It’s the high fashion brand that isn’t a stranger to controversy, but with its ‘fashionable’ garbage bags and distasteful campaigns, is Balenciaga just trolling us for clicks?

Starting in 1919, Balenciaga is a luxury fashion brand based in Paris, France. Catering to the uber-rich, the brand is in a saturated market, surrounded by Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci and Christian Dior. It’s a tricky world to stand out in, and Balenciaga is doing its best, but perhaps it’s pushing the envelope too far just to drive attention and clicks rather than being serious about its craft.

Balenciaga and its history of strange products

Everyone knows that designer items are priced high. Some are eye-wateringly high. A paperclip from Tiffany and Co. can set a buyer back $1200, and in 2016 Paris Fashion Week, luxury streetwear brand Vetements showcased a DHL delivery logo t-shirt that retailed for close to $400 AUD. But, when it comes to impractical products for even more impractical prices, Balenciaga takes the overpriced gaudy crown.

A Tiffany and Co. paper clip will go for around $1500.

Habitually going viral, the luxury fashion brand pushes the boundaries more and more each season of what it can get away with, and now it seems that people are starting to become suspicious that these products aren’t for the budding fashionista, but are a means to go viral.

Take the $2000 garbage bag, for example. In 2022, the brand released what was a glorified garbage bag. A cool $2400 USD to make it seem like you forgot to drop the rubbish into the bin as you walked out of the house. 

Balenciaga’s garbage bag.

That same year, Balenciaga released earrings made out of shoelaces. Fashioned into a bow, the shoelace earrings would set someone back $261 USD. The product sold out.

Designer shoelace earrings.

And, if you’re after someone’s worn sneakers and Facebook Marketplace isn’t an option for you, than Balenciaga is charging a very reasonable $1800 USD for a pair of beat-up high tops that look like the wearer attended Coachella, Splendour in the Grass and Glastonbury in the same pair of shoes, with no breaks in between.

Once again, the dirty shoes ran out the door. The products have all sold out. 

Second hand shoes or designer goods?

But, have they really?

Sold out is only as impressive as the number of items for sale to begin with – something that Balenciaga doesn’t disclose. So, when an item only has a few in stock to begin with, is it really that impressive to sell out of a grotesquely-priced garbage bag? 

Is it all just to go viral?

What Balenciaga is doing successfully is creating conversation. Whether it be criticism or praise, people are unpacking the items to try and work out what the point of it is. Balenciaga has been one of the most discussed luxury brands of the last decade, and at the end of day, luxury fashion has an overlap in art, and if art is to be discussed then perhaps Balenciaga is crossing the line into the territory of art.

Balenciaga’s search data in the last ten years.

Or, alternatively, the brand is the master of going viral – even if it means being in the firing line of criticism.

He might be known for directing Hollywood hits like Baby Driver and Shaun of the Dead, but the latest work from director Edgar Wright sure has eyebrows raising. Causing a stir online, Wright has created the perfect ad for, of all things, McDonalds.

The ad features an office place, with a bevy of hungry workers who communicated wordlessly to convey what they want: a McDonald’s lunch. As the crowd of hungry workers starts to grow, they all acknowledge their hunger with a simple raise of the eyebrows. A signal not only of hunger, but where to go. The famous Golden Arches. 

What has Edgar Wright done differently?

But it’s not just that the ad has been directed by a Hollywood hitmaker, but it’s something else that has the creative community buzzing. It’s what isn’t shown. The product itself. 

It’s a bold move to not show the product. It relies heavily on brand recognition. 

Edgar Wright weaves recognition into the ad seamlessly. From a woman clad in the famous red and yellow at the start of the ad, to the eyebrow raising emulating the Golden Arches, it’s the nuances in the ad that make it such a bold statement. 

In short, this ad throws away the rule book. But, the results are paying dividends. Although a UK ad, people from all over the world are discussing it. It will be used in university classrooms as a look at branding. And, at the very crux of it, it certainly made me want some Maccas.

