Creative Marketing: 5 Ways to Shake Up Your Brand’s Marketing Approach

What does creative marketing mean in 2023? What differentiates creative, unique, and unexpected from boring, safe, and inauthentic?

Creative marketing is all about finding fresh, unexpected angles to connect with customers and drive brand awareness. In 2023, that matters more than ever as consumers are bombarded with stale content on an increasing number of platforms. Consumers are interested in using social media to connect with friends and culture, and to express themselves, not necessarily just to watch ads. To break through the noise, brands need to tap into imagination and authenticity.

Truly creative marketing reflects a brand's unique identity, reason to exist, tone of voice, and the humanity that makes up every company and consumer. It's not gimmicks - it's strategic ideas rooted in authenticity. It lights up new neural pathways instead of rehashing the same old approaches. It's driven by curiosity and a willingness to take risks. Creative choices should surprise and delight, because  “safe" ideas will get glazed over. Creative marketing is memorable and distinct, not formulaic and emotionless.

What are five ways a brand can infuse more creativity into their marketing if it’s feeling stagnant?

1. Ask “why?" more often.

Question assumed “rules" of the industry and try to solve new problems for consumers. Find white space opportunities others miss by probing further.

2. Co-create with your audience.

Engage existing customers and community on social media to ideate and collaborate. Marketing with instead of just for consumers fosters deeper connections and unlocks new ideas.

3. Embrace experiments.

Set small creative challenges, try unconventional partnerships with emerging brands or artists. See what sticks without big budgets.

4. Change up your content mix.

Podcasts, interactive games, AR—leverage emerging formats to captivate audiences in new ways.

5. Make space for play.

Schedule unstructured brainstorm sessions. Provide toys, art supplies, or improv prompts to get minds flowing freely.

What’s a marketing rut brands often get stuck in? How can they avoid it?

Brands often get stuck churning out purposeless content no one asked for just because they feel they have to meet certain quotas for paid or social. The result is dull, repetitive posts and ads that lack purpose. To avoid stagnation, brands need to reconnect with their “why." Every piece of content should have an intent - not just add to the pile. Additionally, involving more company stakeholders and customers can provide fresh perspectives from diverse minds that will help spark new ideas.

What challenges could a brand set for themselves to kickstart creativity?

1. Look at brands and activations admired most outside their industry. What could be  learned from the approach of others?

2. Impose limitations to spark creativity. See what can be achieved with a micro budget or other constraints.

3. Give the team permission to suggest “bad" ideas without judgment. Push for volume first.

How does collaboration play a role?

“If you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas. Ideas beget ideas." - George Bernard Shaw

Marketing teams should host regular brainstorms with other departments and leadership. Cross-pollination breeds creativity.

What kind of research might they do?

1. Take research field trips. Brands should immerse themselves in their dream audience's world. Attend their fan events, lurk in their spaces online, and interview them directly about their lives. Ownable, unique insight will come from human interaction, not just research materials.

2. Look at industries entirely unrelated to their brand. How could you borrow an idea and make it ownable? What tactics are indie bands using to drive streams to their songs that could inspire CPG snack marketing — or vice versa?

What new technologies could they try? How can you get creative on a budget?

1. Consider a time and effort investment in AI content generation to spark ideas on a budget. The basic results will be generic and uninspired, but with work providing prompts and context, AI can generate a volume of ideas for review to get a better sense of what the brand is really looking for.

2. TikTok is an excellent platform for brands to generate earned attention and results, even on a tight budget. TikTok heavily favors original, entertaining content over high production values or investments. Clever ideas executed simply can gain huge traction, and TikTok's popularity among Gen Z also makes it a hotbed for early identification of emerging media trends and memes. Brands that can quickly put their own creative spin on these can attract media coverage.

In the marketing landscape of 2023, creativity is the key to standing out. It involves breaking away from mundane, safe, and inauthentic approaches and instead connecting with customers through fresh and unexpected angles. Truly creative marketing reflects a brand's unique identity, rooted in authenticity, and driven by curiosity and risk-taking. To infuse more creativity, brands should ask “why" more often, co-create with their audience, embrace experiments, diversify content formats, and make space for playful brainstorming.

Let’s shake up your brand strategy. Reach out to us at hello@praytellagency.com