The new performance creative: Where emotion, data and technology converge

Creative over the years has ranged from being driven by pure emotion to being driven by pure data. Both are equally important, and the convergence of the two is what is steering today’s most effective creative. As for tomorrow’s best creative, one of the biggest shifts we are seeing now is how technology is impacting the output.

Successful brands and agencies of the future will be able to connect creative with emotion, data and technology to connect, engage and make a meaningful and emotional connection.

This post will examine the role that each of the three plays in performance/acquisition-focused marketing.

To convert, you must first connect

Let’s first examine the role of emotion with creative and how it plays an important role in getting a customer to convert. I’m a firm believer that some of the best creative comes from the heart and not always from data.

One of my favorite examples of a brand that understands how to design to create an emotional connection is Nike. Most of Nike’s creative is focused around elite athletes and the athletic experience, not the company’s products. Here’s an example:Another great example of creative being driven by emotion: the banner ads that we started seeing in the early 2000s that basically looked like games. Definitely an opposite example from Nike, but it was a very clever and effective way to tap into someone’s playful state. Here’s one you might remember:

[“Source-marketingland”]