Most people think creativity begins with a brief, but it rarely does. Instead, it begins with a kind of restlessness and a refusal to accept an obvious answer. In advertising, the obvious answer is usually very available and easy. We typically show the product and the largest possible logo, clearly display the price/discount, and feature a happy customer. We make sure we say words like new, delicious, now open, and sale large enough in marketing copy so that people buy the product.
A shaky data foundation makes every bold campaign feel like a gamble. The pressure to be perfect is a constant hurdle for teams tasked with syncing systems and reconciling messy spreadsheets.
