Marketing Creative Idea Evaluation Is Flawed, Research Finds
With global advertising spending forecast to reach $1.1 trillion this year, new research suggests that up to a third of that ($350 billion) could be wasted due to misdirected work.
The research, conducted by marketing training and advisory company BetterBriefs and research agency Flood + Partners, in partnership with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), also found that only around one-third (36 percent) of marketers and about a quarter (26 percent) of agencies feel proud of their work.
Additionally, 54 percent of marketers and 75 percent of creative agencies believe creative work doesn’t stand out. And it’s not getting better. In fact, nearly half (47 percent) of marketers and three-quarters (76 percent) of agencies feel the quality of their creative work is not improving despite greater access to industry tools and a greater understanding of creativity.
And then, although 76 percent of marketers and 91 percent of creative agencies find strong creative ideas essential to the overall success of their marketing efforts, most describe the idea approval process as painful, slow, and subjective.
Just half (52 percent) of marketers believe their feedback is clear and constructive, and 30 percent of agencies agree. And just 27 percent of marketers and 30 percent of agencies feel well-trained in evaluating ideas.
Experienced marketers with at least 15 years in the industry have found success, according to the research, when they evaluate ideas on four key metrics:
- Is the idea engaging to the audience?
- Does the idea align with the original brief?
- Will the idea earn attention?
- Is the idea well-branded?
The research also found a significant lack of trust between marketers and agencies, which just compounds the problem. In response, BetterBriefs' founders, former agency strategists Matt Davies and Pieter-Paul von Weiler, recommend that marketers empower their agency partners. When they feel empowered, agency workers are three times more likely to produce work of which they are proud. But currently only 29 percent feel empowered.