Nobody Wants to Be a Marketer Anymore — And That’s Exactly Why Creativity Matters More Than Ever
- catlinpuhkan
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Marketing Parrot spent several days in London at the B2B Marketing Expo and visiting leading B2B agencies. What we found was a profession in mid-crisis — and perhaps on the edge of a creative renaissance.
Marketing Has Become a Tech Job (and Nobody Signed Up for That)
One of the biggest themes of the expo was a sense of disillusionment. According to new research from Intermedia Global (IMG), 92% of CMOs say they would have chosen a different career if they’d realised how tech-heavy marketing would become.
No one became a marketer because they wanted to troubleshoot integrations or manage dashboards. Yet today, the martech stack dominates everything. Creativity and strategic thinking — the heart of marketing — have been pushed into the background.
The consequences are obvious:
Marketing teams often have more technical specialists than actual marketers.
Creativity gets crowded out by reporting, automation and data governance.
Only 2% of marketers believe their data flows properly across their martech stack.
When the tools start to overshadow the work, something’s gone very wrong.
Why Creativity Still Matters More Than Anything Else
David Woodward from the Fight or Flight agency cut to the heart of the issue:
“In B2B, buyers listen to rational arguments but buy emotionally.”
People don’t remember spec sheets. They don’t remember technical comparisons. They remember stories, characters, humour, tone — and moments that make them feel something.
Fight or Flight’s award-winning campaign for Roland is a perfect example. Instead of leading with features, they asked a daring question:
“How do you make a commercial printer famous?”
Their answer: stop trying to win with rational messaging — create cultural conversation instead.
Traditional B2B thinking sees consumer reach as “wastage.” Fight or Flight sees it as fame:
You borrow the cultural power of mainstream media
You create stardust in a boring category
You stand out simply because none of your competitors are brave enough to go there
For a commercial printer buyer watching breakfast TV, seeing their niche world appear on air isn’t waste. It’s unforgettable.
Emotion vs. Rationality: B2B Needs Both
A key discussion at the expo centered on balancing emotional brand-building with rational demand-gen.
Emotion creates the memory. Rationality justifies the purchase.
The problem?
Many B2B organisations only measure what’s easy:
Downloads
MQLs
Webinar registrations
Spec sheet views
But 280 spec sheet downloads don’t mean 280 serious buyers.
In long buying cycles — often measured in years — emotional familiarity does more to drive eventual sales than any gated PDF.
A good B2B strategy blends both:
Emotion to lodge the brand in buyers’ minds long before they’re in market
Rational content to help them defend the decision inside the buying group
When done well, creativity becomes a powerful sales enablement tool. It gives people something human — not just technical — to talk about.
B2B Is Not as Niche as We Pretend
On the way to meet David Woodward in Soho, we passed the Intel store — a consumer-facing showroom for a decidedly B2B brand.
David’s view:
“It’s wrong to think of B2B in tight niches that don’t connect with broader culture. Brand fame is about occupying space in people’s minds, and those people can influence buyers in many indirect ways.”
Even if today’s viewer isn’t an official buyer, they may influence someone who is — or become a future decision-maker. B2B is not business-to-business. It’s business-to-people-who-happen-to-work-in-business.
Priming & Proving: A B2B Framework Built for the AI Era
Neil Barrie of 21st Century Brands shared one of the most forward-thinking models at the expo: Priming and Proving.
Priming (for humans)
The goal: Become the default answer before anyone searches or asks an AI.
This involves:
Cultural presence (social, PR, events, OOH)
Distinctive visual and verbal brand codes
Memorable storytelling and brand experiences
Raising familiarity long before purchase consideration
Priming creates the feeling.
Proving (for humans + machines)
The goal: Provide clear, credible, machine-readable proof that your brand is the right choice.
This includes:
Consistent product information
Reviews and ratings
Case studies and expert commentary
Strong documentation
Clear, structured web content that AIs can crawl and understand
Proving creates the justification.
The Flywheel Effect
When priming is strong, AI recommendations feel more trustworthy. When proving is strong, AI is more likely to recommend the brand in the first place.
Human emotion meets machine logic.
The Four Qualities of Strong Modern B2B Brands
According to Neil Barrie, great brands now need:
Coherence — consistent story, codes, behaviour
Currency — involvement in cultural conversations and communities
Authority — being genuinely expert and helpful
Usefulness — solving real problems, not adding noise
Offline still matters
Humans respond strongly to OOH, TV, and events. Machines don’t see them — but they see everything those moments generate: articles, conversations, social buzz, transcripts.
Priming stays human. Proving becomes machine-enhanced.
The Creative Comeback That B2B Desperately Needs
The B2B Marketing Expo made one thing unmistakably clear:
Marketing won’t be saved by martech. It will be saved by creativity.
Tools can automate tasks, but they can’t build brands. Data can optimise tactics, but it can’t make people care.
The brands that win in the next decade will be the ones brave enough to:
Use emotion unapologetically
Show up in unexpected places
Create stories worth remembering
Build familiarity long before intent exists
Balance human feeling with machine-readable proof
All the dashboards and integrations in the world can’t rescue a forgettable brand.
But creativity still can — and always will.