How to Ally Data and Creativity

Data is truly the new buzzword of our generation and a tool we have to master. Because it shows us new way to bring interest into customer’s life and meet their true expectations. Yet, many only used as a way to justify an idea, as a strong proof of an intuition, rather than to illuminate or guide a creative solution. It seems like we deal with data on the one hand, and creativity on the other hand. But, what if data and creativity were processed and thought at the same time in order to be both pertinent and inventive?

It seems that Spotify took this path when the brand launched its campaign called ‘Playlist.’ Showcasing the different playlists (which are made by the users) available on the platform was a clever way of highlighting the brand’s interest in their consumers. Putting them at the center of the ads, and celebrating their peculiarities—which really just shows how they make the service their own—is a great way to ally data and creativity.

Ikea also had a creative way of using data with its campaign “Retail Therapy.” They identified that people were secretly asking Google for help with about their relationship, typing things into the search engine such as “he can’t say he loves me;”; “my husband snores, what can I do ?”… So they decided to use this information to improve the SEO ranking of the brand. In the end, every search for common relationship problem led to a renamed Ikea product that solved the problem. Using data creatively, the brand invented an emotional prism of using paid search and hacked Google with brand creativity.

Those examples teach us that data can’t be thought of as separate from creativity. We have to link it, because it offers us super rich content and insights to target our audience. We already use data when we search for creative concepts, but we have to do more, we have to understand every step of the shopper process and add creativity to this huge amount of content.

Contributed by:Jeanne Le Barbenchon, Integer Paris

Image Source: Vimeo