Six things we learnt about "The Long and the Short of It" - 10 years on

The Long and The Short of It co-authors say their 2013 IPA report was largely ignored at first but want others to build on its now influential ideas. There were revelations even for those familiar with the duo’s series of IPA publications. Here are six.

1. They knew each other for decades before writing together

According to Les, the pair’s paths had criss-crossed for more than 20 years before they co-wrote their first publication. Their connection went back to university days and to BMP, the renowned advertising agency (later part of the DDB network, including adam&eveDDB), where both worked at the start of their careers.

Separately, both had begun analysing data from the IPA Effectiveness Databank, which collates information on marketing inputs and outcomes from questionnaires submitted in the IPA Effectiveness Awards. When Peter presented his findings at an IPA event, Les realised that he had reached similar conclusions using different methods and suggested the two write a joint paper.

Said Les: “Everything I have tried to do, he (Peter) got there first.”

2. They are more than ‘godfathers of effectiveness’

Because of the influence of The Long and the Short of It and its follow-up IPA publications, Media in Focus (2017) and Effectiveness in Context (2018), the duo gained the nickname of ‘godfathers of effectiveness’.

This moniker reflects how often their work has been referenced, including citations in more than 70 international academic publications and textbooks, as well as countless media and blog sources. Among IPA Effectiveness Awards cases alone, approximately 10% in the last decade refer to The Long and the Short of It in support of their strategy.

In real life, Les and Peter are also actual godfathers to the same person, the son of a friend they have in common.

3. “We both crawl all over each other’s work”

When it comes to compiling their reports, the pair share both the writing and analysis of the spreadsheets and data charts. According to Peter, “We both crawl all over each other’s work. We both write. We both (number) crunch. That is the strength of the partnership really. Les said: “We’re both quite tough on each other. I think that is quite helpful in a duo. You bounce ideas off each other but you also edit each other.”

4. Who’s the more optimistic?

When The Long and The Short of It was first published, its Foreword warned that “marketing appears to be sleepwalking towards a precipice, and there is an urgent need for long-term metrics to reassert their importance to brands.”

Ten years later at EffWorks 2023, Alison asked whether there was still a danger of ‘sleepwalking’ into over-use of short-term marketing investments and measurement approaches.

Peter said that in the years preceding the COVID pandemic, data from the IPA Databank and other sources showed a ‘correction’ among companies towards greater balance towards more sustained marketing strategies in line with the report’s recommendations. However, he argued, COVID “absolutely hammered that”, with people reverting to shorter-term approaches in uncertain times.

Peter said: “I’m afraid the jury is out on whether we are going to come through that and get back to more positive trends.”

Les said: “You (Peter) have the Databank as a form of evidence. We have the people who we see coming through the doors at adam&eveDDB. We’re seeing quite a lot of people coming through the doors because they have seen The Long and The Short of It ... I think I’m a bit more optimistic than you are.”

Peter replied: “You always are.”

5. What’s the next report in the series?

The duo feel they have more to say on measurement. But don’t plan on getting your hands on the next report anytime soon. Les revealed the pair drew up a plan for a new publication 5-6 years ago and they are only “half-way through it”. Peter however added that both also want to "build a coalition of the willing” against dull advertising.

6. How they feel about "being toppled"…

During the Q&A at EffWorks Global, the writing partners were asked whether the time was ripe for a new set of marketing thinkers to “topple you both.”

Citing international interest in IPA Databank research and praising the contributions to marketing research from the likes of Dr Karen Nelson-Field, CEO of Amplified Intelligence and Orlando Wood, Chief Innovation Officer of System 1, Peter said: “I think there is a fantastic eco-system out there now of great brains who will do far more than ‘Les and Peter’ ever did.”

Challenging the question for implying there had to be winners and losers in marketing debates, Les added: “We both come from a scientific background. Peter is an engineer, and I’m a physicist. Science is a co-operative activity where people work together to pile ideas, brick by brick to make a wall, to make a building. Most scientists are not ‘stars’. They are people just adding bricks to a wall.

“Personally, what I would like to see is the marketing and advertising industries working together to build ideas into a thorough understanding of how all this stuff works and could work better. But in the advertising industry we don’t think like that most of the time…”