New York Office

Sao Paulo Office

Shanghai Office

Germany Office

Netherlands Office

Switzerland Office

France

Singapore Office

Consulting

Full Service

System1 Group is comprised of System1 Agency and System1 Research, and its mission is to produce and predict 5-Star Marketing; marketing that guarantees profitable growth for its clients.

System1 Research, formerly BrainJuicer, is System1 Group’s research arm and is an international award-winning business, serving clients in the world’s top consumer brands. System1 Research applies principles of behavioral science to test and predict the success of marketing including, innovation, packaging, advertising, brand health and shopper activation. System1 Research analyzes innovations, packs and adverts for their effectiveness, and awards them with an Emotion-into-Action™ score -- a measure of their ability to impact long-term brand growth potential. System1 Research also produces the FeelMore50™, an annual ranking of the world’s 50 best TV and digital ads ranked for their emotional impact and ability to create major, long term business effects.

Launched just a year ago, System1 Agency creates advertising that seduces rather than persuades - the more people feel, the more they buy. System1 Agency maintains a network of creatives worldwide, rather than an in-house creative team.  Their ‘Hollywood’ model means multiple, independent creatives are briefed; their ideas are quantitatively pretested using the Group’s System1 Ad Test with 100s of consumers, and only ideas strong enough to guarantee profitable growth are presented to the client. The agency charges one fixed fee and keeps iterating until an advert with profitable growth potential is achieved. 


System1 Group

United States of America

United Kingdom

China

Germany

Brazil

Singapore

Switzerland

Netherlands

System1 Group (formerly BrainJuicer) is comprised of System1 Agency and System1 Research, and its mission is to produce and predict 5-Star Marketing.

