Imagining better business

As AI becomes commonplace throughout the workplace, human skills will provide the real differentiator. As a B2B marketing agency, it’s in our DNA to prioritise creativity – and help our clients to dream big. But many fear that relying on AI will result in a depletion of creative and imaginative skillsets.
With this paradox in mind, we challenged ourselves to create a piece of thought leadership that would increase our brand awareness and promote our three business pillars: creativity, strategy and technology. We identified imagination as the prerequisite for innovation.
First, we had to define imagination. Through a lively internal workshop we established four key components of imagination in business: collaborating; failing fast; letting ideas come from anyone; and investing in creativity.
We interrogated these four themes through original qualitative and quantitative research. We commissioned a survey of 500 senior B2B decision-makers based in the US and UK at companies with over 500 employees, and interviewed six senior marketing and strategy leaders at industry-leading businesses, including PwC, EY and HubSpot.
Our research proved our hypothesis (and then some), revealing that the most imaginative businesses are significantly more likely to perform better and be more future-ready, in terms of resilience and ability to seize opportunities.
We wrote a report, The business of imagination, structuring our findings around the four key components. The report contains expert analysis and tips on how businesses can be more imaginative (and, by extension, more successful).
The report’s visual design forefronts the theme of imagination, too. Despite it being digital-first, we channeled a traditional print graphic design aesthetic. We explored what it meant to “put pen to paper,” threading hand-drawn expressions through the report.
We promoted the report through an integrated campaign across paid, owned and earned media. It serves as the hero asset in a wider lead-generation programme, which has generated 180 qualified leads to date from companies including HCLSoftware, SoftServe and Bosch.
We were invited to discuss the findings on Advertising Week. One of our interviewees from PwC commented: “This is the gold standard research to keep within easy reach and come back to.”