Creative automation is more than efficiency – it’s branding.

Marketers are currently grappling with a phenomenon known as creative collapse, brought about by two primary challenges.

The first challenge pertains to the increasing demand for efficiency. This is manifested in the form of progressively shorter go-to-market timelines, coupled with the expectation for personalized content, all within the confines of limited budgets. Conversely, the second challenge lies in the fact that the ultimate success of a campaign is contingent upon the caliber of the creative content, irrespective of the industry or campaign type.

Despite the seemingly insurmountable nature of these challenges, technology offers a lifeline in the form of creative automation—a solution lauded as the "hope of performance marketing." By optimizing workflows, minimizing human errors, and facilitating scalability, creative automation is poised to address not only efficiency concerns but also to bolster innovation, personalization, and the delivery of value-driven campaigns.

Every coin has 2 sides.

Automation refers to enabling creativity with technology. You meet your user's practical needs at the click of a button. Static assets in 10 sizes for all platforms? Check. Automatic translation for six different markets? Yes. The same asset but with ten copy variations? You got it. Tedious tasks are done faster and with less fatigue within your design department. All it takes is quality-checking the automated assets after the fact. Because of these advantages, creative automation often sells on efficiency. The quantifiable promise of an improved ROI hits hard in creative collapse. Yet, as marketers directors claim creativity feels restrained, the pressure on creative quality is growing. For a way forward, don't put yourself in the efficiency box. Instead, imagine a new angle. What if creative automation came from a brand-driven ambition? 

"Automation refers to enabling creativity with technology"

Tell the story with creative automation. 

"All creative automation works on a simple 'if X, then Y.' The X and Y variables can be location, weather conditions, brand colors, or unique selling points (to name a few). It's like a cheat code to the marketing formula - delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time!

Imagine ridesharing ads in party areas at 2 AM, social ads with healthy breakfast options distributed to those who shared their morning running update, and WhatsApp chatbots helping passengers retrieve their flight tickets five minutes away from security.

In all these situations, creative automation helps your brand tell part of its story, whether it's reliable, energizer, or service champion. When you start seeing creative automation not just as a way to save resources but as an impactful way of thinking, efficiency and creativity go hand in hand.

Then, you can ask yourself which variables help craft the desired perception of your brand.

Based on those answers, you can brief your creative team so the outcome is not just noticeable, templating with sales messages, but a concept demonstrating creative quality and innovation. For example, Zoopla, the British property website, improved its perceptions of expertise. 20% more of its audience believed it had the greatest property knowledge post-campaign.