Meet the Makers: Wieden+Kennedy & Gumtree — Good Finds

Sifting through Gumtree’s imperfections to find the perfect brand platform.

Every brand needs a platform that sets it apart from competition, but how do existing brands break new ground? Wieden+Kennedy and Gumtree share how they harnessed the power of creativity and YouTube targeting to create “Good Finds” and stake a new claim in the online marketplace space. Here are some lessons they learned along the way:

Know what your audience really thinks

It’s hard to persuade your audience to see your product in a new light if you don’t understand how they see it now. “When we talked to the audience, we realised they would be like ‘sometimes you have to sift through a lot of things to find the thing you’re looking for’... but they took a lot of pride in that.” said Brain Ritter, Planning Director at Wieden+Kennedy.

Understanding the nuances in audience perception meant the team could challenge negatives, and champion positives, while anchoring back to real insights.

Use the truth to your advantage

When you understand what’s true about your brand, you can unlock powerful creative ideas. Hannah Rouch, CMO at Gumtree explains, “Because we’re people-powered, there are typos on listings... or a selfie when someone’s selling a mirror, but that’s the beauty of Gumtree — and ‘Good Finds’ embraces that.”

Harnessing a truth that’s unique to the brand provides a launchpad for interesting creative ideas which are hard for competitors to replicate.

Simplicity supercharges targeting

The simplicity of an idea adds to its impact, and targeting the right audience ensures its success. “These ‘sales tropes’... these annoying things invade normality, and then they’re banished — all in 20 seconds. We hit everyone with the 20’s, and then surprised them with the 6’s.” explains Freddy Taylor, Senior Creative at Wieden+Kennedy.

Ritter adds, “We break down the audience based on what they are looking for, and then we can marry up their interests to the right Gumtree ads for them.”

Creating brand platforms which are uniquely ownable and provide solid foundations for creative work is a perennial challenge for creative teams. But, as Wieden+Kennedy and Gumtree demonstrate, by leveraging the targeting capability of YouTube, and creating ideas based on audience insights, you might just land yourself a Good Find.