My favorite quote of 2023 came from Fast Company. “In Today’s big data age, curiosity is currency.”
Change is inevitable in the business world, and creative solutions are vital to adapting to it. Your creative team or creative consultants should not be inundated with spreadsheets and data analytics reports, but they definitely need to understand key data points that support the big picture, as that will be the starting point of their inspiration.
One of the main hindrances to a business’s growth is cognitive fixedness, or the idea that there’s only one way to interpret or approach a situation or challenge. Cross-functional teams all being told how to look at the data the same way amplifies this fixedness.
So, how should creatives use data? When should they free their mind to explore? And more importantly which step should come first?
LM2 Creative Consulting made a little chart to help marketing teams work best with their creatives:
Science – Audience Segmentation – the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data to identify distinct differences of each segment.
Gut – The tailored story that resonates with each of the above segment’s needs.
Gut – Innovation – for something to be innovative it must be novel as well as useful. Predicting either often stifles big ideas or creates renovations – not revolutions.
Science – Research and Development
Gut – Inspiration
Science – Experimentation – test the innovative ideas and creative approaches. Within reason.
(Sidebar) – an industrial design partner of mine who worked for Apple told me they never tested the iPod. Convincing a focus group that their beloved albums could be not only separated but purchased by song was too much for music fans to conceptualize. So, when it is an idea that would require completely changing human behavior. Lean in, and make sure you have enough marketing budget to educate the change.
Science – Ad Performance Analytics
Gut – Learning from, expanding upon and sharpening the best performing content.
Gut – Cultural Fuel – relevant to your brand.
Science – The Media Buy
Bridging the left and right brains of a brand, work with a Creative Strategist or Fractional Brand Officer to empower your creative teams to produce stand-out content. They specialize in interpreting the data and analytical insights and research into actionable creative approaches that are relevant and create value in the minds of consumers.
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