IPG Mediabrands’ UM unveils ‘Full Colour Media’ to transform brand building in the AI era

UM, a global media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, today launched its new ‘Full Colour Media’ proposition and philosophy.

Designed to revolutionise the way marketers build brands in the era of AI, Full Colour Media heralds a new set of behaviours, approach and products across UM’s global network – embedding a growth mindset across the organisation.

“Full Colour Media is an omni-channel planning proposition designed to combat the existential threat of brands becoming bland. It unlocks the power of human ingenuity in a world where AI’s normative mechanic threatens not just a race to the bottom, but a race to the mean. To win the growth race for our valued clients, we need strategies that ‘Stand Against Bland”, said Susan Kingston-Brown, Global Brand President, UM.

“This new approach seamlessly blends the visibility of high-quality media impact with the vibrancy and variability of smaller, deeper touchpoints, creating a spectrum of media stories that come together to drive brand growth,” she continues. “In a world dominated by algorithm-driven media, it challenges outdated linear models and black-and-white decision making to drive real ‘difference’ and brand growth.”

“This is a game-changer for our clients and for the industry as a whole.” said Leigh Terry, CEO IPG Mediabrands APAC. “UM’s Full Colour Media approach is a powerful example of how the network is driving innovation in the media landscape. By embracing the power of data and human ingenuity, UM is not only helping brands stand out in a crowded marketplace but also shaping the future of brand building.”

Full Colour Media is underpinned by a groundbreaking body of custom research on brand building in the era of AI. Conducted with over 10,000 brands and with 5 million data points, the research culminated in a bespoke ‘Brand Patterns’ marketing theory and proprietary model designed to grow and differentiate brands.

UM’s new model and research builds a clear understanding of the complex pattern of a brand, with insights into how to apply ‘difference’ and the ‘variance’ of that brand successfully. This deeper understanding means that AI learns more effectively, driving increased marketing efficacy.

“Before we push the AI button, we must understand exactly what differentiates a brand so that we can train that AI to work effectively for us and make a Stand Against Bland,” continued Kingston-Brown. “Brand patterns enable us to understand the complexity, nuances and uniqueness of every brand – allowing us to elevate and distinguish them within their category – ensuring our communications deliver a disproportionately positive effect in market.”

The Research
Working in partnership with Associate Professor of Marketing, Felipe Thomaz, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UM analysed a data set of over 10,000 brands for the last three years to identify how unique networks of brand associations and behaviours called “Brand Patterns” drive brand growth, defined as Purchase Intent and Consideration.

The research revealed that brands are not purely funnel-based but reflect complex, unique and differentiating patterns. Every brand has its own unique, nuanced pattern informed by the interdependency and synergy of metrics across three essential components, the “3-Vs”:
• Visibility: includes metrics like Attention and Ad Awareness that cultivate distinctiveness and is the main driver of brand growth (64%).
• Vibrancy: measured through metrics like Social Engagement, Buzz and Word of Mouth, delivers brand relevancy through its connection with culture, and is an important accelerator of growth (11%).
• Variability: containing metrics like Positive Impression and Quality, is key for incremental growth (25%) and differentiation by generating customer intrinsic value.

“As we studied whether brands were using suitable go-to-market strategies, we found that even though all brands have unique patterns, they are often using similar media strategies, meaning they are not making the most of their Brand Pattern,” said Thomaz. “According to our research, Brand Patterns can provide marketers with new insights to illuminate their differentiated path to brand growth.”

Brand Pattern Growth Model & Key Insights
Observing unique patterns and driver relationships across the data set, structural modeling approaches were used to create the quantified Brand Pattern Model.

“With the level of computational power and data at our fingertips today, there is a huge opportunity to go beyond simplified marketing models like the funnel,” said Dan Chapman, Global Chief Strategy Officer, UM. “We need a model that embraces complexity and leverages pattern recognition to define and quantify the unique nature of each brand. Our findings demonstrate that understanding and exploiting what makes a brand different is the number one driver of brand growth. This will only become more important as AI become more pervasive.”

The model defines the relationships between the 3-Vs and their subcomponents and predicts key drivers of brand growth, taking into account the multiplier effects between brand metrics. For example, when Vibrancy metrics consistently operated with positivity, Visibility metrics performed exponentially. In many cases, ‘earned’ functioned as a catalyst to drive improved ‘paid’ media effectiveness.

Looking across a variety of geographies, sectors and brands, the research uncovered core insights, including:
• In the US, Visibility is an important driver in the Payments Services and Credit Cards category, but brand growth was more likely to be driven by Variability than the category average. Despite this, most brands in the category use Visibility-led strategies with video being the #1 choice in the media mix.
• For the Alcoholic Drinks sector in Australia, Visibility was crucial for beer brands, pointing to a well-supplied category. However, for other alcohol like wine and spirits, Variability was a far more important driver of growth.
• In Mexico, the Cereals, Chocolate and Biscuits category, key drivers of incremental growth are Vibrancy and Variability. Larger brands showed a far greater contribution to growth from these factors
• For British Health and Beauty brands, Variability drove around 30% of brand growth.

“These deep category insights will allow us to look at any brand in and assess not only its key growth drivers, but also how it interacts within its category and within the wider cultural spectrum. We can then build nuanced solutions to grow that brand and give it more powerful resonance in the world,” says Chapman.

“What I love most about Full Colour Media is that it’s all fueled by our people; their deep understanding of human behaviour and exceptional ability to uncover insights from the data and the world around them. It’s this combination of human intelligence and data that brightens our approach, transforming ordinary interactions into memorable, full-colour experiences,” concludes Kingston-Brown.