{"id":35837,"date":"2019-10-11T11:15:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T09:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/?p=35837"},"modified":"2025-08-22T12:50:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T10:50:54","slug":"applications-of-creative-thinking-in-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getsmarter.com\/blog\/applications-of-creative-thinking-in-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Applications of Creative Thinking in Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How many brands do you think you interact with on a daily basis? From the time you wake to the time you sleep, it\u2019s estimated that nearly half an adult\u2019s day is consumed by content and branding1<\/sup> \u2013 up to 4,000 to 10,000 ads each day.2<\/sup> As of May 2019, the total worldwide population is 7.7 billion, and of that number 4.4 billion people have internet access, 3.5 billion of whom have active social media profiles.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past several decades, marketing has followed a timeline of developing eras. From mass marketing (1860s-1920s), direct marketing (1920s-1940s), and social and digital media marketing (2010-present).4<\/sup> With the implementation of data-driven strategies, the exploding digital infrastructure has changed the way in which companies and businesses operate and advertise. The rise in access to digital media has influenced and reshaped the way that consumers think, act, and buy \u2013 forcing the retail industry to evolve in order to survive.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, consumers use more devices, ad blockers and privacy protection tools than ever before, not to mention possess increasingly sophisticated customer experience expectations. Brands need to be heard above the unrelenting \u2018noise\u2019 of social media and a dwindling attention span. As a result, the new world of marketing demands personalisation, contextualisation, and dynamism6<\/sup> \u2013 creative thinking, in essence, to compete for attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is creative thinking in marketing?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Historically, the term \u2018marketing creative\u2019 alludes to the person responsible for the images, words and concept of an ad campaign. But marketing, like other corporate functions impacted by technology, has become significantly more complex and demanding. To broadly understand it, the focus of creative marketing can be summed up in three ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Personalisation<\/strong>.7<\/sup> Companies are treating each customer as an individual by understanding their preferences and behaviours. In a CMO Council\/SAP survey, 47 per cent of respondents said they would renounce a brand that delivers poor, impersonal, or frustrating experiences.8<\/sup> In response, CMOs are allocating nearly a third of their budgets to improving their marketing technology.9<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Contextualisation<\/strong>. Context plays a key role in how well a marketing campaign performs. In an interview with Dr. Horst Stipp, ad effectiveness researcher at The Advertising Research Foundation, he shares, \u2018Positive effects have been shown when ads are placed in a context that consumers are involved in, pay attention to and value, as well as when there is an alignment between the context and the ad message.\u201910<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Dynamism<\/strong>.11<\/sup> With a rise in platforms that allow brands to automatically promote its most relevant items, you can use dynamic and responsive advertising to your strategic advantage. Facebook, for example, allows dynamic ads to automatically show the right products to people who have shown interest on its website, app or Internet as a whole. Similarly, via Google\u2019s responsive display ads (RDA), advertisers can upload their creative assets and leave the ad creation to Google’s algorithms.12<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role of data in marketing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Businesses are building a toolbox of experience-focused marketing hardware that is powered by technology. The goal is to transform marketing from a customer acquisition-focused activity to one that enables a human and emotional experience, all the while being grounded in data: what works, what doesn\u2019t, how can we improve?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In experiential marketing, companies treat each customer as an individual by understanding their preferences and behaviours.13<\/sup> To meet these expectations, a company\u2019s marketing strategy should be as qualitative as it is quantitative. When marketers fail to understand the complexity of their customers\u2019 behaviour, people lose trust in them, directly impacting revenue and brand loyalty.14<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design thinking in motion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Separately, the concept of design thinking across industries is being employed by more and more businesses; a solution-focused, problem-solving way of addressing an individual or company-related concern.15<\/sup> Design thinking allows for the user of the system to have a more structured plan for understanding innovation and to grow more as a company. Iconic brands and