What is creativity in marketing?

Creativity in marketing is the art of using bold ideas, emotional storytelling, and innovative thinking to build memorable brands that connect with people on a deeper level. It balances data-driven strategy with creative vision to create campaigns that move people and build lasting brand equity.

Why is creativity important in marketing?

Creativity is important in marketing because it makes brands memorable and builds emotional connections with customers. While data can optimize campaigns, only creativity can create the type of brand equity that lasts for decades and inspires customer loyalty.

How does Purplex balance creativity and data in marketing?

Purplex balances creativity and data by starting with strong creative concepts and big ideas, then backing them up with data, testing, and optimization. We use analytics to measure performance while maintaining the creative soul that makes campaigns memorable and effective.

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Creativity: The Lost Art in Marketing

October 30, 2025

Marketing today feels a bit like a factory floor. Everything’s measured, tracked, and optimised. Data tells you which button got clicked, which email got opened, and which ad got the most eyeballs. It’s all very clever. But here’s the thing: creativity in marketing is what actually makes people remember you, talk about you, and come back to you.

In this article, you’ll learn why the best marketing isn’t just about numbers and spreadsheets. It’s about stories, ideas, and the kind of work that sticks in people’s minds long after they’ve seen it. We’ll show you why balancing data with bold creative thinking is what separates brands that grow from brands that just exist.

Why Most Agencies Have Forgotten the Art of Marketing

Purplex founder Andrew Scott, nephew of world-renowned artist William Scott CBE RA, believes most agencies have lost ‘the art of marketing.’

Walk into most marketing agencies today and you’ll see the same thing: dashboards, analytics tools, conversion funnels, and ROI reports. These things matter. They help you see what’s working and what’s not. But relying only on data is like building a house with just a spirit level and no design. You’ll get something straight, but it won’t be somewhere anyone wants to live.

The science of marketing keeps you accountable. It helps you spend wisely and track results. But it doesn’t make people feel anything. And if people don’t feel something, they won’t remember you when it’s time to buy.

Here’s what happens when marketing loses its creative edge:

Your ads look like everyone else’s.
Your messaging feels flat and forgettable.
Customers see you as just another option, not the option.
You compete on price instead of value.

Think about the building products companies you actually remember. Chances are, it’s not because of their SEO strategy or their Facebook pixel. It’s because they told a story, stood for something, or made you laugh.

What the Best Brands Know About Emotional Storytelling

The most successful brands don’t just sell products. They create moments. They make you feel something, and that feeling is what stays with you.

Consider some of the campaigns that have stood the test of time. Coca-Cola’s Christmas TV ads don’t talk about sugar content or fizzy drink features. They show families coming together, trucks covered in lights, and the warm glow of the holidays. Cadbury’s “Glass and a half of milk” campaign, first launched in 1928, made chocolate feel wholesome and generous, not just tasty.

These campaigns work because they tap into something deeper than product features. They connect with how people want to feel: happy, nostalgic, cared for. That’s the power of creative marketing.

Great marketing works like great art. Whether it’s Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night (reimagined in our image below) or Picasso’s Guernica, certain images and ideas move people across generations. They’re not just technically good. They speak to something human. Your marketing can do the same.

Creativity in Marketing Inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night Artistic Vision

How Emotional Connection Drives Long-Term Growth

When you build a brand that people connect with emotionally, the benefits compound over time. Research from Harvard Business Review shows that emotionally connected customers are more than twice as valuable as highly satisfied customers. They buy more, stay longer, and recommend you to others.

For construction and building product companies, this might look like:

A builder who always specifies your windows because they trust your brand.
A homeowner who asks for your product by name at the merchant.
A developer who partners with you on multiple projects because they know you deliver.

This kind of loyalty doesn’t come from a clever Google Ad. It comes from consistently showing up with a message, a look, and a feeling that people recognise and trust. That’s what our brand strategy services help clients build.

Playing the Long Game With Your Brand

Too many businesses want instant results. They run a campaign for three months, see modest returns, and switch to something else. It’s the marketing equivalent of planting seeds and digging them up every week to check if they’re growing.

Andrew Scott, founder of Purplex, sees this all the time:

“We live in a world where everyone is chasing the short-term fix, the immediate gain. But the true masters of business play the long game and create brand value that inspires an army of loyal customers for years or even decades, and it starts with creativity. Sadly, too many marketing agencies just don’t understand this.”

The best brands are built over years, not quarters. They tell consistent stories. They develop recognisable styles. They become famous in their market, not just visible.

What Long-Term Brand Building Looks Like

Building a brand that lasts means thinking beyond this month’s lead count. It means asking: what do we want people to think of when they hear our name in five years?

