There’s a common trap in communications…
As soon as a brief lands, the default is often to jump straight to activity and channels.
It’s an exciting albeit safe space; activity is immediate, easier to measure, and therefore justifiable.
Except, is it justifiable, really?
The pitfall is that by choosing activity before we’re clear on the outcome, we create communications without creating change.
For us, the campaigns that really work come down to one thing: understanding people. This is where outcome-led communications can make a measurable difference.
Here’s a crude example…
A brand wants to recruit a younger audience.
Cut to – TikTok.
Perhaps a well-known influencer.
“Buy now” messages.
Reporting follows a few weeks, if not days, later. Reach, impressions and engagement – tick.
Of course, there is instinctive and experienced rationale behind fast-tracked thinking. We know social media and influencer marketing are critical spaces to play. But it needs nuance and layers.
By shortcutting to outputs, communications become transactional and flattened – and with it, inevitably forgettable.
Be clear on the outcome before choosing the activity
We look for the tension. The deeper insight into how people will truly discover, trust and act with brands. We unpick of the environmental and cultural complexity we see in today’s rapidly changing world which shapes how audiences behave on and offline.
The reality is we should not, and cannot, be defined by channels or outputs.
Our strategic approach changes what people think, feel and do. By mastering People Relations – built on real human understanding without assumptions or surface level data – we move beyond visibility to bring brands to life in full colour.
We start at the end.
Awareness and visibility. Trust, credibility and reputation. Meaningful connection. Behaviour change. Commercial contribution.
Then we apply wild creativity. The colour and texture that will move hearts and minds.
This year alone, we have devised brand-owned gameshow experiences, reimagined pancake day as a cult-coffee drop, and defined what ‘modern comfort’ means in the age of renewable heating.
People Relations is a working method, not a statement. For us, it’s the only way to measure what we changed, not what we delivered.
Kaylie Finn
Strategy & Creative Director, Wild Card