The digital world is developing at a rapid rate, and its constant evolution pushes businesses to innovate constantly, entering into new markets and industries, which ultimately increases competition. As a result, brands must find ways to set themselves apart from the rest. While much of that relies on solutions and offerings, brand awareness and identity are essential in today’s highly competitive market.
The cloud has undergone truly significant advancements in recent years, with its functionality and utility growing on a weekly basis. Similarly, the growth of the creative industries, such as graphic design, videography and photography, has been a highly promising prospect over the past few years, with Deloitte forecasting that the global creative economy will grow by up to 40% by 2030. A number of cloud-based providers are now looking to embed creative offerings within their packages to cater to a brand new market and a new era of creative possibility – fuelled and supported through the use of the cloud.
The Importance of Brand Identity
The relationship between the cloud and the creative industries creates an enormous opportunity for businesses to capitalise on the ability to craft and shape strong brand identity. Possessing an advanced brand identity helps companies to stand out from their competitors, allowing them to mould a brand personality, creating loyalty and awareness among its customers, employees and the general public.
Organisations that invest in the innovative ingenious of their marketing teams have a competitive advantage in this new age of the creative cloud. Businesses that are creative hold the possibility to tailor their brand to meet the needs, and motivations of their customers in new, inventive and personalised ways helping to build a memorable experience, and placing them in a considerably more favourable position compared to their competitors.
Through the integration of creative solutions into the cloud, businesses receive not just the advantages of a stronger brand identity, they also receive all of the additional benefits of the cloud, including increased flexibility and availability, scalability, advanced security and easier collaboration.
Creativity During Times of Economic Uncertainty
Throughout times of economic uncertainty, budgets are regularly evaluated and constrained, as businesses search to find ways to reduce their spending and remain financially stable. While cutting a marketing budget may seem like a viable way to save some money, it may not be the best outcome for companies. A business’ marketing is what helps them stand out from the competition. It’s what gives them originality, brand presence, and recognisability that ultimately plays a key role in driving future prosperity.
In a recent study reflecting on the 2008 recession, the ICAEW reported that advertising expenditure was reduced by 13%. However, statistics showed that companies and organisations who maintained their marketing output received 3.5 times more brand visibility than their competitors, highly strengthening their market presence, brand identity and capacity for future business growth. It is clear that investment in marketing and creativity should be a top priority for businesses, especially in times of economic downturn.
Seizing the opportunity
As so many organisations choose to reduce their marketing budgets during tough times, this actually presents an opportunity for others because it increases the market size for those who want to increase attention to their brand. A recent report conducted by Analytic Partners revealed that 63% of brands that increased their investment in marketing after the 2008 financial crisis saw a 63% return on their investments, and brands that increased their media investment also recorded 17% growth in incremental sales. Not only does continued investment in marketing drive consistent revenue, but it can also boost revenue during periods of economic downturn as a result of diminishing investment from competitors.
In addition, cloud-based systems are typically more cost-effective compared to their more archaic counterparts – such as the internal hosting, storage and access of servers, which are expensive to run – provide limited room for mass growth and could lead to a greater volume of information silos in comparison to modern cloud solutions. This provides users with additional control and management of their investments.
A recent study from McKinsey provides additional evidence of the benefits of the cloud, stating that businesses who use it effectively can cut their IT infrastructure expenditure by up to 20% due to its increased potential for automation, enhanced efficiency and resource monitoring functionality. The cloud also creates the opportunity for improved collaboration within businesses, allowing organisations to view and share information and resources with ease.
The Future of Creativity
The creative industry is in a constant state of evolution, developing in tandem with the advancements and technological success of society. As emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) continue to become increasingly embedded into our lives, they can be harnessed to elevate the industry to new, innovation-led heights.
When considering the future of the creative industry, AI and machine learning can be used to exponentially streamline and simplify often complex operational workflows, helping businesses to make more informed decisions at a much quicker rate. As additional emerging technologies such as virtual and augmented reality continue to transform reality, they create the foundation for a brand new level of creative possibility.
Integrating these advancing and emerging technologies into the vast benefits of the cloud, such as centralised data management and security, creates a truly promising future of creativity in business. This helps pave the way for businesses to showcase their design talents, helping to differentiate themselves from their competitors and stand out amidst a crowded market.
A Visionary’s Future
In a world where so many ideas have been ‘done already’, creativity is integral to a successful business in today’s environment, and every business should aim to develop a high-quality creative team as a result. As creative solutions are being integrated into the cloud, this provides the ideal opportunity for cloud marketplaces to enter into new potential client pools, diversifying and further growing their offerings and packages to new heights. This significantly improves the possibility for success for a myriad of businesses spread across the channel, from top to bottom.
Harald is CEO at Pax8 EMEA, leading the overall operations and corporate decision-making for the business. Harald plays a crucial role in connecting internal teams across Europe and ensuring that the internal Pax8 culture is inclusive and welcoming for all team members.