Creativity wins out, no matter how good the tech

We’ve all seen the visual of the myriad of different technologies that make up the adtech/martech world we live in. From DPSs, to DMPs and many more besides. All this technology is supposed to make marketers lives easier, enabling them to (if they so wish) take more of this in-house and do media themselves (or DMT for short).

So why isn’t this happening in practice? According to new research from Forrester, just 22% of businesses have active programmatic media operations, while 95% have in-house creative services. Forrester suggest that media may not be quite as simple as it seems and that humans still really matter.

For example, the analyst firm’s latest “The Forrester Wave™: Full-Service Media Agencies, Q1 2019” report highlights the value media agencies are building for their clients – beyond just technology. The findings point to agencies harnessing the power of technology and applying it in creative ways – whether that’s in selecting the medium, the message or the moment.

For many years, leverage within the media market was closely linked to sheer size and buying power. Technology added layers of complexity and nuance to that. But media agencies are seeing this complexity as opportunity, finding ever-more creative ways to buy smarter and take these issues head on.

These creative media agencies are also successfully making the connection between the brands with the context of the consumer. For example, MullenLowe Mediahub’s work for Netflix’s “Black Mirror” used display ads that hacked ad blocking technology, merging the message with the series’ themes around societal dependence upon technology.

Ultimately, media campaigns are only as intelligent as the insights and customer understanding that the agency (and brand) has at their disposal. But it’s also in the creativity, not the technology, that innovation and great work can be found.

This zenith of creativity, data and technology is something the DMA’s own Customer Engagement campaign has been investigating through events, labs and research over the last few years. To find out more about the latest views of marketers’ from this campaign, click below.

Customer Engagement: Marketers' view