Andrew Holt set to challenge marketing’s ‘short game’ focus with new consultancy
Former VCCP and Clemenger BBDO exec, Andrew Holt, has announced his new marketing consultancy called The Whole Picture.
The new consultancy was born out of Holt’s desire to challenge the manner in which the industry has become increasingly tactical and communication-centric, with marketing myopia too often seeing brand looked at as a cost rather than a fundamental aspect of business growth.
Andrew Holt
Speaking with Mumbrella, Holt said he wants to use The Whole Picture to challenge the “perception that we play a short game, in our marketing in Australia”.
“I think COVID has changed that to some extent, there has been a recognition that investing for the long term, having a strong brand, a clear proposition in the market, an emotional connection helps you endure in tough times.”
Holt plans to use the knowledge he has gained from over 20 years working at some of the world’s biggest creative agencies to unlock the untapped potential of many brands around Australia.
“Brand is the most powerful commercial tool available to any business and yet many are failing to leverage the full potential of it,” he said.
“Too often, brand is seen as a cost rather than a fundamental driver of business growth and as marketing continues to get more complex and marketers are pulled in many directions, it is all too easy for the short-term agenda or the novelty of the new to distract from building the brand in a 360-degree holistic way.”
He points to the NRMA as one example of the importance of investing heavily in brand and its core proposition.
“NRMA redoubling down on ‘Help’ has leant into the strength of the brand. NRMA have done a brilliant job of going back to the core proposition around Help,” he told Mumbrella.
“A lot of brands don’t have that clarity. In the short term, we might see a return to longer-term thinking.”
The Whole Picture logo
As part of developing The Whole Picture, Holt has created a Whole Brand Scorecard and Whole Thinking Process to focus a strategic spotlight on business and brand challenges across four distinct perspectives.
The Whole Picture is already working with Adelaide-headquartered BusTech Group, a company that is helping Australia’s transition to zero-emission mass transit.
Brabham Automotive, the manufacturer of Australia’s first supercar, is also working with the consultancy.
BusTech Group executive chairman, Christian Reynolds, said: The Whole Picture is helping his company unlock brand value “by consolidating our bus brand portfolio and pivoting the business to become an enabler of next generation connected transit solutions – creating growth by providing sustainable environmental and economic change for all Australians.”
Holt added that while some brands, like the aforementioned NRMA and others like Aldi and Xero are embracing “whole brand thinking”, too many others “are leaving value on the table by not seeing the big picture.
Got a tip?
Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
Linkedin
topics
Andrew Holt
Brabham Automotive
BusTech Group
Christian Reynolds
Clemenger BBDO
NRMA
The Whole Picture
VCCP
Whole Brand Scorecard
Whole Thinking Process
