Summary
The ARF
Creative Council’s New Research Guidelines Working Group curated and produced a “Behind Frenemy Lines” virtual happy hour event, whose objective was to share thoughts, experiences, and ideas across the creative divide. Moderated by Council Co-chair Mark Truss, Chief Research Officer, Wunderman Thompson, the event brought together researchers, creatives, and planners at brands and agencies to discuss their own experiences and reactions to the role of
research in the creative process, building on ideas revealed in a recently-published
whitepaper exploring this topic.
The Creative Council’s
survey and in-depth interviews found a gap between researchers, creative and strategy teams in how we use research and data in the creative process, often causing creative teams to feel disenfranchised. While everyone values the insights that come from research and data, key stakeholders differ in the kinds of research and data they value and the point in the creative process at which they should be applied.
So how can we bridge this gap? To find out, the group discussed three challenges around trust, language, and systems that the Council believes to be at the root of this long-standing pain point, and strategies that have worked for them in overcoming these barriers.
