Arbex officially launched this month as a new $3.4 billion global tissue and hygiene company, formed through a joint venture between pulp producer Suzano and consumer goods giant Kimberly-Clark. The business is home to brands including Andrex, Kleenex and Scott. New Digital Age caught up with Scott Bodie, Head of Media UKI, to discuss media measurement, retail media, creators, publisher partnerships and why marketers need to speak the language of the CFO.
Tell us about your role and what it involves.
I’ve been with the business for 10 years and we’ve actually just become Arbex, having previously been part of Kimberly-Clark. My role is Head of Media UKI, looking after our media strategy, understanding the trends shaping the industry, working with our agency partners on planning, developing our test and learn agenda and building our long-term roadmap.
A big part of my role is measurement. I sometimes joke that it’s the unfortunate part because I spend so much time on it, but it’s become one of the most important aspects of modern media. It’s about closing the loop and demonstrating the value that marketing creates.
What takes up most of your time today?
Stakeholder management and measurement are probably the two biggest areas. A lot of time goes into building the measurement story, aligning budgets, forecasting and creating business cases for investment.
One of the biggest challenges is that media isn’t always viewed as a direct driver of financial performance outside the marketing department. It’s not simply a case of saying we spent this amount and generated this amount in return. We’re selling through retailers, so there are multiplier effects and longer-term outcomes that don’t immediately show up in the P&L.
That’s why we’re looking beyond direct sales. We’re measuring penetration, brand equity and longer-term business impact to create a fuller narrative around what our investment is delivering.
How has your media strategy evolved?
Traditional FMCG marketing relied heavily on linear television for brand building and I still believe television has an important role. But consumers simply aren’t consuming media in the same way they were a few years ago.
The audiences for traditional broadcast television have fragmented significantly, so we’re constantly looking at where we can build incremental reach. Subscription video services, social platforms and creators are all becoming increasingly important parts of the mix.
We’re probably a little later than some brands in embracing influencer marketing, but that’s been a deliberate decision because we wanted to make sure we approached it in the right way.
How are you approaching creators and influencers?
We recently worked with Katherine Ryan, which was a really exciting campaign and, to my knowledge, the first time we’d partnered with a celebrity in that way.
Ultimately, we’re selling products like toilet tissue, which isn’t naturally the most exciting category. Working with the right personalities helps us make those conversations more engaging and culturally relevant.
That campaign focused on supporting women through labour and recovery afterwards. Rather than simply talking about product benefits, it allowed us to connect with something people genuinely experience in their lives.
When it comes to influencers, we’re much more focused on quality than quantity. We’re not a beauty brand where hundreds of influencers naturally fit. We want people who genuinely align with our brands and can add something meaningful to the conversation.
How do you balance brand building with performance marketing?
I’ve always thought it’s an interesting debate because, in many ways, all media is performance media. The metrics might differ, but every investment needs to demonstrate value.
We don’t work to a fixed 60:40 rule. It depends entirely on the campaign objectives, whether we’re launching a product, building a brand or trying to influence a specific audience behaviour.
At the moment we’re probably around 70% brand investment and 30 per cent performance, although that will continue to evolve. Retail media has become a major part of our performance strategy because it allows us to connect media activity directly with sales outcomes.
What role does retail media play in your wider media strategy?
Retail media has become one of the pillars of our social strategy because it allows us to use retailer data to reach consumers based on genuine shopping behaviours.
It gives us an opportunity to engage people much closer to the point of purchase, while still supporting our wider brand communications. It’s delivering good results and it’s certainly not something we’re going to move away from.
Are publisher partnerships becoming more important?
Definitely. We’re working much more closely with publishers than we used to because they bring different perspectives and greater authenticity.
One example was our school campaign, where we partnered with The Guardian. Rather than simply carrying advertising, the publication’s editorial team explored the wider issues affecting children’s development and education.
The campaign won awards, but more importantly we saw the impact in both our econometric modelling and our brand equity measurements. It demonstrated that doing the right thing for consumers can also deliver commercial value.
We’re looking to do more partnerships like that with publishers including Stylist and Hearst because they allow us to tell richer stories rather than simply broadcasting messages.
How do connected TV and digital out of home fit into your plans?
Connected TV is really another form of television for us, but it’s valuable because it helps us reach audiences we might otherwise miss through traditional broadcast.
YouTube is also becoming much more of a television platform, which makes it increasingly important.
Out of home continues to play a significant role. It works well both for building brands and for driving proximity to retail locations. Last year we worked with artist Mr Doodle on a campaign featuring bespoke outdoor installations, which demonstrated the creative possibilities of the channel while also supporting retail performance.
There is a growing expectation that marketers need to speak the language of the CFO. Do you agree?
Absolutely. That’s exactly where measurement becomes so important.
Econometrics is a valuable tool, but it doesn’t naturally appear in the P&L. We have to demonstrate how media contributes to business performance by combining sales metrics with measures such as penetration and brand equity.
It’s about helping finance teams understand that media is an investment designed to build brands over the long term, rather than something that should necessarily generate an immediate return within a few months.
What excites you most over the next year?
I’m probably less excited than most people about everyone constantly talking about AI. It’s obviously going to be hugely important, but I’d rather we adopt it thoughtfully than simply chase the latest trend.
What genuinely excites me is the opportunity to build more partnerships, whether that’s with creators, celebrities or publishers. Media has evolved far beyond simply making a television advert and putting it on air.
There are now so many different ways to tell stories, reach audiences and create meaningful engagement. It’s more challenging than ever, but that’s exactly what makes the role so interesting.
