“[Marketers] don’t break enough rules,” started Rice’s talk; a sentiment that was echoed by Treeshake CEO Dave Duarte who said that “Consumers are swimming in a sea of sameness.”

Rice suggested that, for too long, marketing has not pushed any creative boundaries. He said that if he offered a simple way to make any business function 10 times more effective, anyone would jump at that offer.

“There is a simple way to make your brand’s communications work 10 times harder — I’m talking about creativity.”

Rice continues, saying that it has been proven that highly creative campaigns are “up to — and in some cases more than — 10 times for effective than the more run of the mill, predictable stuff that clogs up our media wherever you look”.

Despite the fact that creativity boasts measurably better results than the average marketing campaign, many marketers are too scared to take the plunge. And why it that? Rice says that it is because, often, marketers are afraid to take risks.

“The truth is that the only risk is to take no risk at all,” Rice said.

So, where do marketers start to create this brave new world? Rice suggested that is all starts with a bit of stripping:

“Strip away our obsession with data. Replace our infobesity with creative insights. Strip away those formulaic analysts and hire some mathemagicians. Strip away programmatic buying — and anything else that elevates bots over humans.”

“Strip away the interference of the dreaded financial director and procurement and anyone else who doesn’t understand the difference between ‘price’ and ‘value’. Strip away those agencies who give you work that they think you will buy, rather than the work you actually need.”

“Strip away the fear of the unknown — it’s never as bad as you think. And it’s the only place, by definition, that you will find true originality. Strip away your imagination for the market leader — don’t follow their lead. The market’s got one of them already, it doesn’t need another one. Differentiate!”

The truth is that the only risk is to take no risk at all.
“Strip away those electronic brochures masquerading as TV commercials. Strip away those cut-and-paste print ads that are put up, supposedly, as a single-minded outdoor ad. Strip away those embarrassingly phony conversations that masquerade as radio spots.”

“And have the courage to keep on stripping, until all you are left with is the purity of the naked brand and of its equally revealed customers. And then you’ll see the true power of creativity at work.”

Are there any other elements of marketing that you think need to be stripped away? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Now that you’ve stripped all the unnecessaries from your marketing strategy, find out about The Holy Grail of marketing: consumer attention and trust.