Creativity and the "algorithm of surprise": Insights form the Festival of Marketing

This event report addresses the issue of whether data and creativity can truly work together. Based on presentations from broadcaster Channel 4 and agency We Are Social, it suggests that the raft of facts and figures now available online certainly improve aspects of the user experience, such as by providing accurate recommendations of similar content to that they previously enjoyed.

Creativity and the "algorithm of surprise": Insights form the Festival of Marketing

Lena RolandWarc

One of the major themes explored at the Festival of Marketing, an event held in London in October 2013, was the importance of creativity. More specifically, a variety of speakers discussed whether this concept is under threat from, or being superseded by, science and data. And two presentations – one from television broadcaster Channel 4, the other from specialist agency We Are Social – highlighted the importance of "disrupting the algorithm" as a way to keep originality alive.

Channel 4 seeks to surprise...

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