Amidst a growing focus on measurable outcomes and trackable metrics, there’s a debate brewing about whether creativity is taking a toll. Campaign Middle East addressed this with Najeeb Jarrar, Regional Product and Marketing Director at Google during the Athar Festival in Saudi Arabia.
On one hand, the pressure to demonstrate return on investment (ROI), transparency, and accountability within the marketing landscape is higher than it’s ever been.
On the other hand, marketers and agency leaders – who, at times, get dragged into the maelstrom of performance-driven, short-term KPIs and are forced to deliver immediate, quantifiable results – run the risk of sidelining creative endeavours that may not yield easily trackable metrics, but are essential for long-term brand building.
‘Balance between data-driven optimisation and creativity in storytelling’
Jarrar opened up about the need to curb short-term thinking, encourage creative risk to build sustainable brands, and the role of creativity in an increasingly digital world.
Jarrar said, “While trackable metrics are crucial in digital marketing, an over-reliance on them can sometimes stifle creativity.”
He then went on to make the case for creativity beyond mere metrics. Jarrar explained how creativity remains crucial in the digital world to cut through the noise, build emotional connections with local consumers, shape brand perception and drive innovation.
“With the sheer volume of online content, creativity is crucial for capturing attention and standing out from the competition. Bland, generic ads simply won’t make an impact. Creativity allows brands to tell stories, evoke emotions and build meaningful connections with their audiences. This fosters brand loyalty and drives long term growth, which direct response can’t always achieve on its own,” Jarrar said.
“While direct response is highly effective for immediate results, creativity fuels long-term brand building and fosters a lasting impression,” Jarrar added. “Creative campaigns also contribute significantly to brand image and identity. They help shape how consumers perceive a brand and differentiate it in the market. Creativity pushes boundaries and leads to new ideas and formats in digital advertising. This keeps campaigns fresh and engaging, preventing stagnation. The most successful digital marketing strategies find the right balance between data-driven optimisation and creative storytelling.”
Jarrar’s opinions were echoed by several industry leaders attending the Athar Festival who said that creativity shouldn’t be sacrificed at the altar of data; rather, each should enhance the other, with metrics guiding creative decisions and creative insights inspiring innovative metrics-driven strategies.
This balanced approach allows brands to build strong identities and foster customer loyalty while still meeting measurable business goals.
Delivering ads in the age of AI
To find this balance, leaders at Athar Festival suggested an arranged marriage between creativity and generative AI models.
When questioned about this, Jarrar pointed to Google’s recently introduced Imagen3, its most powerful text to-image model yet, which helps marketers generate images based on a prompt, and Veo, the platform’s video generation model.
Jarrar said, “We are planning to take Veo across YouTube Shorts soon to help brands scale their assets and experiment with their target audiences.”
He added, “We’re also seeing many such examples of how generative AI can help marketers develop creative assets in seconds, and test multiple versions that suit the different needs of customers. AI-driven assets also make it easier to scale tailored experiences across platforms by continuously optimising creatives, placements and messaging, which helps maintain brand impact while keeping content fresh.”
That said, Google is not new to the analytical and predictive AI game. It has been using predictive AI within its ad products for years, investing heavily in machine learning and AI to supercharge marketing.
“It’s the addition of Generative AI that’s unlocking even more powerful opportunities for marketing – covering creatives, media activations and real-time measurement,” Jarrar said, “However, balancing precise targeting with user privacy is crucial. Google is focusing on AI-driven solutions that enable marketers to reach the right audiences without relying on third-party cookies, aligning with privacy regulations. With tools like Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), among others, Google aims to refine targeting while safeguarding user data, ensuring marketers can deliver relevant ads responsibly.”
The company’s AI-powered Performance Max tool has also enabled advertisers to automatically adjust ad content in real-time based on user context, increasing relevance and engagement.
Jarrar said, “We built Google Ads Data Manager to help companies simplify the importing and activation of first-party data, and to address complexity in sharing the data with point-and-click workflows – all in a secure and privacy-safe way. If the data is sorted efficiently and effectively, marketers can use generative AI in Performance Max to create and scale text and image assets with simple clicks.”
The platform also provides a Product Studio tool, which helps marketers maintain the quality of their assets by increasing resolution and creating clean cut-outs. This empowers marketing teams by saving time on daily tasks and creating space and time for strategy, creativity and implementation tactics.
“While direct response is highly effective for immediate results, creativity fuels long-term brand building and fosters a lasting impression.”
Flipside of AI – rising expectations for creativity and measurement
As awareness of the actual on-ground implementation of AI increases within the industry, the expectations of clients, brands and consumers are also growing.
Clients and brands are now expecting much faster speed to market with lower costs and shorter deadlines, while consumers are expecting a level of personalisation, experience and satisfaction that has not been demanded before. Add to the mix an extremely competitive landscape, with very low margins, and we see necessity driving stakeholders toward a better use of data.
“Measurement is more important than ever, and with the integration of AI tools and features, it’s becoming more feasible for marketers to optimise their campaigns according to set objectives, in a timely manner,” Jarrar said.
Marketers are turning to tools such as Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Enhanced Conversions, Consent Mode and Measurement Diagnostics to make use of first-party data and use it effectively to inform future campaigns.
Jarrar added, “AI is transforming how marketers forecast trends and consumer behaviours, enabling proactive rather than reactive marketing. By providing predictive insights, these tools help marketers anticipate shifts in consumer needs, optimise budgets, and better manage inventory in real-time. These insights are especially valuable for emerging and seasonal trends, where rapid adaptation is key.”
Rapid-fire round
When Jarrar discussed other trends that will influence advertising in the near future, he listed mobile marketing, the growth of video content and the rise of social commerce in the MENA region.
Jarrar said, “High mobile penetration, means mobile-first strategies are key. In the region, mobile marketing will continue its rapid growth due to high smartphone penetration and increasing internet usage. As brands are focused on reaching their target audience effectively on mobile, we will see the rise of new formats and in-app experiences to drive engagement as users adopt new apps and platforms.”
“Video content consumption is exploding, with short video formats becoming more popular, we will see more creators emerging and attracting their own niche audience. Which makes video content for brands a priority. Keep an eye out for the required return of vertical video content,” he added. “Social media is becoming a shopping destination. This will be the next big trend to watch out for in the next two years. Expect seamless integration of shopping features within platforms, and more ad formats that take advantage of the new social media formats and platforms that drive sales directly within social feeds.”