While podcasting is a tantalising addition to the marketing mix, Sophie Walker, host of the popular podcast Australian Birth Stories urges marketers to lead with the ethics

2022 was the year Australians became the biggest podcast listeners in the world. Forty percent of us are tuning in every month, dedicating just over seven hours per week to listening to our favourite podcasts. No matter what you’re into, you’re likely to be spoilt for choice. There’s over two million podcasts to choose from globally and over 73 million episodes. 

Like any trend that captures the public’s imagination, brands have jumped on the bandwagon. From Telstra to Tinder, it seems like every organisation on earth is dipping its toe in podcasting. While some are absolute fizzers (I’m not naming names), others such as Beauty IQ from online beauty retailer Adore Beauty, transcend its marketing purpose and become mainstays in the podcasting landscape. Consistently ranked in the top five in the Apple Australia’s Fashion and Beauty charts, Beauty IQ is an organic extension of the Adore Beauty brand. It perfectly captures the awkward and hilarious side of beauty, capitalising on this authenticity to build trust and community with its audience.       

There’s no denying, podcasts are a good marketing move

They’re a beacon of owned media. It offers control over the marketing message, the opportunity to find new audiences and the space to build engaged communities. While social media often serves up algorithmic whiplash, owned channels such as podcasts, emails and websites take the power away from Zuckerberg and allow for more control over the success of marketing strategy. 

Take BedThreads for instance. By heavily investing in their owned content, BedThreads grew its email database of over 300,000 in four years. Rather than bombard their email list with one sales message after another, it presented beautifully curated lifestyle content that added value to subscribers. Not bad for an online organisation shilling sheets.

Much like email, your podcast subscribers are actively choosing to engage

Podcasts make for a lovely experience when building a community. I’ve been podcasting for seven years, and it’s allowed me to form deep connections with mothers craving connection and a safe space. It’s also acted as a launchpad to other ventures and is still my main marketing channel. 

However for brands looking to add podcasting to the marketing mix: be warned. Brands can’t simply jump behind the podcast mic and wait for the metrics to swing in their favour. Out of respect for the audience, we need to pay particular attention to the ethics of our programming. 

There may be great value in podcasting but with that, comes great responsibility

While the major platforms have content guidelines, there are no specific standards that podcasters have to adhere to. Mostly we’re left to our own devices to make smart decisions around the content we produce. 

Brands, and by extension the podcasts they produce, aren’t journalists. They’re not held to the same ethical standards as a news channel. But they are broadcasting to potentially large audiences that they have a responsibility to protect. Along with a responsibility to the brands they look after. 

For me, this has meant turning down five figure ad deals and deleting podcasts that I’ve felt were at risk of putting mothers in danger. 

Brands need to be even more rigorous with who they partner with and the guest appearance they allow on their podcasts. This means doing the research. Next year, Young Folks is predicting a rise in purpose-led brands investing in ethical marketing practices. But also significant greenwashing. In order to produce responsible and ethical content, brands need to ensure all the components align with their vision and values. 

For anyone that’s not sure where to start, Social Traders, B-Corp and Climate Active are some of the certifications that you can look out for when choosing who to partner with.  

As always, ask yourself ‘what’s in it for the audience?’ 

I get enough targeted ads on social media to know when a brand is adding value and when they’re trying to spray ‘n pray me into (costly) action. If there’s nothing in it for your audience, you have nothing interesting to say and you offer no value, why invest valuable brand spend in this channel? 

Branded podcasts are riding the wave of ethics, audience and commercial decision making. But at the end of the day, it’s not dissimilar to any other marketing channel. As marketing becomes more personalised and content is placed at the forefront of strategy, the brands that put their audience first will be the ones that succeed in 2023. 

Sophie Walker is the founder and host of Australian Birth Stories podcast that has over 11 million downloads and is endorsed by the Australian College of Midwives. Every week on the podcast she shares an interview with a woman who steps into her most vulnerable space to detail all the precious details of her pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience. 

Sophie’s first book, The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, published by Murdoch Books hits stands in February 2023.

