Creative tension? It’s time to embrace the possibilities of programmatic | M&M Global

Creative tension? It’s time to embrace the possibilities of programmatic

Ditch any nostalgia for the ‘Mad Men’ era of advertising – the rise of automation is a creative opportunity which too few in the industry are properly exploring, writes Alex Brownsell.

Creative tension

There was a watershed moment, at some point over the past decade, when ‘creativity’ was superseded by ‘innovation’ as the media industry’s favourite word to describe itself.

Perhaps it is because creativity is so hard to define, and impossible to bottle. In advertising terms, creativity has usually worn the face of a testy white male with unusual fashion and music tastes, best left to work alone in pursuit of that eureka moment. In comparison, innovation can be easily displayed to clients in many forms – be it an Apple Watch app or new data management platform.

The rise of technology has been accompanied by the triumph of the nerd. Agencies the world over are desperate to recruit data scientists and software developers; traditional creative thinking skills are, alone, no longer sufficient to guarantee success, no matter how impressive your CV. As the industry moves to automation, some people worry that creativity is in danger of becoming an afterthought.

Does creativity still have a role in the programmatic age? Unsurprisingly, the answer from the industry is a resounding ‘yes’ – but concerns still remain over the erosion of creative brand messaging in the face of a multitude of new, targeted delivery methods.

Mad Men

As audiences are treated to the final season of Mad Men, it is tempting to compare today’s media scene with the perceived halcyon days of Don Draper and co. Ad tech companies like MediaMath have joyously pounced upon the industry’s transition from “Mad Men to Math Men”.

Yet, according to Nick Hugh, Yahoo’s vice president and general manager, advertising EMEA, creatives should be excited by the increased possibilities offered by programmatic: “Creativity is the ability to be able to get a compelling and memorable piece of content to the right users. It is more than just the design – it’s about both design and format.

“Historically, when programmatic was only around standard formats in a desktop-based environment, there was a limit on creativity. But that is an early-days view. Where things are going now, it’s undoubtedly enabling greater and more effective creativity than we’ve seen in the past.”

With advertisers now able to buy mobile and video programmatically, the ability to create ever-more “compelling” marketing is increasing, adds Hugh.

Enhance results

Google’s UK head of publishers David McMurtrie is equally adamant that ad technology is opening up new opportunities for advertisers target consumers with creative, personalised messages. However, there is a chasm between what is possible and what is currently being achieved, he admits.

“It’s easy to assume that as media moves towards being a fully automated, data-driven transaction, the only thing that matters is performance. But, even amongst performance-driven remarketing advertisers, the impact of the right creative can greatly enhance results,” says McMurtrie.

“Extrapolate this to the brand world and it becomes obvious that the opportunities being opened up to more accurately target precise audiences require a lot more creative thought. It is a wasted opportunity to not fully exploit the power of audience targeting combined with the right creative message but this perfect world is still far from being the norm.

“Audiences are becoming more aware of the fact that advertisers are delivering a targeted message to them but sadly that message is frequently the wrong one.”

Creative potential

How best to extract the creative potential, then? For Nicolle Pangis (above), global chief revenue officer at WPP’s programmatic trading desk Xaxis, it is a question of bringing the two skill sets closer together.

“For me it’s the birth of a new type of creativity, which is technology-driven,” says Pangis. “The combination of tech and creative in the new world changes, but it doesn’t diminish. In fact, I would say the opposite. The combination of the two is of a far higher value to the advertiser.”

In the “pre-technology” days, creative teams had become separated from the rest of the business, reckons Pangis, but the rise of programmatic trading will force the creative and executional talent to work in an “inclusionary” rather than “exclusionary” way.

“The creative team is not necessarily the one driving the car from an operations perspective, but they can work closely with the people executing their campaigns. Distinct skill sets [still] are needed, but each skill-set must understand the other more than they used to,” says Pangis.

Old heads

Alejandro Clabiorne (below), regional managing director for PHD LatAm, goes further, questioning the very notion of a “debate” between the respective virtues of technology and creativity.

Just as the rise of automation in the car sector did not lead to a decline in creativity, nor will it do in the advertising and media industries, he argues: “For there to be a decline in creativity is to believe that creativity is finite. Automation will only give life to new forms of creativity that will use automation as a stepladder to reach higher creative levels.”

He believes that once of the industry’s “old heads” have been phased out by younger, digital natives – for whom programmatic is the norm – the perceived tension between tech and creativity will be put to bed for once.

“The ‘debate’ is the problem because it makes it seem as though creativity and automation cannot exist – that one has to choose between one or the other. That is very limiting, and is limiting our industry because the ‘old heads’ think that way,” says Clabiorne.

“I don’t see it as a positive or negative but a natural progression that is aligned to how our society as a whole is moving. Again, the youth do not see this separation, they don’t perceive it as we do.”

Always remember

The advice to agencies and advertisers, then, is to embrace new technology – but also to remember the integral value of the messages being delivered. Why? Because, in the words of iris APAC regional planning director, Mark Hadfield, “only an extraordinary idea will get consumers to lean in and give a shit”.

Brands risk overthinking the “hype” around programmatic, says Hadfield, as, in the eyes of users, it represents an “evolution, not a revolution” in consumer experience.

He adds: “There is a lot of chatter around new media techniques at the moments. If clients start to use these new techniques for the wrong reasons then the algorithms will temporarily win, but it’ll ultimately be a short-won battle because people power will fight back. Ultimately the media is not the message.”

Technology or creativity? It is a perennial question faced by every industry at the point of major reform. Some of the long-serving creative types in media may not enjoy the advent of automation, but it is here to stay.

The potential for truly personalised, relevant messaging has scarcely been tested – there is barely a case study worthy of the description. Rather than bemoaning an erosion of creative integrity, those with ideas should embrace the possibilities. Now that would be truly innovative.

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