Making effective marketing happen: Strategy first, then intelligent creative

If there’s one thing that marketing creatives from all sectors can agree on, it’s that the struggle of communicating the value of our work never ends. I would bet that every marketer could give at least one instance where they have been asked to produce a ‘visual’ or ‘creative concept’ of a final output before a hiring decision is made. 

Despite an overwhelming majority of organisations today claiming to value their staff and business partners above profits, so many do not extend this to their marketing and creative teams, expecting that effective creative can be produced in the blink of an eye, without strategic thought or expense of resources.  

After twenty years in marketing, I’m still astounded at the lack of knowledge around the relationship between marketing strategy and tactical outputs. I founded Unwritten based on a unique framework that emphasises the importance of strategy in informing effective creative work. This framework has time and again demonstrated excellent results and is what attracts clients to our services. 

Despite years of proven success, this strategy is often thrown out in the tender process, with clients asking for the final creative output before the agency is even appointed. What’s even more staggering, is that these tenders can often specify strategic work as part of the project requirement. 

This week Unwritten was again asked (by a household name that shall remain anonymous) to pitch for a strategic project that will inform a multi-channel campaign, but to include the creative idea in our pitch. Not only does this completely undermine the strategy piece of the project, but it also shows a real lack of understanding regarding effective and measurable creative.   

The key to marketing that earns results is strategy first and then creative. Neither should be rushed nor done for free. Impactful creative is an output of intelligent strategy. Good design without a strategic foundation is simply someone’s opinion. This is what led us to create Fabric; to reinforce the importance of practical training to give marketers an understanding of the full strategic process, and not just the applied tactics. 

At the root of this misunderstanding is sadly disrespect. Marketers and creative professionals of all kinds are often told that their work is ‘fluffy’, and at no time has this been more obvious than when our Government chose to tell creatives to retrain before providing them with the type of financial support that the banks were given in 2008.  

This issue plagues marketing creatives throughout their career. It begins with unpaid internships and continues into requests for free work or single in-house roles that have the requirements of a whole department and lacks the budget allocation needed to make an impact.  

In no other industry is this practice accepted. An accountant, a solicitor or a recruiter would never be asked to complete work before a contract was agreed. Asking a small business or freelancer to do free work before they’re appointed is unethical. Organisations should be able to appoint a strategic partner based on aligned values, a demonstrated understanding of the brief, and a reputation that is evidenced by statistical results and case studies.  

Marketing has such a huge impact on the growth of organisations and there needs to be an equal understanding and respect for the multitude of disciplines that make a strong marketing team. Thankfully, I am lucky to work with a huge range of clients that value our services and expertise. Here’s to us marketers aligning ourselves with organisations which respect our work, and standing firm in advocating for ourselves and the outstanding work that we do.