WEALTH April 5, 2026 0 Comments

Why The “Newest Old Rules” of Marketing Could Be Your Ultimate Edge in a World Where Everyone’s Chasing Trends

For the past ten years, the marketing world has been on a wild goose chase, chasing an illusion that—let’s be honest—has left more brands stuck in digital quicksand than soaring to success. I mean, who hasn’t been dazzled by the shiny promise of perfect attribution and ultra-targeted ads, only to realize billions poured into this rush often just fuel a fleeting click rather than lasting loyalty? It’s like betting on a lottery where the odds are never really in your favor. But here’s the kicker: while some heavy hitters like Procter & Gamble and Uber have pulled back substantial sums from digital spends that didn’t deliver, most marketers are still knee-deep in the fog, gathering meaningless data trinkets like magpies obsessed with shiny things. Enter “The Creative Dividend,” a game-changing report from Effie and System1 that pulls back the curtain on what truly moves the needle—hint: it’s not just throwing money at ads that bore people to tears. The magic lies in creativity that entertains, stirs emotions, and sticks around long enough to build real brand muscle. Ready to rethink what effective marketing really means? LEARN MORE

For the last decade, the marketing industry has been chasing a ghost, writes Chris Cashen.

Seduced by the promise of perfect attribution and granular targeting, we’ve poured billions into a digital ecosystem that rewards short-term clicks over long-term value.

The result? A crisis of effectiveness.

Advertising has become forgettable, brands have become interchangeable, and profit growth has become a lottery.

Some have already pulled back on their digital commitments. Procter & Gamble famously cut €200m from digital ad spend after discovering that it had little impact on business outcomes.

The same is true for Uber, cutting €120m after finding it didn’t change app install levels. Quite simply, our use of digital for the biggest spenders was inefficient and measurement became a thorny issue.

So while we continually collect trinkets with little inherent value, like insatiable magpies, there comes a solution.

A new report from Effie and System1, The Creative Dividend, contains data to prove what many have instinctively known.

We’ve lost our way, and this ghost we chased was no prophet. What we do is fundamentally broken.

By analysing over 1,200 campaigns, the report dismantles the short-termist mindset and offers a new set of rules for building brands that last.

It’s a long road around to find out what’s always been true. The most successful advertising doesn’t persuade; it entertains.

The report introduces the Creativity Stack as a hierarchy of creative levers. While distinctiveness (being recognisable) and consistency (repetition) are vital, the true drivers of profit are emotion and showmanship.

Emotionally resonant and entertaining ads are more memorable and build stronger brand equity.

Dull, rational, product-led advertising is often a waste of money. In short, we need to stop selling so overtly and begin entertaining.

Media spend alone does not guarantee results. Its effectiveness is multiplied, or divided, by the quality of the creative.

The report introduces the Creative Dividend (CD), a metric that compares a campaign’s creative quality with its competitors.

A high CD means your media budget works harder, turning every euro spent into greater market impact.

A low CD means you’re effectively burning cash. The British advertising tycoon David Ogilvy said, “you cannot bore people into buying your product”, and that is as true now as when it was published in 1963.

The report’s most critical finding is a new super-metric, Excess Share of Creativity (ESOC). It’s calculated by multiplying your CD by your media spend.

This single number represents your brand’s total creative impact in the market and is the most reliable predictor of market share and profit growth.

Campaigns with the highest ESOC are seven times more likely to report profit growth than those with the lowest.

If you’re not planning to maximise ESOC, you’re not planning for growth.

If your communications aren’t likely to stimulate growth, you’re another noisy actor in an already deafening play.

The report’s Advertising Planning Matrix is a brutally honest diagnostic tool.

By plotting your creative quality against your media support, you can see where you really stand.

Some will leverage their high-quality creative with high media support to reach the promised land.

Others will remain invisible and ineffective by busily putting out low-grade creative, with low media support.

Marketers get bored with their own ideas far too quickly. The report proves that consistency — using the same brand assets, characters and emotional territory year after year — is the key to compounding returns.

It takes time for memory structures to form in consumers’ minds.

Refreshing an existing, successful idea is always more effective than starting from scratch with a new one.

We have seen many reports that outline this, not least the release of The Sustain/Ability Gain from Ad Net Zero, Havas Media and WPP Media last year, which showed, with Irish data, how impactful data can be with less.

The Guinness Christmas ad, used again last year, has been over two decades on air, and Barry’s Tea had a radio ad first broadcast in 1994 re-run on the Irish airwaves at Christmas 2025.

The best ads don’t wear out, and we can maximise their impact with high media support.

The CD isn’t just another report; it’s a manifesto for a new era of marketing effectiveness.