Short-Term Thinking	Long-Term Brand Building
Chasing cheap clicks and quick conversions	Creating memorable campaigns people talk about
Changing your message every few months	Building a consistent story over years
Copying what competitors do	Developing a look and voice that’s yours alone
Measuring only immediate sales	Tracking brand recognition and loyalty over time

When you invest in creativity and brand, you’re not just filling your pipeline this quarter. You’re building an asset that makes every future campaign easier, cheaper, and more effective. That’s what we help clients do through our full-service marketing approach.

Where Great Marketing Ideas Come From

Andrew’s belief in creativity isn’t theoretical. It’s personal. He comes from a long line of artists and creatives, including his uncle, William Scott CBE RA, a world-renowned painter and pioneer of British abstraction. William’s work hangs in galleries across the globe and sells at auction for upwards of £1 million.

Growing up around that level of artistry shaped how Andrew thinks about business:

“The influence of great artists such as my uncle has always enabled me to see beyond the obvious and add a dimension to marketing that others miss. The balance between art and science is at the heart of Purplex, which I founded on the belief that brand is a company’s most valuable asset. While data can optimise campaigns, only creativity can build the type of brand equity that lasts for decades.”

That philosophy runs through everything we do at Purplex. Whether we’re designing a new website, planning a PR campaign, or developing a video, we start with the big idea. Then we back it up with data, testing, and optimisation.

Balancing Art and Science in Your Marketing

You don’t have to choose between creativity and data. The best marketing uses both. Think of creativity as the engine and data as the steering wheel. One gives you power, the other gives you direction.

Here’s how to bring both together:

Start with a strong creative concept. Ask: What do we want people to feel? What story are we telling?
Test and measure how it performs. Use analytics to see which messages, images, and channels work best.
Refine without losing the soul. Optimise your targeting and spend, but don’t strip away what made the idea interesting in the first place.
Stay consistent over time. Let your creative idea mature. Don’t jump to something new every few months.

We’ve used this approach with clients across the building products, construction, and home improvement sectors. The results speak for themselves: stronger brands, better recognition, and more loyal customers.

How to Bring More Creativity Into Your Marketing

If your marketing feels a bit samey or forgettable right now, that’s okay. The good news is you can change direction without starting from scratch.

Here are practical steps to inject more creativity into what you’re doing:

Ask Better Questions Before You Create Anything

Before you write another blog post or design another ad, pause. Ask yourself:

What’s the one thing we want people to remember?
How do we want them to feel after seeing this?
What would make this stand out in a crowded market?

These questions shift your focus from “what do we need to say?” to “what do they need to feel?” That’s where creative ideas start.

Look Outside Your Industry for Inspiration

If you only look at what other construction or building product companies are doing, you’ll end up looking like them. Instead, study brands in other sectors that tell great stories. What can you learn from how they use humour, emotion, or surprise?

For example, if a car company makes a brilliant video about craftsmanship, could you adapt that approach to show how your windows are made? If a food brand uses nostalgia well, could you tap into memories of home and family in your messaging?

Work With People Who Think Creatively

Creativity isn’t something you can just switch on. It takes skill, experience, and a different way of thinking. That’s why working with an agency that values the art of marketing, not just the science, makes a real difference.

At Purplex, we combine creative design, strategic thinking, and deep knowledge of your industry. We’ve worked with companies in the glazing, construction, and building products sectors for years. We know your customers. We know your market. And we know how to help you stand out.

Make Your Marketing Memorable

Data will always have a place in marketing. It helps you make smart decisions and prove your results. But if that’s all you rely on, you’ll blend into the background. Your competitors have access to the same tools, the same platforms, and the same data you do.

What they don’t have is your story, your vision, and your creativity. That’s what makes people choose you over someone else. That’s what builds loyalty. And that’s what turns a business into a brand people actually care about.

If your marketing feels flat or forgettable, it’s time to bring back the art. Focus on telling stories that matter. Create campaigns that make people feel something. And play the long game, because that’s where real value lives.

Want to build a brand that lasts? Get in touch with Purplex. We’ll help you combine smart strategy with bold creativity to grow your business the right way.

Ready to Bring Creativity Back Into Your Marketing?

If your marketing feels stuck in spreadsheets and dashboards, it’s time for a different approach. At Purplex, we don’t just run campaigns—we build brands that people remember, trust, and choose again and again.

For over 20 years, we’ve helped construction, building products, and home improvement companies grow by combining bold creative thinking with smart strategy. We know your market. We know your customers. And we know how to make you stand out.

Whether you need a new website, a complete brand overhaul, or a full-service marketing partnership, we’re here to help you build something that lasts.

Get in touch today:

Call us: 01934 808132
Email us: grow@purplexmarketing.com
Visit our contact page: www.purplexmarketing.com/contact

Let’s build a brand that makes people feel something and keeps them coming back for more.

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