The school year has come to an end. As school leavers bring their weary bodies back from Schoolies and get summer jobs, the next big hurdle has come: school results. But what might seem like a momentous life moment will be soon forgotten, as your school results don’t really dictate the future.

Growing up, school results were everything. At high school in Brisbane, getting your OP (Overall Performance) was a huge day. After people received the fruits of their high school labour, landlines all over the country rang to find out if you had ‘beaten’ your mates. Our intelligence was being judged on a sliding scale, and then measured against our classmates. I struggled with the anxiety of getting summed up so easily. Had a bad year? Made a mistake? Weren’t cut out for traditional education? This didn’t matter, our results were reflected in one single number on a piece of paper.

This week, school leavers all over the country are receiving their final scores. Some will celebrate, while others commiserate. Parents will be disappointed, and people will lie about what the number really said – you don’t want to be perceived as ‘stupid’ surely?

The message today is one that has been said before, but bears repeating: these numbers mean nothing. Marketing and advertising isn’t brain surgery (although in some boardrooms, pitches are decimated more than a surgeon could ever imagine). Yet, high scores are expected to get into marketing, advertising, and journalism degrees. Someone will need to have once performed well in a maths’ class to be able to interpret creatively a brief about advertising Heinz Ketchup. 

Make it make sense!

Talking to creative director and consultant Jess Wheeler, it turns out that these scores mean absolutely nothing if you have dreams to create, to invent, to break the rules and push the boundaries. 

“The education system is rooted in the Industrial era, it’s designed to produce cogs,” says Wheeler.

“ATAR isn’t a general measure of ‘intelligence or creativity. It’s not someone’s value as an employee. It’s a measure of conformity and ability to memorise and regurgitate information,” he continues. 

Creativity isn’t learned in a classroom. It isn’t taught through the grind of traditional schooling. Someone with the best HSC score in the country won’t be able to crack a hard brief from a client, but perhaps the naughty kid at the back will be able to write an ad that stays with you for long after the product has left our shelves.

“Marketing and advertising is about breaking convention, bending rules, standing out. My entire school life I was told to sit in the corner and shut up. I was told to ‘stop being disruptive’. Now, that’s what I get paid to do,” Wheeler tells Marketing mag. 

So, the advice for those who cracked open that envelope (or is it a text these days?) and saw a number that didn’t reflect the career path they want to pursue, it doesn’t matter.

“If you didn’t get the ATAR you wanted, or what others told you that you needed, don’t worry about it. No one has ever given a sh*t about mine,” says Wheeler.

Trigger warning: This piece contains reference to eating disorders and substance abuse. If you or someone you love is in crisis, proceed with caution, and reach out to Butterfly for support. 

After years of building every body up, we’re about to tear everything down – and discard our principles in the process. 

From Paloma Elsesser gracing the cover of U.S. Vogue’s December 2020 issue, to Ashley Graham’s overall commercial superstardom, it had appeared that we were out of the woods when it came to diversity, representation and inclusion within the world of fashion. Finally we were moving away from a very specific type of body that would usually be seen strutting down a  runway,  or adorning the front covers of international fashion bibles. In the creative industry, we’ve seen more of the same – mums that look like real mums, able and disabled bodies running in the same race, and a more accurate representation of what the real world looks like in creative campaigns. Yet, with the New York Post’s November article ‘Bye-bye booty: Heroin chic is back’, it looks like we’re tinkering on the precipice of taking a bountiful leap backwards. 

First things first – “heroin chic” isn’t cool. It’s actually terrifying. 

The term “heroin chic” is an oddly familiar and dark one, drawing parallels to something that isn’t as glamorous as nostalgia wishes to believe. Popularised by 90s it-girls and photographers eliciting ‘strung-out’ expressions for campaign shoots, the commodification of addiction, and often eating disorders, took pop culture by storm. The obsession continued with famous women’s bodies and speculations around their drug of choice subsequently featured in heavy coverage of both in tabloids, largely seen in the early 2000s to mid 2010s. It’s hard to ignore the impact that fashion trends have had on the creative industry and media at large, and the ability that spring/summer shows have on shifting the minds of millions of women. With the supposed return of this “aesthetic”, we’re again walking a very thin line, and it has the power to hurt younger generations across the globe. 

