The tug of war between the retrospective resourceful model of creativity in marketing (let’s try, test, evaluate, repeat), and the proactive performance-based precedent model of data-led marketing is reaching a tipping point.
In conversation with several brand, creative, and marketing experts, Campaign Middle East has taken note of underlying angst within the market. There is a noticeable shift away from creative intuition and soft metrics towards data-led strategies that prioritise measurable outcomes and accountability.
According to the LIONS State of Creativity Report 2024 released at Cannes, marketers want to experiment more with creativity, but they feel frustrated because leaders are leaning more towards “tried and tested” options, with limited budget and limited testing opportunities lowering the level of creativity, and investments pouring more into AI and data-led decisions.
“Where will creativity come from if a campaign must be proven before it is developed?” asks Jonathan Ashton, head of marketing and communications for KROHNE.
Making the case for creativity, the report states that brands that predict higher growth in 2024 are 6x more likely to prioritise creativity and 4.6x more likely to have a higher marketing spend than 2023.
In parallel, recent research from McKinsey & Company demonstrates how brands that make their decisions based on data are likely to witness marketing return on investment (MROI) increase by 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
“Marketing strategies are increasingly driven by data and measurable outcomes. The era of creative try-test-evaluate-repeat is evolving into one where decisions are heavily influenced by ROI and ROAS metrics, removing some of the magic in my opinion – where will creativity come from if a campaign must be proven before it is developed?” asked Jonathan Ashton, head of marketing and communications for KROHNE.
“This shift reflects a broader trend towards accountability and efficiency, ensuring that every marketing dollar is optimised for maximum impact. Measurement technology in communications enables us to track and analyze performance with unprecedented accuracy, enhancing ours and our customers’ ability to make data-informed decisions,” he added.
It’s the creative execution and the pull on hyper-personalisation that makes Spotify’s data-driven campaign go viral every year, says Saheba Sodhi, head of strategy, MCH Global.
However, Saheba Sodhi, head of strategy and region – Middle East, MCH Global, counters, “Today, we see a stronger emphasis on data-driven decisions, which fill a key gap of tangible results in a demographic free world. Yes, data is king, no doubt about it, but creativity is still the emperor.”
Clearly, those advocating the power of precedence through existing data analysis point to the precision of consumer preferences, predictive insights, personalised marketing, potential real-time optimisation, as well as the benefits of performance-based metrics such as CAC, CLV, conversion rates, and ROAS to provide a clear picture of the financial impacts of marketing efforts.
But there’s more to it than meets the eye …
“Take Spotify’s “Wrapped” campaign — this is a data-driven initiative that feels deeply personal and creative. It’s based on user data, but it’s the creative execution and the pull on hyper-personalisation that makes it viral every year. There is a greater ask of marketers to draw from ROI/ROAS based models, because they seem tangible and add a degree of predictability – however virality has no rules,” Saheba explained.
“Classic campaigns have lost that ethereal effect, with dwindling attention spans, the loud roar of the creator economy, constantly shifting brand loyality /affinity and the unbeatable game of catch-up that we play with the algorithm, it’s an era of – do what works, until it doesn’t and then do different,” she added.
As a result, many of the below questions are yet to be answered, with leaders taking differing stances on them.
Is this data-driven iteration here to stay or do we need to find a balance between the creative-led and the data-led decisions? Is there a need to use data to inform, rather than dictate, creative decision making? How can strategies be constantly iterated based on the impact that both creatives and data-driven decisions have on campaign performance?
If you have an opinion, write to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you.
