Stop optimising your mistakes: Why brave creative is the key to marketing's future

The safe bet trap

In an era of hyper-measurable digital marketing, brands have become paralysed by performance metrics. Marketers have mistaken consistency for safety, producing content that blends into the background rather than standing out.

By playing it safe and relying on iterative approaches, brands are actively diminishing their market potential.We have noticed that marketing departments cling to what is predictable, safe, and iterative and when risk-aversion becomes policy, brands end up optimising mediocrity.

The cost centre fallacy

There is also an unfortunate industry-wide problem of marketing being viewed as a cost centre – a department of coloring and decoration rather than a strategic business driver.

A big part of the challenge is that too many brands are running on outdated assumptions: that creative is expensive, unpredictable, or just ‘nice to have’. CMOs are under pressure to prove ROI fast, so they default to safe content that is proven to work, which is the opposite of performance-led creative.

What’s more, if creative drives up to 89% of performance on digital media, calling it a ‘cost’ is like calling the engine of your car a ‘nice-to-have’. It means creative ends up underfunded, under-tested, and under-optimised. The real issue is that too many marketers are concerned with looking good, and so they are optimising for vanity rather than effectiveness.

This approach is fundamentally flawed. True performance requires brave inputs – creative that challenges, provokes, and connects emotionally.

Embracing brave creative

Breaking this cycle requires a fundamental mindset shift. Brave creative is not about risk for risk's sake, but about calculated, insight-driven approaches that genuinely connect with audiences.

Tired of safe content that’s routinely ignored? Here are five considerations to help steer your brand towards brave content that will connect with your audience:

Breaking the traditional funnel

Another part of the solution lies in marketers challenging existing frameworks, recognising that consumer behaviour has fundamentally changed along with the many technological innovations.

We have seen that the linear marketing funnel is obsolete. Instead, brands need to create an infinite loop of interaction, understanding that marketing is now a value exchange, not a transactional interaction.

Diversity of thought

Creative strategies must start with comprehensive inputs, not just quantitative data. This means deep social listening, speaking directly to consumers, and leveraging diverse perspectives. Behavioural economics, psychology, and cultural insights become as important as traditional metrics.

It’s important for marketing leaders to understand that true innovation requires bringing together diverse perspectives – not as a tokenistic exercise, but as a genuine strategy for deeper insights. This means diversity of opinion, socio-economic background, interests, and cultural understanding.

The richness that comes from understanding the multiple lenses through which consumers experience brands will deliver significant benefits.

AI as a collaborative tool

Artificial intelligence presents a unique inflection point. Rather than viewing AI as a cost-cutting tool, forward-thinking brands use it to augment human creativity. AI can generate insights, break creative teams out of conventional thinking, and provide sophisticated audience understanding.

The goal is collaboration, not replacement. AI should free creative professionals to focus on strategic, emotionally resonant storytelling.

Reframing budget conversations

Marketing leaders hoping to shift perceptions – and budgets – should demonstrate how efficiency gains can be reinvested into more sophisticated, emotionally resonant creative work.

The conversation should shift from "How can we cut costs?" to "How can we create more meaningful consumer connections?"

Calculated risks

Marketers must understand that standing out requires taking calculated risks. This doesn't mean being outrageous, but being genuinely different. It means creating content that makes consumers laugh, think, and feel – not just another voucher, discount code or generic sales message.

Marketing's future belongs to those willing to challenge the status quo. It requires courage to break free from the safe bet mentality. We believe brave creative is not a luxury – it's a strategic necessity. By reimagining creative's role, investing in innovation, and challenging conventional wisdom, brands can transform marketing from a cost centre to a true profit generator.

Join the conversation live

Want to dive deeper into the ideas explored here? Vanessa Bolosier will lead a Creative Workshop at Outperform Marketing in Action – Incubeta South Africa’s upcoming in-person event for senior marketing leaders on 29 May.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and explore how bold, insight-led creative can drive real business growth. Register here to secure your seat.