Michael Friedberg knows what it takes to win NZ Marketing Awards – he’s Convenor of Judges.
Michael Friedberg had fun judging the YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2024. There were some fantastic entries and the standard was high.
In some cases it was hard to choose who won the trophy, and a few categories saw highly commended awards. But what makes a winner? The Convenor of Judges and CEO of SwayTech has two words of advice: marketing mindset.
“Organisations with a marketing mindset are more likely to have winning entries and deliver business outcomes or move the dial and deliver big results,” he says.
Friedberg says this idea is important because it allows businesses to unleash the full power of marketing.
What is a marketing mindset?
“It’s a cultural and behavioural shift to integrate marketing principles and customer centricity throughout the entire business,” he explains.
“Three things stood out for me across excellence and individual awards,” says Friedberg.
The power of brand
“Firstly, winners demonstrated to stakeholders the power of brand – of playing the long game and how that unlocks new revenue streams.”
In many cases, Friedberg notes, this came in the form of shifting marketing from being product led to being brand led.
“They understood that the brand was what set them apart from competition in the market, and then the organisation’s marketing mindset meant investment was possible and risks could be taken – they had trust.
On top of this, there was a data-driven approach, meaning top entries were able to show impact and outcomes.
Creative approach
“The second thing is how they took time to understand what insights are needed to take a creative approach to marketing. And they could show results of how creativity cuts through. Creativity really does provides 10 times return on marketing spend.”
That sounds like a bold claim, but Friedberg explains: “Right now, we are bombarded everywhere – on email, on our social feeds. And so we turn off.
“So how do you cut through? The entries where they took the time to understand the audience and the insight, and then spend the time and money to think about it creatively – what’s the message, the story, the medium to show up in – it’s sticky, and therefore the marketing message lands and the results begin to flow. And that’s that 10 times return.”
The marketing mindset means they are already in tune with customers, so connecting and engaging becomes easier. And trust from the business allows marketers to take risks with campaigns that resonate deeply with
the audience and drive significant ROI.
“I think, now more than ever, spending money on creative will reduce the cost of the campaign where you’re trying to optimise it because it’s not performing.
“It was really evident in the awards that the winners had taken the time, they’ve got the trust of the business and they used their agencies or resources to apply that creative. And they saw the results.”
Always ready to adapt
The third item on Friedberg’s list is being agile – “That’s with a little ‘a’!”
“A lot of entries talked about shifts in the market – it’s a much more challenging market right now. So you need to be more clever.
“A business with a marketing mindset is always ready to pivot. This means quick decision-making, iterative testing and a willingness to adapt strategies based on real-time feedback and market changes, keeping the company ahead of the competition.
“Key to this is working with everyone across the business as one team on the same mission. Marketers who understand this and leadership teams who see it accelerate value and outcomes – and enjoy the benefits.”
Enter the YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2025:
What does a marketing mindset look like?
- Buy-in from the top. The leadership team or CEO understands the value of marketing or at least sees its potential and views it as an investment, not a cost.
- Purpose and vision. Marketers who inspire and mobilise teams with a compelling customer-focused vision that aligns with customer needs and business strategy.
- A culture of collaboration. Marketers who encourage (and sometimes demand) cross-team collaboration to share insights and align strategies.
How do you achieve customer centricity?
The three elements Friedberg talks about are important in terms of how the organisation operates, but putting the customer at the heart of the process is key. How do you do it?
- Shift focus from being product or service led to being customer and marketing led.
- Use customer insights and data to inform business decision making and priorities.
- Establish a robust feedback mechanism to regularly collect input from customers throughout their lifecycle.
- Act on customer feedback to continuously improve products, services and customer/brand experiences.
- Stay ahead of changing behaviours, trends, emerging tech, new competitors – these drive new ideas that, when executed, change the game.
Read more about previous NZ Marketing Awards winners here.
This story was published in NZ Marketing magazine issue 80, September-October 2024. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year delivered for just $50 if you autorenew. Essential marketing intelligence. Don’t miss it.
