‘Quality beats reach’: Why the industry must refocus on creative in 2025

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The industry has been ignoring the creative aspect of advertising, and it should remember that, while reach and frequency are important, quality must be top of mind.

That is according to Blair Robertson, chief product officer at global creative technology platform XR, who spoke to former The Media Leader editor-in-chief Omar Oakes at The Future of TV Advertising Global in December.

For Robertson, a key theme for 2025 is creative intelligence. Because there has been so much focus on targeting in the past five years, “we’ve almost, from a technology perspective, ignored the creative”, he suggested.

The industry has often discussed how reach is more important than frequency, Robertson noted: “But, actually, quality beats reach.”

He continued: “While efficiency — and reach and frequency is about efficiency — is important, efficiency is no good unless you have efficacy. Does the ad actually do what you wanted to do?

“Reach and frequency are real concerns, but do not ignore the creative concerns.”

This comes down to brands really understanding their creative. “Both in terms of the creative itself and the messaging in the creative,” Robertson explained. “What is the message? Do you have the right brand, language being used?”

As he concluded: “There’s enormous gains to be made in just thinking about and being more intentional about how you create ads.”

Another key theme for 2025, according to Robertson, is sports — specifically how marketers can ensure their ads play out as more sports coverage move from linear TV to streamers.

Consequently, there is a growing focus on “supply path optimisation”. In other words, he said: “Are the ads getting to the viewer in a sensible and short route?”

Meanwhile, Robertson thought AI was “way overhyped” as the hot topic of this year. Although there will be more generative AI use in creative production, he warned: “Don’t take the people out of it. Don’t let machines make all the decisions.”