Ipsos in the hotseat

Ipsos in Australia brought clients, creators and strategists together for Uncommon Sense, a fast-paced evening designed to answer a simple question with big consequences: how do we make creativity work harder in a fragmented, category-conforming world?

After a punchy provocation from our Creative Excellence leads, Shaun Dix and Daren Poole, a panel featuring effectiveness author James Hurman, YouTube’s Caroline Oates and Uber’s Andy Morley unpacked what really drives effectiveness—and what to change going forward.

Part 1: Provocation

We challenged the industry’s culture of conformity—those familiar category tropes audiences have learned to ignore—and introduced our Misfits Mindset, a framework that shows why creative originality, difference and entertainment must sit alongside empathy and believability. When creativity and empathy are both high, outcomes jump; on social, the lift is even greater. 

We also previewed new AI-enabled analysis of 15,000 ads mapping storytelling tactics. Humour consistently catalyses memory, illogical or unexpected turns (think magic realism, misdirection) add another boost, and combining the two drives outsized gains in encoding. 

We also highlighted the critical importance of context: linear and online video reward entertainment and craft, social feeds favours empathy, and short-form sits between. We closed with a pragmatic view on creators: used well, they deliver credible, relevant persuasion and can scale asset production; used indiscriminately, they bloat spend without building brands.

Part 2: Panel discussion

Hurman argued many campaigns underperform because we apply an outdated sales model to advertising strategy. Advertising has two distinct jobs: predispose future buyers emotionally and guide in‑market buyers rationally. Forcing one asset to do both usually delivers muddled work that does neither well. The fix is simple and practical—build a system of assets: big, attention-earning ideas to create future demand, plus targeted activations to convert today’s demand.

Oates agreed marketers understand this split, but quarterly pressures inside large organisations squeeze brand budgets. Her counsel: use evidence-based guardrails like YouTube’s ABCDs—hook attention, brand early and naturally, create emotional connection, and give clear direction—as a shared language to improve assets without straightjacketing creativity. She noted the best work now earns time: top-performing YouTube ads often run longer than a minute because compelling stories are watched by choice.
Morley highlighted the operational trap: as channels proliferate, teams “fill boxes,” fragmenting budgets and starving the non‑working investment that makes work distinctive. His mantra is culture first—protect the big swings that create salience—and ruthlessly kill box‑ticking executions that won’t be noticed.

Together they drew a line between effectiveness and efficiency. Efficiency is about converting current demand; effectiveness is the long‑term value created by brand building. Swap those lenses and you limit growth. On creators, the panel cautioned against overweighting influencer spend at the expense of broad-reach storytelling. Creators are a powerful tool—especially for lower‑funnel persuasion and asset volume—but they are not the strategy. Finally, the “our category is different” reflex doesn’t hold up: fundamentals are human, and you compete with all content for mindshare. Benchmark against the world’s best, not your immediate peers.

Five implications for ad makers

1. Design for two jobs from the outset and build the right assets for each.
2. Invest in big, emotional ideas that earn attention, then integrate branding quickly and organically.
3. Use humour and the unexpected to be remembered, but with human judgment.
4. Tailor creative to the context and let creators do what they’re best at—credible, scalable, lower‑funnel persuasion—while your brand ideas set the broader narrative.
5. Rebalance budgets away from fragmentation, and de‑risk bigger creative bets with modern research and AI diagnostics rather than defaulting to safe sameness.

Call to action

If you’d like to hear more about the Misfits Mindset, our Short Form Social Misfits learning, or a working session to apply these findings to your brand and platforms, the Ipsos Creative Excellence team can help. Get in touch below to make your next campaign uncommonly effective.