Why Data and creativity shouldn’t be like Erdogan and Trump.

Jochen Sablon
Sep 3, 2018 · 4 min read

Let’s be real, the term “data” isn’t the most sexy and appealing. Advertisers most likely think about databases, technical issues or GDPR. Or all of them combined. Creatives on the other hand usually put on their running shoes or grab their fixies when they hear about data.

This means it’s easier to send off a Tesla into space than to convince people that, when combined, data and creativity reinforce each other. Let me briefly try anyway…

What better way to prove a point than with examples. A while ago, the lovely people of Mediamonks (known as the new shiny new toy of Sir Martin Sorrell) made an impressive Youtube-campaign for the release of a new Netflix show - Narcos. Based on the subject and content of a search query on Youtube, you got served a custom Narcos preroll. In total, there were 1,4 million variations, all put together in real time. A great example of how data is not a result, but can be the very beginning of an abundant stream of tangible solutions for effective marketing at scale.

A second example is work we did with AdSomeNoise. Carglass is a very strong brand in the Belgian market and is top of mind when it comes to car windshield damage. However, they noticed that there was a significant opportunity in their online conversion. People with windshield damage easily ended up on their website, but along the funnel to book an appointment, they lost more than 80% of those people. When looking at the data, there was a clear drop off when people advanced to the ‘harder’ questions like fi insurance info or even license plate.

With this insight in mind, we organized a workshop. The result was a data driven dynamic display campaign where damage type (star or crack in the windshield) and car brand were the drivers of personalization. Both of these variables were asked early on in the funnel so before the main drop off points. People were retargeted with dynamically put together ads (so no insane amount of production). Animation, image of car brand dashboard and copy were all personalized. The results speak for themselves: an ROI of 290€ per euro media spend. The personalized ads worked 4 times better than generic retargeting ads.

There are many examples that prove that data and creativity shouldn’t be like Erdogan and Trump. You can use data in all phases of a campaign, the possibilities certainly aren’t limited to ‘good looking retargeting ads’. In the Carglass case, the creativity is very pragmatic because we’re in the middle of a sales funnel. The strong point is in the smart use of variables that drive personalization and the visualization of it. In other campaigns with different goals, there can be lots of creative ways to use data, even in an awareness phase.

Jeremy Carson - creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi & Data-driven creative - has a good way of putting it: Bringing data and creativity together lets us speak to people in a way we never could before, making it more personal and relevant to them. Technology should scale human creativity, not replace it.

I couldn’t agree more. In today’s war for attention, saying the right thing to the right person at the right time is more important than ever. A good creative idea will always stay — or probably even become more — important.

Maybe by now, you agree with me that there’s a point in this. Of course now you ask yourself the question on how to get this done?

Good question!

To make this work, there needs to be an alignment between different people and departments. Ones that in the past often weren’t even talking to each other. And that’s where one of the difficulties lies. Technical and creative profiles sometimes seem to come from different planets and speak a different language. It is essential to have a mediator or facilitator. Someone who understands or speaks both languages. This can be a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) or some other entity that operates between marketing and IT, or an external partner that has the authority and ability to do so. We like to organise workshops with Sprint methodology where the different necessary profiles are all in the same room and we can quickly go from data insights to ideation and a plan for execution.

Ownership and a mandate are key for the mediator, they are vital to not stuck at either data and insights or at the creative level. Maybe that’s what our friends in Turkey and the US need too?

__

This article was originally published on september 2nd in Media Marketing (Dutch & French)

Jochen Sablon

Written by

CSD at AdSomeNoise — Data x Creativity / Making music — Madou (www.madoumusic.com) / Designing and producing concrete objects — SMENT (www.sment.be)

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade