Sage had historically relied on acquisitions and performance marketing to fuel growth. While effective in the short term, this approach limited long-term brand strength and left the business overly dependent on short-term tactics.
We worked with Sage to make the case for brand investment at board level and to design a plan for embedding effectiveness across the organisation. Together we:
Built the business case for shifting towards brand-led growth.
Helped recruit a new internal effectiveness team.
Designed and implemented an econometric model to guide investment decisions – showing when, where and how much to spend.
The impact has been clear: Sage now has a more sustainable growth model, underpinned by brand strength as well as performance marketing. Since implementation, the business has seen significant growth – including a doubling of its stock price since 2023 – proving the power of embedding effectiveness into strategy, structure and culture.
Results
The Effective Collective have played an important role in helping us land the key principles of marketing effectiveness. Critically they have also turned theory into practice, helping us develop a new brand positioning for relaunch & putting in place new measurement tools that have improved the effectiveness & efficiency of our media spend.
Tim Sefton, EVP Global Marketing Strategy