The thing is that trends creep up on you so slowly. It happens that one day you’re ordering your 60-year-old dad Crocs with personalised Jibbitz for Christmas. The only thing is – the Crocs in question are cute, not seriously life-threatening. We can’t ignore that the so-called return of “heroin chic” has been a slow burn. Perhaps distracted by genuine or sometimes performative inclusivity, we seem to forget the power that the human body holds in the creative industry – sometimes leaving us wondering if it’s “sex” or “skinny” that truly sells. 

Despite the threat of “heroin chic” returning to the masses, there is something important to call out – in no way should we be skinny shaming either. Every body is created differently, and we can’t ignore that some fall into the aesthetic of “heroin chic”. There are many women across the world with an inability to gain weight, no matter how hard they may try. Yet, with roughly one percent of Australians classified as underweight in a nationwide survey, brands – the fashion industry and beyond – would have you thinking this was the majority of Australians, or the default so to speak. 

According to a global study, 65 percent of consumers believe that it’s important that the companies they buy from actively promote inclusion and diversity in their own business, or promote it to society as a whole. From a commercial perspective for brands, promoting fair and equal representation across the board can actually directly affect a business’ return-on-investment. So why are some brands so hesitant to adapt, and acknowledge that the consumers who interact and purchase their products, or buy into their messaging, all look completely different?

It’s not all doom and gloom though. When looking at Australian brands operating in the intimates space in Australia, brand Modibodi’s continued plight to banish social taboo’s around menstruation rings true with menstruators, ensuring its period-related content isn’t gendered. When looking at sustainable intimates and loungewear brand Boody, its e-commerce and campaigns cast talent of different sizes, races, gender-identities and ages to showcase its product range. There are most certainly brands driving the accurate representation of Australian society in its creative outputs, and dedication to the breaking down of social stigma – it is becoming more and more prevalent. So, let’s keep it up. For the love of our mental health, please. 

It’s these kinds of “body” trends that hold the power to take over all creative materials we see, and honestly can impact so many lives in such a negative way. As a woman, thinking of the way I saw myself ten years ago, versus now – it would be hard to ignore the impact that advertising, and media as a whole, had on my self-esteem, and the way I saw myself as a woman of colour in Australia. And with the threat that “heroin chic” is back, it’s nerve wracking. We all have a part to play. And no, we can’t, and shouldn’t, keep blaming it on the Kardashians. There are so many more people in the room who need to take responsibility here.

So, where do we go from here?

As creatives, we often craft and guide an initial brand’s brief, it’s important to outline the impact that creative campaigns can have – outside of its potential revenue return. We want to ensure that brands are contributing to positive cultural movements, not perpetuating ones rooted in generating low self-esteem for the consumer. Cultural trends may come and go, but the prioritisation of one’s well-being and overall health will never wane. And if these trends are too hard to resist? Create your own. It’s integral to realise there is an opportunity to not just react to trends, but to drive them – and drive them for the better. Especially when projected trends have the power to undo recent years of positive change, and individual betterment. 

We can do better, and we have to. We’re all counting on change – in the right direction. 

Apple has shown off the abilities of its suite of products in the latest campaign “The Greatest”. The ad shows off the accessibility features available on iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Mac Books. 

Following in the tradition of powerful campaigns, this year Apple has gone above and beyond. The ad focuses on those with different ability levels, from people in wheelchairs, different bodies, and a deaf person, Apple highlights how its products assist with different ability levels.

The Greatest

Ahead of International Day of People with Disabilities on 3 December, the two and a half minute spot features voice over, voice control, image and people detection mode, assistive touch and other features that have been designed to make the lives of those with differing levels of ability easier.

