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Qantas marketing boss: Marketers too focused on math at the expense of great ideas

Tully

Tully

Too many marketers are failing to get the best out of their creative talent because they lack the ability to inspire them, Qantas’s new marketing boss has claimed.

Stephanie Tully, executive manager group brand and marketing, and former CMO of Qantas Loyalty, said the industry has become too sterile with an over emphasis on data and how to reach consumers, rather than the end message itself.

It was time for the “mad men” to take over from the “math men” and to get more creative, she told the Ad Tech conference in Sydney today.

“I strongly believe that we’re a bit too math at the moment and I think we need to be careful,” she said.

“This industry is a melting pot of excitement. There is so much great stuff going on, and so many exciting ways to reach out to customers.

“But remember you need great ideas. You need great creative and we are seeing a little bit too much about how we reach consumers and not enough talk about great ideas and great creative. I would particularly encourage client marketers to get the basics right.”

Later in her an address to delegates, Tully elaborated by saying marketers are spending too much time thinking about the “data and reach side and not enough time thinking about why they are having that conversation in the first place”.

“You have got to get your basics right in terms of great product, great message, great creative and I think there are too many marketers now that are not getting the best out of their creative talent be it in the ad agency or internally because they really don’t know how to inspire them.”

Tully was promoted to the Qantas group role last month.

Steve Jones 

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