing it.
- Creator activity needs senior ownership. Several participants said it often sits with junior team members. No brand would give its TV strategy to its most junior marketer.
Three principles for branding creator content
The report sets out how to apply each principle, with examples from brands including McDonald’s, Jet2 and Currys.
- Moments: brand early and brand often.
- Assets: use more than the logo.
- Role: make the brand part of the story, from badged to integrated to integral.
What comes next
The report also looks at why social conversation now shapes the answers AI tools give, and why share of mind and share of model reward the same discipline.
About tml Partners
tml Partners specialises in sourcing marketing and commercial leaders for the world’s most ambitious businesses, providing a fully integrated suite of talent solutions including Executive Search, Leadership Intelligence, Interim and Fractional Talent, and DEI Solutions.
If you’re interested in learning more about how tml Partners can support your hiring needs, please get in touch.
