Episode 123: ‘Measuring what Matters in Purpose-driven Marketing’ with Neil Callanan, Founder - Loose Grip
In this episode of Can Marketing Save the Planet, we are joined by Neil Callanan, founder of Loose Grip, a performance, analytics, and insights agency who work with values-led brands to bridge the gap between their activism and their commercial goals.
Over the last three to four years, Loose Grip has specialised in helping brands understand how their purpose impacts both their business performance and their people-and-planet objectives. Neil shares, ”I feel like a lot of values-based brands almost look down on measuring their impact in the same way that they would measure the profits or how many things they've sold. There's a tendency to keep things separate." Separation, Neil argues, is a mistake. The two aren't mutually exclusive, they're symbiotic. "When the data is there, you can actually find pretty symbiotic relationships. Consumers, especially younger consumers, make buying decisions based on wanting to feel good about the companies where they're putting their money."
Neil feels that many brands lack the ammunition to tell that story internally, to the board, or to shareholders, to help solve this, Neil and his team developed the GRASP Framework, a process designed to help brands define clear objectives for every piece of content, then measure what actually matters. The framework typically distils objectives into two or three buckets:
· Discover (maximising reach)
· Engage (depth of connection)
· Convert (driving a specific action - a purchase, a petition signature, or a donation).
By bringing teams together to collaboratively define and prioritise metrics, Loose Grip builds buy-in and protects against the lure of, "glamour metrics that look good but don't drive insight."
Neil talks about how he sees huge potential in AI for retroactive analysis. Instead of waiting six months for data, brands can now train AI agents to analyse five years of content, identifying patterns in what worked, whether that's post length, format, timing, or language landed, this means they can start every new campaign armed with proven insights.
Tune in as we talk to Neil about:
Why purpose-driven brands often shy away from measurement.
The GRASP Framework: moving from objectives to action by defining discover, engage, and conversion metrics.
The power of creative measurement to value sustainability impact alongside commercial metrics.
Using AI to enrich historical data and give campaigns a proven starting point.
How to ensure your activism is authentic and not just reactive cringe.
During the conversation Neil mentions some links and case studies - you’ll find these below:
The Grasp Your Impact Framework - https://graspyourimpact.com/
The Grasp Your Impact Podcast - for more case studies - https://graspyourimpact.com/podcast/
Case study from Ben & Jerry’s - Ben & Jerry's!
https://open.spotify.com/show/3jDmbKd1Vgi8ofkSoUrv1n?si=644e10c4bf474a67&nd=1&dlsi=5d2079301ca64c1d
With love
Michelle & Gemma
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