Why Creativity is the New King (and Not Just Content)

Creativity is making a comeback. We're seeing proof everywhere.

 

In recent years, media buying has been optimised like never before. But we are progressively hearing less about Big Data, and more about Big Brand—fuelled by the magic of creativity. 

Brands everywhere have been relying on their existing brand equity, preferring to focus on converting consumers into buyers, without creatively investing in their stories and taking risks. The outcome? Brand equity has plummeted across the board—and so have conversion rates. 

Brands complain that consumer loyalty is scarce—but can they really act surprised when they’ve been screaming “buy now!” and “sale!” for the past 10 years, without equally investing time and money into building relationships with consumers and building a genuine, creative brand story?

 

The world’s brand equity is down 20 percent from 2007 for two reasons. The 2008 recession—and Facebook’s introduction of ads, which cast a tremendous spotlight on data and programmatic. Over the following few tough years, brands become almost obsessively tactical, targeted—and, of course, data driven.

Data is of course both important and imperative, but it has a significant limitation: it only tells us what consumers need, based on what consumers already know. 

Data could never have given us the smartphone. In the ‘20s, it would not have given us cars, but faster horses. 

 

Indeed, the Big Data approach is increasingly revealing that it ultimately has less to be gained from compared to the limitless potential of high impact creativity.

 

 

Clients are increasingly beginning to understand this. Volvo, for instance, recently built huge brand equity by spending a fortune on what we can only define as epic TVCs—not via smart data-driven media buying. 

 

But not all brands are on trend—yet. How to get clients who are strictly determined to hit quarterly targets take bets on risky, creative ideas?

 

Let’s remember, some of the biggest brand value has been created through creativity. Creativity is timeless and can even immortalize your brand—just consider brands like Old Spice and Dollar Shave Club.

To create a one-billion-dollar brand value using data and targeted media buying only costs, say, one tenth of a billion—and that simply isn’t going far enough. 

 

Brands already produce huge amounts of content, but the aim should be to raise the creative bar, as well as focus on video. The first step forward is to use tier two and three content as a test base for bold, new creative ideas.

Target groups will reveal what's working and what's not—and help brands draw out the season’s next big hero campaign.

 

As marketeers, we need to respond to the broader spectrum of consumer needs and appeal to buyers’ inner desires: data alone certainly doesn’t.  

We refer to Content as King—but I'd say Creativity is the real capital C.