entirely-digital companies (the likes of Google, Uber and Apple) demonstrated the revenues and customer satisfaction that design thinking can drive. Harnessing qualitative insights, creativity, and an all-out focus on end-user needs, the current approach is aimed at innovating a company\u2019s product, services, and performance to the max.16<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-founder and CEO of Fjord, an Accenture-owned global leader in design and innovation, Olof Schybergson explains that when wanting to create something of significance, three main ingredients need to be factored in: the individual, technology and the organisation.17<\/sup> \u201cAt Fjord, our goal is always beauty and minimal effort for maximum return,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve applied user-centred design to shape Fjord\u2019s strategy, our value system, and our employee value proposition.\u201d18<\/sup> For many companies, creativity and lateral design thinking have impacted success in similar ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is creative thinking important?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While many organisations are investing in data and design capabilities, only those that tightly weave these disciplines together will unlock their full benefits.<\/p>Akshay Chhabra and Simon Williams, McKinsey & Company19<\/sup><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every time a person connects to the digital world, they contribute to the rapid growth of its shared global commons. Within that commons, where every brand is vying for audience and market share, it takes creativity to distinguish one brand from the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world where we are taught to prize hard facts and figures, creativity can hold the reputation of being soft, instinctive, hard to measure or quantify.20<\/sup> However, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the predicted top five skills needed in the future will be complex problem-solving, critical thinking, people management, coordinating with others, and creativity.21<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While technology has evolved, it hasn\u2019t changed creativity\u2019s need for a big idea \u2013 the art department in an agency or company, for example, is no longer a separate entity. It\u2019s become central to the branding and business strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a Harvard Business Review<\/em> study done with senior marketing executives across multiple top brands, interviewees were asked to share examples of creativity in marketing that go beyond ad campaigns and deliver tangible value to the business. The findings presented some creative thinking tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Create with<\/em> the consumer, not just for<\/em> the consumer<\/strong>22<\/sup>
    Bearing in mind that customers today are not just consumers, but active social media users and tech-loving content creators, creativity in marketing involves working with customers right from the start. It\u2019s the new definition of being \u2018customer-centric\u2019.<\/li>\n
  2. Make everyone part of the team<\/strong>23<\/sup>
    Creative marketing involves more than a paid advert in a magazine or newspaper. By inspiring creativity in others, and treating everyone as an extension of the marketing team \u2013 employees, partners, and even customers \u2013 gives insight into behaviours, tastes and opinions that serve a marketer\u2019s intention.<\/li>\n
  3. Bring creativity to brand identity<\/strong>24<\/sup>
    The proliferation of new media channels, platforms and devices means consumers have greater access to brand stories, and marketers have more ways to convey their brand\u2019s identity and vision. From email marketing to video campaigns, this opens up a realm of creative ways to convey a message, sell a product or form a relationship.<\/li>\n
  4. Rise to the startup mentality<\/strong>25<\/sup>
    Creative marketers are operating more and more like entrepreneurs, adopting similar business practices and work cultures to Silicon Valley startups; an ability to be agile and continuously adjust strategies.<\/li>\n
  5. Honour each part of the end-to-end experience<\/strong>
    Today, businesses must provide an exceptional customer experience in order to edge out the competition. Understand what a positive customer experience is, and how you can make it even better.26<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The power of creative storytelling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    According to Forrester\u2019s \u201cBeyond the Tipping Point: a Call to Action for Marketers\u201d, true customer \u2019obsession\u2019 in marketing requires empathy and advocacy.27<\/sup> When done well and intuitively, creative storytelling helps marketers convey a brand\u2019s values and interests; a means to connect with an audience in a human or personal way. When executed successfully, emotional appeal campaigns that draw attention to and embrace a real, relatable human condition is a way to draw in a prospective customer; a gut level \u2018sense\u2019 of what a company, product, or service is.28<\/sup> The following examples draw attention to the ways in which creative, human-centred campaigns can consolidate a loyal brand following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dove Real Beauty Sketches<\/h3>\n\n\n\n \n