Over the past three decades, creative has moved from the end of the marketing process to the centre of it.
As The Dubs Agency marks 30 years, the evolution of creative tells the story of the broader industry. What began as campaign execution has become strategic infrastructure. Especially in financial services, where clarity, trust and regulation shape every message.
We spoke with Justin Buckwell, GM and Creative Director, and Tristan Fawley, Executive Creative Director, about how creative has changed and what its role now demands.
Then. Creative as the final layer
In the 1990s and early 2000s, creative often arrived late in the process.
The strategy was written. The media was booked. Then the brief landed with the creative team.
“Creative used to be seen as the decoration,” says Buckwell. “ You’d get the strategy, wrap it in a big idea and send it out into the world. It was powerful, but it wasn’t always integrated.”
Campaigns were longer cycle. Channels were fewer. Measurement was slower. Financial brands leaned heavily on product messaging, rate-led advertising and corporate positioning.
The role of creative was to stand out in a crowded but predictable landscape.
The digital shift. Creative becomes iterative
As digital matured, the process changed.
Campaigns became multi-channel ecosystems. Assets multiplied. Performance data fed back in real time.
Creative teams were no longer producing a single hero ad. They were building systems of content.
“Digital forced creative to be adaptable,” says Fawley. “Instead of one perfect execution, you needed a framework that could flex across formats, audiences and stages of the funnel.”
Creative also became more closely tied to performance. Rather than separating brand campaigns from commercial outcomes, marketers increasingly recognised the power of combining the two. The Multiplier Effect report, written by some of the world’s leading advertising strategists, argues that…
“ the strongest returns from advertising come from using brand equity as an accelerant for commercial performance.”
In other words, brand and performance work best together. Strong creative ideas build memory and trust over time, which in turn makes performance activity more effective.
Financial services raises the bar
In financial marketing, the stakes are higher.
Regulation, disclosure and compliance cannot be afterthoughts. Trust is the currency.
“In finance, creativity isn’t about shock value,” Buckwell explains. “It’s about simplifying complexity. You’re translating technical detail into something human and accessible without losing accuracy.”
This shift elevated the role of creative earlier in the marketing process.
Rather than reacting to a brief, creative teams now help shape:
- positioning
- messaging architecture
- brand platforms
- tone of voice
- content strategy
“ Creative has become strategic,” says Fawley. “You can’t separate the idea from the experience anymore. It has to work across paid, owned and earned, and it has to align with compliance from day one.”
The rise of always on thinking
Another major shift over 30 years has been time.
Campaigns used to have clear start and end dates. Today, most financial brands operate in an always on environment.
That requires creative that compounds.
“ We think in platforms now,” says Buckwell. “Not one-off campaigns. A strong creative platform gives you consistency over years, not weeks.”
The International Journal of Research in Marketing found that consistency and commonality in advertising content affect sales, especially long-term cumulative sales. In financial services, where trust builds slowly, consistency is not cosmetic. It is commercial.
AI and the acceleration of craft
The latest evolution is generative AI.
Design tools, copy generation, image creation and rapid iteration have dramatically increased speed. But speed alone does not equal quality.
“ AI is a tool, not a replacement,” says Fawley. “It can help us explore more territory faster. But judgement, taste and understanding the audience still sit with people.”
Buckwell agrees.
“If anything, AI has raised the bar. When production becomes easier, the idea matters more. Strategy matters more. The filter becomes more important than the output.”
According to McKinsey & Company, around 65% of organisations now report regularly using generative AI, with marketing and sales among the most common areas of application. The real challenge for brands is not simply adopting the technology, but integrating it within clear brand frameworks, governance and strategic thinking.
For financial marketing, that framework is essential.
Creative as a growth driver
Perhaps the biggest change over 30 years is how creative is valued internally by clients. Once seen as an executional function, creative is now directly tied to growth.
“The best clients involve creative early,” says Buckwell. “ When we’re part of the commercial conversation, the work performs better. It’s aligned to business objectives, not just campaign metrics.”
Fawley adds:
“ Creative is no longer the polish. It’s the engine. The idea shapes the strategy, informs the channels and influences how people feel about the brand.”
In financial services, where differentiation is often subtle, creative thinking can be the difference between being considered and being ignored.
What’s not changed
Despite three decades of transformation, some fundamentals remain.
Great creative still…
- understands the audience deeply
- communicates clearly
- evokes emotion
- builds memory
“Trends will keep shifting,” says Buckwell. “Formats will evolve. But the role of creative is still to make the complex simple and the invisible tangible.”
“ At the end of the day,” Fawley adds, “creative is about connection. Technology changes the tools. It doesn’t change the need for meaning.”
Thirty years on and still evolving
As The Dubs Agency celebrates 30 years, the evolution of creative reflects a broader truth.
Marketing has become more measurable. More technical. More fragmented.
But it has also become more integrated, more strategic and more human.
Creative is no longer the final flourish. It is the foundation. And in financial services, where trust, clarity and confidence drive decisions, that foundation matters more than ever.
If you liked this article and want to know more contact The Dubs Agency we’d love to help.