Advertising Communication Strategy Research

Advertising Concept Testing

Editor’s Note: This post is part of our Big Ideas series, a column highlighting the innovative thinking and thought leadership at IIeX events around the world. Bianca Pryor will be speaking at <a href="https://iiex-na.insightinnovation.org/">IIeX North America</a> (June 11-13 in Atlanta). If you liked this article, you’ll LOVE IIeX North America. <a href="https://iiex-na.insightinnovation.org/">Click here to learn more.</a>
Mosquito – literally, “little fly” in Spanish. Fingerspitzengefühl – a German term meaning “fingertips feeling.” Two loanwords we use in the English language that undisputedly describe them – well, perfectly. And, who doesn’t love that feeling when you land that perfect word to match a simulated motion, feeling or thought?  The match-up is something deeply satisfying because you get instant gratification (and a bigger vocabulary).
I recently had one of these satisfying moments after reading Ron Lenois’ <a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/experience-design/creative-storytelling-brand-bravery/">Think With Google</a> piece called “Why creative bravery is the new price of entry for brands.” Creative bravery—an expression missing from my repertoire—but, is already my most used expression around the office and in the field. It perfectly describes when a piece of creative communication pushes the limits. Maybe it makes you cry, laugh hysterically, feel uncomfortable and change your behavior. You know that feeling when you see a great ad.
Here at System1, we’ve tested a lot of ‘brave’ and not so ‘brave’ ads. Using our guide for ad profitability, we classify ‘brave’ ads as those 4 and 5-star ads we see on the upper end of the guide. These are the same ads we describe above, making you cry, laugh or change behavior. Moreover, these same ads deliver 2-3% share gain compared to 1-star ads that do not deliver any share gain. Fact: 50% of TV ads are 1-star – or not brave ads.  Let’s now overlay media spend.  If $600 billion is spent on advertising globally, then extrapolate that out to the proportion of 1-star ads. That means a daunting $300 billion is wasted on ineffective advertising every year!
So, why would brands spend more on 1-star ads which aren’t going to deliver the highest return-on-investment potential? Unfortunately, brands are responding to a tougher market where the pressure is on.  Marketing and production budgets are getting slashed.  There is a rise in activation focused-tactics or short-termism2.  ‘Digital hunts’ and extreme micro-targeting promise instant engagement with brands. The aftermath is an erosion in media effectiveness as brands no longer possess the creative bravery that drives long-term profitability and growth.
Macro trends aside, Lenois points out that at a micro level, too, “…people’s expectations rise and attention becomes harder to capture” further complicating conditions.  This makes creative bravery essential on so many levels, making it the new price of entry for brands. So, how can brands step into creative bravery?
Every year for the past five years, System1 has tested thousands of ads in search of the most emotional ads in the world for <a href="https://www.feelmore50.com/">FeelMore50</a>. In his article, Lenois discusses some themes of emotionally effective advertising that aptly reflect what emerges among the 5-star ads System1 has seen and tested:
<ol>
<li>Using extremes. “The best storytelling is born of extremes—the human stories that come from the edges.” Guinness <a href="http://www.adweek.com/tv-video/guinness-wheelchair-basketball-ad-spun-circles-around-competitors-q3-152865/">Wheelchair Basketball</a> for its Made of More campaign from 2013 is a great 5-star example of a human story from the extremes.</li>
<li>Drawing from inspiration from social and cultural context. Brands can draw tremendous insights on what values to stand for by taking a look at the intersection between society and culture. Last year, Canadian retailer Loblaw aired a spot to show how food can bring even the most reluctant of hearts together in <a href="https://www.feelmore50.com/president-s-choice-eat-together">President’s Choice Eat Together</a>. Loblaw had tapped into an insight about the importance of reclaiming human contact and face-to-face time with others, which can be easily lost in our increasingly tech-obsessed world. As a result, celebrating that idea around food and the President’s Choice label proved to be a big win for the brand.</li>
<li>Immersing in a community and letting them participate. YouTube is “the biggest reflecting pool of culture that’s ever existed&#8230;”  Lenois makes a point “these communities don’t just sit back and watch, they participate.” Tide’s <a href="http://adage.com/videos/tide-bradshaw-stain/1329">Shirt Stain</a> ad with Terry Bradshaw was on point with getting Super Bowl LI viewers to buzz about the stain on social media. It was such a hit that they even brought back the buzz for a Super Bowl LII reprise.</li>
</ol>
“Bravery is the price of entry for those looking to make a real connection with audiences,” says Lenois. And, I couldn’t agree more. It’s time for brands to go forth, be courageous, and reach for the stars. Take smart, creative risks, draw from communities and invite your consumers along for the ride – and along the way profitably grow your brand.

Creative Bravery: A Means to Profitable Growth

The Power of Fluent Devices

System1 Group (formerly BrainJuicer) is comprised of System1 Agency and System1
Research, and its mission is to produce and predict 5-Star Marketing. London, United Kingdom.

Data & Analytics

The Sound is a Global Consumer Exploration, Brand Strategy and Product Innovation agency, applying leading edge market research techniques, technologies and marketing models to solve client brand, marketing, communications and product challenges. 
 
 
We are a team of brand experts, strategic researchers, idea generators, and cultural anthropologists with offices in Chicago, London, and Vancouver and a team all over the world. We provide clients with the insight, inspiration, and strategy needed to answer the brand challenges most important to their business all over the world.
 
 
Brand Strategy
We believe in deeply understanding nuances to help brands sharpen their reason for being. We guide brands towards the truth of what they genuinely stand for… and how it can be reflected in everything they do.
 
 
Consumer Exploration
We believe in breaking down barriers between brands and the people who matter most to them. We tirelessly dig deep to uncover what people really do and why they do it. And we deploy innovative research methods to get as close as possible to people and their lives.
 
 
Product Innovation
We believe that innovation emerges at the nexus of market and cultural opportunity and the problems people need solving. We imagine and design strategic ideas that inspire brands to find new possibilities with positive commercial impact.
 
 
We solve brand strategy, product innovation, and consumer understanding problems.

The Sound

We help brand owners and ad agencies understand people and solve marketing challenges.

System1 Group

About

Research Solutions