To secure buy-in for a brand overhaul without supporting data, CMO Brent Smart used emotionally resonant storytelling. He presented leadership with customer drawings depicting Telstra as a 'bully' and 'monopoly man,' which was far more powerful than any brand tracking chart.
Beyond improving the product or CX, brands can boost NPS by creating advertising that makes employees proud. Emotionally connected staff who are proud to represent the brand provide better customer service overnight, directly impacting customer satisfaction scores.
To escape the tired 'happy families' home insurance trope, NRMA built a campaign around protecting koala habitats. This surprising, emotional angle acted as a magnet, drawing people in with a story they cared about, rather than simply mirroring their lives, leading to massive cut-through.
Market mix modeling revealed that during the intense Black Friday to Christmas retail period, 50% of sales were driven by brand-building work run four or more months prior. This proves long-term brand investment is crucial for converting demand during short-term sales events.
When a character's walk from a Telstra ad went viral on TikTok, the brand avoided a heavy-handed takeover. Instead, they celebrated the fan community by editing user-generated videos into a TV ad and airing it in a premium slot. This amplified the organic trend without killing its authenticity.
To get best-in-class creativity without sacrificing the ability to handle volume, Telstra hired a top independent agency to lead creatively. They then built 'scaffolding' around them, using a large network agency for strategy and delivery and integrating a media agency to handle scale.
Telstra's principle is 'always crafted with the human hand.' They use painstaking techniques like paper craft for ads. This signals a premium, caring brand, with customers explicitly linking the 'handcrafted and special' feel of posters to an assumption that their service must also be good.
To elevate the entire customer experience, Telstra's marketing team rates every creative output on a 1-10 scale quarterly. This system, marked by internal teams and an external CCO, ensures a high standard across the 'long tail' of marketing that customers see daily, not just hero campaigns.
Former agency creative turned CMO Brent Smart argues a CMO's primary function is to protect great creative ideas from being killed by the corporation. This involves creating the right conditions and building an internal movement where stakeholders actively want great work, not just tolerate it.