Robbie Thain
Founder, CEO
AI-generated illustrative image. Not an official campaign image.
A new study from FleishmanHillard and Contagious associates uninspired marketing with a 37% conversion drop, highlighting the logistical risks of safe creative.
On October 6, 2026, FleishmanHillard and Contagious released a study titled The Chaos Advantage. The research examines how brands respond to uncertainty through marketing and communications. According to the announcement, researchers combined an analysis of recent Cannes Lions and Effie award winners with a comprehensive global survey. This survey gathered responses from 1000 senior marketing and communications leaders across North America, EMEA, and APAC.
The primary findings highlight a severe penalty for campaigns that lack creative distinctiveness. The headline result is that when organizations default to uninspired creative, the study reports a 37 percent drop in brand conversion. Furthermore, the data indicates a 14 percent decline in long-term Return on Investment for these safe campaigns. The report also says dull content requires significantly more investment to achieve results.
Despite these stark numbers, a disconnect exists within major organizations regarding campaign execution. The report says 88 percent of surveyed marketing leaders believe bold creative drives impact. However, most organizations still produce mostly safe work. The study also found that 87 percent agree that uncertain environments create opportunities for bold work.
The survey data points to internal operational friction as a major barrier to effective marketing. Two thirds of respondents say their risk management processes block action rather than facilitate it. This internal hesitation leads directly to lost commercial potential in competitive markets. In fact, 58 percent say missed opportunities through caution are more common than negative consequences from bold action.
This cautious approach allows rival brands to gain an advantage in the marketplace. The study reports that 42 percent say they have watched competitors capture share while they hesitated. The public announcement does not define specific terms like uninspired, safe, or bold. It also does not disclose the survey field dates, sampling method, weighting, or questionnaire wording.
Additionally, the announcement does not outline the respondent industry breakdown or the specific award years analyzed. The announcement does not directly connect the study results to experiential marketing, product sampling, or live activations. Applying these broad marketing findings directly to event conversion or event Return on Investment would be an interpretation. However, the reported data still provides a compelling reason to evaluate the cost of safe creative.
For consumer packaged goods brands relying on physical marketing, dull creative translates to poor floor performance. We approach brand building with genuine care for the consumer experience while maintaining strict discipline on sales outcomes. We create experiential marketing programs built to connect emotion with action. Our process blends creativity, strategy, and data to ensure every brand interaction drives measurable results.
If a retail demonstration lacks a strong creative hook, shoppers will simply walk past the display. We have been connecting brands with people through live experiences, retail programs, and national activations since 1995. Over three decades, we have built a track record of creating meaningful brand moments across the country. We craft experiences that engage all five senses to help people feel the brand.
This tactile approach turns fleeting moments into meaningful business outcomes. A safe and quiet booth design actively prevents these sensory connections from happening. Applying bold creative in physical spaces generates tangible feedback from retail buyers and consumers. A Director of Brand Strategy in the CPG snack division shared a direct outcome of this approach.
They stated: "The Makai team turned our product launch into a sensory event that shoppers still talk about. From creative storytelling to flawless in-store execution, they made snack time unforgettable. We couldn't have asked for a stronger partner." Our team created an in-store experience that left a lasting impression on consumers and became a memorable brand moment.
When brands ignore the need for distinct concepts, they risk the 37 percent conversion drop identified in the study. We build festival zones, premieres, and pop-ups that turn viewers into fans and fans into advocates. We design moments people want to share by using music tie ins and live stunts to bring stories to life. Our crews simultaneously manage execution and track response metrics.
Without a bold approach, the physical footprint fails to generate excitement.
Uninspired creative creates immediate downstream effects on field staffing and trade show footprint flow. When an activation lacks a compelling visual anchor, brand ambassadors face a steep uphill battle. Staff must expend significantly more physical energy and time to secure a single product trial. This directly aligns with the study finding that dull content requires significantly more investment to achieve results.
Poor creative also complicates the physical flow of an activation space on the floor. If an event lacks clear visual conviction, consumer traffic becomes unpredictable and difficult to manage. Planners working on the anatomy of a high-conversion pop-up must account for how boring setups fail to qualify traffic. This leads directly to scattered attention and low quality leads from crowded trade shows.
Operations teams then struggle to prove campaign value to stakeholders and retail partners. When foot traffic ignores a safe activation, field managers capture very few viable leads. This makes building a unified event reporting dashboard incredibly frustrating for marketing leaders. A bold creative choice acts as a logistical necessity to ensure measurable pipeline generation at the event.
Furthermore, uninspired booths complicate the permit process because generic setups rarely secure premium venue locations. Event sponsors prioritize dynamic brand footprints that bring high energy to the overall space. Teams mapping out their cpg new playbook for real-world conversion need distinct physical properties to secure retailer confidence. Cautious concepts ultimately limit a brand from accessing the best foot traffic zones.
The FleishmanHillard and Contagious announcement includes sharp commentary from industry executives regarding this systemic hesitation. Jim Joseph, the global chair of Brand Impact at FleishmanHillard, noted a specific operational barrier. He said the gap between leaders’ belief in bold work and their organizations’ ability to approve it is “behavioral, not strategic.” Marketing leaders want distinct campaigns but struggle to push them through internal reviews.
Other experts argue that hesitation acts as an active threat to business stability. Ellie Tuck, the chief creative officer for the Americas at FleishmanHillard, said uncertainty should be treated as an operating condition rather than a temporary period to wait out. She argued that treating caution as risk management can itself multiply risk. Defaulting to safe marketing often creates the exact financial losses teams hope to avoid.
Alex Jenkins, the editorial director at Contagious, framed the study findings around creative conviction. Jenkins noted that this approach is less about recklessness and more about adapting to a changed operating environment. For brand managers, this means replacing passive displays with high energy activations that demand participation. When testing the event conversion metrics for ROI, a bold approach often outperforms a cautious one.
The research from FleishmanHillard and Contagious provides a clear warning for marketing leaders. Safe campaigns require more money to execute while delivering significantly less commercial impact. If competitors capture market share by taking calculated creative actions, standing still is no longer a viable operations plan. Are your current field marketing protocols actually protecting your brand, or are they quietly costing you 37 percent of your potential conversions by defaulting to the safest possible execution?
Protecting your brand conversion rate from steep drops requires live campaigns that deliberately stand out on the retail floor. Makai eliminates scattered attention and poor booth flow through our dedicated Experiential Marketing service. We create hands on brand moments that connect emotionally and turn customers into ambassadors while driving measurable pipeline.
30 Years Experiential & Retail Activation Partner for CPG & Beverage Brands | Multi-Market Demos, Roadshows & Costco/Club Programs That Actually Sell
