Your creative team and marketing team are at odds. How do you bridge the gap between vision and strategy?

Creative and marketing clashes are good - because most often they bring out the best results. When treated as frank and open debates, they sharpen the brief and expand the mind. The issue probably stems from the fact that marketing mandates tend to be as numbers to be achieved and creative mandates are measured as breakthrough ideas to be imagined. Narrowing down both streams into one funnel with one single-minded end goal could help ease the friction. At all times, as a leader, ensure that the conversation remains about the task and not about the personalities involved. A good strategy fulfils every responsibility assigned to it. It is not a choice between creative and marketing solutions - you need to meet the quality standards on both.

To bridge the gap between your creative and marketing teams through open communication, establish shared goals, encourage collaboration and leverage data-driven insights. By cultivating a culture of understanding and cooperation, you can ensure that your creative efforts effectively align with their marketing strategy and drive successful outcomes. Its a team game so that you should try to keep all the members on the same page for smooth transition.

It's all a different form of Checks and Balances. Creatives need the space to do the best work; Marketing needs to help manage what is required and when. Both need to respect the time and energy taken to do the best job, keep each other in line with efficiency, and make the best product for the required outcomes. It takes time and practice, probably a few points of contention, but collaboration is all about - meeting in the middle and checking the necessary boxes, and more if there is room.

Vision and strategy? They’re siblings who fight over the same room. The creative team dreams; the marketing team grounds those dreams in reality. The gap isn’t the problem—it’s a feature. Your job is to help them see it as tension, not a tug-of-war. Start with *why* the idea matters. Creatives need freedom to stretch, but marketers need it to *work*. Translate the creative vision into outcomes the marketing team can run with. Create space where both sides feel heard, where the impossible meets the practical. Marry emotion with metrics. Vision doesn’t have to compromise, but it has to "communicate". That’s where strategy comes in.

I focus on clear communication, aligning both teams around shared goals. By emphasizing how creative ideas support marketing strategies, I create a collaborative environment where both sides feel heard and valued.