The ad is a positive step for representation within the media. Statistics show that over 15 percent of the world’s population lives with disability, yet on screen there is a serious problem with this group being represented. Apple has managed to achieve representation, without tokenism nor a push to be too ‘woke’ – often a criticism with tokenistic representation.

It’s easy to be cynical about this ad, there’s no denying that. Apple is a huge corporation that is no stranger to criticism and controversy. And yes, “The Greatest” at its most simple is a marketing tool. But, in a world of Elon Musk’s taking control of public speech and giving platforms for hate speech in an effort to have a war with the “woke left”, perhaps there is room for another corporation to cut-through the oversaturation of content with a message from and for the disabled community. 

If Apple didn’t release this ad, and didn’t challenge the audience to view the challenges of those with disabilities and how an Apple product can greatly improve their day-to-day lives – then we wouldn’t be talking about it. We wouldn’t be forced into a conversation around the representation of disabled bodies. Perhaps it’s a little too on the nose, but surely this is better than the alternative – which is to continue seeing the familiar faces, bodies, abilities that we have always seen on screen. Nothing is challenged for fear of being criticised as it being a marketing ploy. 

Yes, Apple wants us to buy the products on screen. It’s an ad, not a short film, but it’s an engaging and important piece of work. 

Indigenous Australians represented

Bringing the representation closer to home, the ad’s soundtrack is performed by female Australian Indigenous singers Spinifex Gum. The lyrics have been taken directly from the famous Muhammad Ali speach “I am the Greatest”. It creates an upbeat and celebratory tone for the spot.

Perhaps it’s too simplistic to think that this ad will change the future of advertising – but we’ve seen through the years that Apple’s ability to create powerful ads has changed cultural discourse, if only for a moment.

With many Aussies putting their trust in what they find on social media, is now the time to remove your voice from the social media platform? SenateSHJ’s head of health and social change, Jodie Wrigley, asks the question.

In the last few weeks, we have watched the Twittersphere begin to unravel as Elon Musk continues to make significant changes, gearing up in preparation for his “Twitter 2.0”. The changes have included large scale redundancies and the controversial reinstatement of social media users like Donald Trump and Andrew Tate. 

The consequences for the platform have already been costly. High profile brands Volkswagen, United Airlines and Audi among others have suspended ad spend or deleted their accounts on the platform altogether. With these mainstream brands deserting the platform should we be considering the impact on the broader social discourse?

Fake news already spreads faster than fact on social media and as communicators, we understand how online dis- and misinformation can change people’s understanding of issues, and their subsequent behaviour. It promotes distrust, divides, polarises, and wreaks havoc on social cohesion and togetherness. 

Despite the ongoing efforts to combat misinformation, the already challenged guardrails are further diminished by less staff and Musk’s own recent misinformation blunder, proving we can’t rely on media conglomerates to solve this problem.

Aussies will act on what they see, read or hear on social media

With the majority (82.7 percent) of Australia’s population on social media and social media accounting for almost one-third of the time spent online, we haven’t escaped the prolific power of social media in our corner of the globe.  

In fact, a snapshot survey taken as part of the SenateSHJ 2022 Togetherness Index report reveals the opposite. Australians are being influenced by social media, while trust in communications from business and media drops for the third survey in a row.

The research found almost two in five (37 percent) Australians consider the information they find on social media as effective at keeping them informed. A fifth (20 percent) of Australians will act on what they see, read or hear on social media and a similar proportion feel positive about the communication they see. 

Critical sources of information are struggling to get cut through as more and more Australians switch off to communication coming from Government, businesses, and traditional media.

We are less likely to act on what we hear from these sources, with just over a quarter (27%) of Australians believing that information communicated by large businesses on issues of relevance is trustworthy and even less (21 percent) finding that the communication influences behaviour. Instead, the influence of social media is holding, despite the spread of misinformation online. 

So, is quitting Twitter or any social media the answer? 

First and foremost, it’s a question of values and if Twitter 2.0 meets the expectations that staff and customers have for an organisation. 

Second, it’s about an organisation’s social responsibility. And if a business decides to have a role in protecting and strengthening social cohesion.  

