1. http://www.nxtbook.com/ygsreprints/ERA/g54082_era_sepoct2015/index.php#/24
September 1, 2015
Using Big Data to Enhance Creative
Jessica Hawthorne-Castro
In Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think,
authors Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier define “big data” as
information that is accessed at a large scale and can’t be seen on a smaller one. “It’s
about extracting new insights or creating new forms of value in ways that change
markets, organizations, the relationship between citizens and governments, and
more,” they write.
Few would argue the profound impact that big data has had on the business world,
and on marketing in particular. Defined by Gartner research analysts as “high-
volume, high-velocity, and high-variety information assets that demand cost-
effective, innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and
decision-making,” big data has pushed marketers to spend more time thinking about
exactly how their advertising investments and campaigns translate into bottom-line
benefits and corporate growth.
As this trend has advanced, the marketers that identify and use the data that
matters most are the ones that achieve better efficiencies, higher return on
investment (ROI), and better decision-making for the future. Smart marketers are
identifying opportunities that advance their brands’ positions and capabilities,

2. targeting new customers more efficiently, and serving their existing customers more
effectively.
But with so much information at their fingertips and a growing mandate to
determine which metrics matter most (and then harness them), are marketers still
allowed to be creative in their campaign efforts? Or, has big data killed creative
experimentation in its attempt to get down-and-dirty with the numbers?
At Hawthorne, we see the intersection of data and marketing as a particularly
creative junction in and of itself, based on the fact that it allows DR marketers to do
what they do best: create and develop effective campaigns that are engaging,
accountable, and on-point.
As its popularity and relevance has grown, big data has blurred the lines between
campaign data and creative, which have historically been “separate but equal” in
marketers’ minds. In the Advertising Week blog post “What Do We Mean When We
Talk About Digital Creativity?” Heather Taylor writes that “the more creative steps
outside of the marketing pool and wades into others—including design, research
and development, and customer service—the more it becomes just as vital to
contributing to the support and growth of a business as analytics.”
For example, big data can help target a specific consumer group more accurately by
defining the demographic more precisely, the regions in which those consumers
live, and the best possible TV, digital, and other media placement opportunities.
Whether your audience is the Southern housewife or the Northeastern business
owner, you can generate creative that truly speaks to that target. In this example, big
data makes you “smarter” and allows you to get even more granular with creative
messaging.
Not interested in launching a general advertising campaign that speaks to everyone
in the United States?
Great—you can use big data analytics to zero in on more specific audience groups.
That, in turn, translates into more specific media, distribution, and creative
decisions. Big data makes everything smarter, across the board.
When creative decisions factor in data on the front end, the potential for waste is
minimized. With fewer cuttings on the editing-room floor to trip over, creative
teams can focus on more important tasks and put their brilliant brains to work on
approaches that truly engage audiences across the spectrum—from TV to print to
digital to social, and everything in-between. As a marketer, you can push your
creative as hard as it can go, drive your media as far as it can go, and reduce the
margin for error. Few would argue the value of these benefits in a world in which
CMOs are pushed to generate top-level results at the lowest possible cost.
So while that startup company or veteran brand puts millions into a compelling
Super Bowl ad to build mass awareness, parlaying the same beautiful, branded

3. creative into a smaller, focused campaign driven by big data insights is the more
affordable and desirable goal for most. By effectively blending data with creative
and not making the two entities mutually exclusive (or worse, competitive),
marketers can keep the creative juices flowing while also achieving campaign
financial goals.