In the old days (or perhaps just a few years ago), marketing and advertising teams worked to develop only a few very good ad pieces that would be used in traditional media channels. Well, say hello to the new reality in the creative space, where digital certainly has revolutionized “nearly every aspect of creative, from how it’s made to how it’s distributed,” according to a recent infographic developed by MDG Advertising.

According to the agency, the rise of digital has affected the creative segment of marketing / advertising in several ways. They are:
  • The biggest change, perhaps, is that the number of platforms brands need to engage on and the number of content types they need to develop both have increased.
  • Personalization and programmatic are driving even more demand for creative.
  • Data and new tools have changed the nature of creative.
  • Creatives have started to rely increasingly on automation and AI.
  • The democratization of creative has made talent more important than ever. With smartphones and social media, nearly anyone today can share nearly anything online. This has led to a “flood of content from consumers, not just creatives,” according to MDG.
The last point, however, has important implications for creative segment of advertising and marketing. According to MDG’s infographic, “young, online-savvy audiences highly prize the abilities of professional creators, like skillful design and deft storytelling.” What this means, according to MDG, is that even as digital transforms every other aspect, “it has not killed the creative star. In fact, talented creators are more valuable than ever—and now they have more powerful tools than ever.”