If the future of Twitter is an unmoderated space for divisive discourse and leaving the platform is the response from businesses signalling opposition, then perhaps it’s time for organisations to think more broadly about their role in community togetherness.

Jodie Wrigley, Head of Health and Social Change at SenateSHJ

Billy Loizou, prominent Australian tech industry figure and Amperity’s go-to APAC marketing expert, says Google finally phasing out cookies isn’t the only thing digital businesses need to worry about in the next 12-24 months.  

In mid-2022, the Seattle-headquartered, Customer Data Platform (CDP) provider Amperity opened its premier Australian office and hired me to drive growth in the APAC region. After almost six months in the job and with the new year looming large, I strongly believe Australian businesses need to start getting their house in order now to get ahead in 2023. 

From finally harnessing the power of first-party data to data protection and the benefit of having a proper CDP on your side to make sense of messy customer data, my predictions are below.

The imminent ‘cookie apocalypse’ will force brands to prioritise first-party data

 Google said it was getting rid of cookies in 2022 but then delayed it to 2024 without specifying a date for the dawn of a cookieless world. This has led some organisations to become more relaxed than they should be. However, in case you missed it, Apple and Mozilla have already led the charge here, and it is already causing brand challenges. So why are we waiting for Google?

Whether it’s Google getting rid of cookies, Apple making mobile ad tracking harder or governments introducing more legislation – such as the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which is going into full effect on 1 January 2023 – things are only trending in one direction with data privacy. Any business that hasn’t already gotten its first-party data act together needs to prioritise that in 2023. 

First-party data must be leveraged to drive customer retention 

Few economists expect anything other than challenging conditions in 2023. Customer metrics drive business metrics, and I think businesses will be more reliant than ever on a first-party data strategy next year to hold on to customers and remain one step ahead of their ever-evolving purchasing habits. 

What I’ve been hearing from the U.S. is that marketing budgets are under pressure. Businesses are increasingly focused on retaining their existing customers rather than spending big to acquire new ones. In relation to e-commerce, it’s not so much that consumers have stopped spending altogether – they are just buying different things. For instance, they’re now picking up a $30 lipstick every month rather than a $60 facial cream.

With supply chains being what they are, it’s crucial to pick up shifts in consumer preferences ASAP. Comprehensive, readily accessible, first-party data also makes it easier for businesses to understand what their customers want when they are feeling unsettled and financially stressed.   

The ongoing cybersecurity challenge of the Big Data era will persist

I’ve long advocated that Australian businesses take data protection seriously. But there’s simply no way for any organisation to avoid the possibility of data breaches. If businesses are going to collect and use customer data – and it’s really no longer an option for them not to – that will always provide cybercriminals with a larger attack surface to exploit. The question that begs to be asked is, ‘Is enough business value generated to justify the inevitable risk involved in collecting and using customer data?’ Most of the time, the answer will be yes. 

Australian consumers are more understanding and forgiving than screaming headlines might suggest. I’d be surprised to see a significant number of Optus customers depart due to the recent hack. Americans didn’t stop shopping at Target when it suffered a huge breach in 2013. Unfortunately, companies can invest in best-practice cybersecurity and still get hacked.

We are better together

The idea of a magic-bullet solution is understandably appealing. The catch is that these solutions rarely work out well. Think about data warehouses and data lakes, for example. They offer a trusty solution for centralised data storage. The thing is, that’s all they do. 

While centralised data storage systems like warehouses and lakes are great ways to keep all the data together, especially at the scale most enterprises deal with (we’re talking hundreds of billions of data points), they don’t organise and cleanse the data so that you can make the most out of it. 

It’s far from a ‘one and done’ solution. That’s where a CDP like Amperity comes in. It powers up your data warehouse or data lake by:

1. Cleaning customer data for superior ID resolution, providing teams answers to key questions about customer behaviour
2. Providing built-in attributes that neatly lay out all the information needed to gain a picture of each customer, so you can perform advanced segmentation to find and reach the right audiences for a given campaign
3. Managing workflows to activate use cases and bring the data to life
4. Speeding up time to insights by providing access for non-technical teams
5. Feeding data seamlessly into a range of different tools

2023 is the year for brands and organisations to embrace a ‘better together’ mentality when it comes to their data needs. 

