Marketers go large on creative but spend is still too thin

Marketing chiefs talk a good game when it comes to valuing creativity, with more than three-quarters insisting creative output is more crucial than ever before yet when push comes to shove most (55%) only invest between 10% and 25% of their total budget on creative, and nearly a fifth (18%) invest even less.

That is the stark conclusion of a new joint study by communication platform Canva and marketing trade body MMA Global, “The State of Creative Process in Marketing”.

Based on a survey of nearly 100 CMOs and senior marketers in decision-making roles from the UK and US, it hightlights views on the value of creative output, tech stack saturation and navigating talent wars.

The survey reveals a variety of external forces fuelling creativity in new ways, and a number of obstacles blocking marketers from unlocking full creative potential.

The study reveals that marketing chiefs are placing increasing value on creative, and there is an expectation this trend will continue, with more than two-thirds (68%) believing that creative will become more important to their organisation in the next 12 months, while 72% believe that creative output adds value to customers’ lives.

However, there is a significant gap in investment, and 41% admit they are not making the right level of investment in creative tools, systems and technologies.

Today’s ecosystem of creative tools is bringing plenty of improvements, but not without new challenges.

The following elements are ranked as more challenging now (46%) than they were five years ago: managing resources and budgets, maintaining consistency of output, and managing systems and tools.

Most positive benefits come from the following tools, either by increasing efficiency or improving the creative output: collaboration platforms (54%), photo/video editing tools (54%), generative AI tools (35%).

Marketing leaders are mostly confident in their creative output when compared to competitors, but there are areas where they feel outpaced. Just over a third (34%) believe their creative output is better, and 53% believe it’s on par yet 45% believe they are worse at managing a creative process that optimises for speed, efficiency and flexibility.

Meanwhile, the landscape of creative management is shifting with more work being brought in-house compared to outsourced from agencies. In-sourcing is mostly seen as a superior process for teams, but outsourcing is used when there is a need to collaborate on high impact creative output.

In fact, nearly a third (30%) have moved more work in-house in the past 12 months, and 31% expect to do the same in the next year; nearly half (48%) say creative strategy is mostly done in-house, while 23% say it is mostly outsourced.

However, the vast najority (83%) say that in-house is better from a cost perspective, while 61% concede that outsourcing is better for quality of creative output.

There is also growing concern about a diminishing pool of strong creative talent, underscoring the challenge of securing, managing and retaining top staff in a competitive market.

Nearly half (47%) say the pool of strong talent has shrunk, although 80% feel satisfied with outsourced creative talent and resources; while 74% feel satisfied with in-house creative talent or resources.

Canva CMO Zach Kitschke said: “Producing stellar creative output while optimising for resource efficiency is a massive challenge for every modern marketer today. How brands show up has become more competitive, there is a lot of tech to wade through, and the talent pool is narrowing.

“We’re delighted to work with the MMA team to identify the pain points and opportunities that marketers are facing today, in order to shed light on top-of-mind issues to inform their decision making.”

MMA Global CEO Greg Stuart added: “While the last few years might seem solely focused on perfecting data, audience development, and targeting to drive outcomes, marketers are also recognising the need to focus on a second creative revolution.

“Marketers face a pivotal moment where embracing AI and the challenge of managing the brand through what can be thousands of executions will redefine creativity’s role and brand communication, demanding a new and updated focus to managing the creative process.”