DCR + CDP = a match made in (data) heaven

Data clean rooms (DCRs) aren’t perfect. However, they do supply advertisers with access to information they otherwise wouldn’t have. And, especially with the impending demise of third-party cookies, every piece of information is gold. 

As privacy rules become stricter, DCRs will skyrocket in popularity. In fact, recent predictions indicate that by 2023, 80 percent of advertisers with media buying budgets over $1 billion will use DCRs.

However, a DCR is only an extension of a first-party data strategy. Connecting a CDP to a DCR allows first-party data to be anonymised and analysed alongside third-party sources. A CDP can also receive data from the DCR in the form of segments or targeted audiences it can then share with connected marketing platforms for activation.

Think of it this way: You can use Venmo or PayPal without a checking account attached to it, but it’s a much better experience (with better outcomes) if they are connected. Together, a DCR and a CDP allow organisations to manage, process and analyse their data in a way that’s efficient, safe and compliant.

Hybrid and remote working has brought much-needed flexibility to the lives of many workers, however, it does come with some disadvantages for those working in roles – like marketing – that rely on collaboration to deliver creative ideas and campaigns. Optimzely’s director of technology and growth, Nicola Ayan, explores.

A recent report from Optimizely revealed that dispersed and remote work has impacted marketers’ abilities to drive creativity and provide strong customer experiences (CX). The findings show the pandemic significantly impacted marketing creativity, largely due to dispersed and remote teams, and a lack of effective technology and collaboration tools. So are marketers less creative in the new era of remote and hybrid work?

Does remote work hinder creativity?

Remote work makes it much harder for teams to collaborate and be creative. By its very nature, remote work means that employees are working separately from their colleagues and this means that fewer connections between team members are built. Since team members do not interact with each other in person as much as in the past, it makes it difficult for teams to be creative and benefit from widespread collaboration. 

Nine in 10 marketers say that their ideas were better before the pandemic and that a dispersed workforce was impacting their creativity. Although marketers feel less creative in the era of remote and hybrid work, there are steps they can take to create a collaborative environment that inspires creativity from their team.    

Provide greater visibility and promote inclusive collaboration

It’s no secret that since the pandemic, there’s been a preference for more flexible and hybrid roles. Gone are the days where effective communication, collaboration and communication can exclusively be done face-to-face. Now, it’s all about leveraging the right collaboration tools that provide greater visibility for everyone in the business, and support ideation across teams with a structured process. 

For example, to promote inclusive ideation and collaboration, organisations can leverage technology to provide a way for all employees to be able to raise ideas and work requests efficiently to the marketing team. Consequently, marketers need to be able to prioritise those ideas and execute on them with the right governance and workflows in place. Visibility over intake management, ideation, collaboration, and execution will align teams on the organisation’s overall strategy without being impacted by hybrid and remote working. 

Infuse creativity with science 

Digitally mature marketing teams are not intimidated by science. They embrace a ‘test-and-learn’ culture and understand that experimentation is a key component to continuously innovate in an ever-changing landscape. They know that large investments do not guarantee success, and sometimes small changes can have a big impact. 

Running experiments can help guide organisations in the right direction. When you don’t know the answer to a question, or if there are conflicting opinions in the team about an idea, there’s no better way to find out the answer by testing the idea. When experimentation is part of the culture of the team, ideation is democratised, and in the process, organisations will fail fast, learn fast, and win big.

Technology to improve the employee experience

The organisation’s expectations of their marketing teams and that of their CMO, have never been higher. According to Optimizely’s CEO, Alex Atzberger, digital marketing was not on the radar of a CMO a decade ago. Now, it is the number one priority. Customers are online, and so are employees. 

Investing in the right digital experience platform is key and organisations need to take into account the employee experience when selecting the right technology. The technology needs to promote inclusive collaboration, confident content creation and offer customer foresight. It must empower marketers to continuously create and optimise customer experiences.

Creativity drives exceptional and innovative digital experiences 

Remote and hybrid work won’t be going away anytime soon, so there is a real need for marketers to continue looking for ways to inspire creativity within their team. Since creativity is an essential ingredient for innovation, marketers must continue experimenting and building creative campaigns and experiences in this new way of working. 

For example, leading e-commerce fashion retailers continue to prioritise creativity by looking for opportunities to reinvent and innovate their digital experience to meet consumer expectations. The retail business constantly makes improvements to its website by using technology to inform a proper, data-led approach. By prioritising creativity and unlocking the power of digital technologies, it has been able to lead the market, rather than follow. 

The pandemic required all marketing teams to rethink not just how they define creativity, but how they inspire it and deliver creative experiences to customers. By implementing effective digital technologies that enhance creativity and encourage collaboration, marketers can ensure that they deliver exceptional digital experiences and unlock their digital potential.

Most people don’t like most ads, they are free and have little value. In fact we dislike them so much that many behaviours have arisen to avoid them.  One of the issues with bombarding ads at people is it can cue ‘reactance’. Psychological reactance is an aversion to being coerced into something or feeling like our free will is being taken away from us. It’s the feeling you get when you know somebody is trying to sell you something, and can manifest in psychological (tuning them out) or physical (turning them off) avoidance.

But now Netflix has launched a paid option with ads, charging consumers more for the ‘joy’ of not having to watch ads.  Therefore, some people are  no longer being forced to view the ads, but instead they can ‘opt into’ paying less, and  watch the ads as part of their entertainment experience. It’s a choice.

When it comes to ‘choices’ we have a psychological need to maintain consistency between our actions, feelings and thoughts (pay attention here or forget the rest of the article).  When these things go out of whack it causes cognitive dissonance and our minds contort to remove the dissonance (Festinger, 1957). Most of us consider ourselves to have pretty good will power and make very conscious choices, but if we’re about to finish our third donut in as many minutes we’ll likely hear ourselves saying  ‘I did a lot of walking today so this is fine.’, ‘I’ll do some extra exercise tomorrow.’ or maybe even  ‘Donuts aren’t actually that bad for you.’ Most of us aren’t going ‘I’m a piece of shit with no will power.’ …that’s probably more of a fourth donut thing.

There is an interesting experiment that demonstrates cognitive dissonance impacting choice evaluation. People were shown faces and asked to choose who they thought was attractive. Then they were presented with their choices and asked to justify them. However, due to a sleight of hand, one group was shown faces they didn’t actually choose but were told ‘you chose this face, why?’ and how did they respond? They went on to justify all the reasons this face was more attractive (Nakamura & Kawabata, 2013). So strong was the need to maintain a consistent narrative behind their choices that participants were willing to make up an explanation for a choice they didn’t even make. This is the power of cognitive dissonance. We can’t handle an inconsistency in our choices and our thoughts so we find a way to resolve it.

So in the case of Netflix’s ad-filled option people are not only ‘choosing’ to view ads for the first time they’re paying for it. If you are choosing to view ads and investing in an ad-filled option, then you’ll start to justify the decision to yourself with self talk like ‘the ads aren’t that bad’. Why would you knowingly subject yourself to something like this if it were truly awful? You wouldn’t, you’ll probably tell other people the ads are pretty good. 

The implications for this are interesting. If people choose (and I use that word relatively loosely) to watch the ads, and they like the ads more, will the advertising garner more attention? Will the ads exposed under these conditions therefore be more effective (cue Karen Nelson-Fields next experiment?)  

Or take the argument further, should free to air TV start to ask people to pay so they value the viewing experience more – you don’t value what you don’t pay for is kind of true. Take the learnings of the ‘price placebo’ – in short the more you pay for anything the better we think it is.  

People choosing to pay for our ads, utopia isn’t far away!

Matt Plant is the head behavioural science thinker at Thinkerbell.