We wrote the book on data & creativity in marketing

What really works when combining creativity and data in marketing?

Tom Ollerton, Founder of Automated Creative, spoke to tens of marketing industry leaders like Rory Sutherland, Lucy Jameson, Neil Patel, Peter Field and Dr Cecilia Dones. The goal? To find out what makes marketing effective - from having the right data, to blending it with the right amount of creativity.

Using Creativity and Data in Marketing is a practical, provocative guide to doing better work that surprises, sells, and actually gets noticed.

It covers everything from writing better briefs to generating insights that actually matter, from measuring what counts (and binning what doesn’t) to building teams that can deliver work with both soul and scale.

Expect war stories, real-world examples, and honest takes from brands like Heinz, McDonald’s, and EA. Expect to rethink how you approach data.

If you’re a marketer, strategist or creative who wants to make work that stands out and works, this one’s for you.

Tom Ollerton shares bold, practical insights that help marketers create better, braver, more effective work.

Tom founded Automated Creative in 2018 and is the host of Shiny New Object Podcast and author of Using Creativity and Data in Marketing. He’s spoken at AdWeek, MAD//Fest, FUTR, RetailX, IAB Europe and Social Media Week. Tom’s clients include McDonald’s, Jack Daniels, H&R Block, MARS, Formula 1, Lipton and Bose. Tom delivers talks that challenge industry clichés and leave audiences with actionable ideas for braver, smarter work.

Tom doesn’t do vague futurism or agency fluff. His talks are provocative, practical, and grounded in conversations with over 40 of the smartest marketers in the world—from Heinz and McDonald’s to EA and Diageo. Each session is tailored for marketing teams, strategy offsites, or industry events where the goal is to create work that stands out and performs.

Here are some of Tom’s most requested topics:

What Tom Talks About

🔹 Safe Isn’t Smart

What 40 Marketers Taught Me About Creativity in the Age of AI

Most marketers use data to justify safe, forgettable work. This talk exposes what top-performing brands do differently—and how AI can push creative ideas forward rather than flatten them. Expect honest war stories, unexpected frameworks, and a few sacred cows getting slaughtered.

🔹 Briefs, BS, and Brilliance

Why Most Creative Work Fails Before It Starts

The problem isn’t the creative—it’s the brief. This session breaks down what makes a great brief in an AI-enhanced world, how to write them, and how better inputs lead to braver outputs. Includes a practical framework teams can steal immediately.

🔹 Data Isn’t Insight

How to Spot the Difference and Make Better Work

Marketers are surrounded by data but starved of meaning. This talk helps teams ask sharper questions, frame more useful insights, and stop mistaking dashboards for strategy. Packed with real-world examples, mental models, and prompts that help humans (and machines) do their best work.

🔹 Building Creative Teams with Soul and Scale

Humans, Data, and AI Working Together (Without Losing the Magic)

Cross-functional doesn’t mean creative. Tom unpacks what it really takes to build teams that combine data and creativity without defaulting to the lowest common denominator. Perfect for CMOs, in-house teams, or anyone leading creative transformation.

🔹 The Creative Effectiveness Black Hole

What Marketers Should Be Measuring (But Aren’t)

We talk a lot about effectiveness—but most brands are measuring the wrong things. This talk reframes creative performance in the age of AI, with fresh thinking on what matters, what’s noise, and how to close the feedback loop from ad to action.

  • "Logic and Magic seem like they belong to separate worlds. But it is their unique combination that creates massive impact. Tom Ollerton understands this and goes onto explain this in most integrated fashion - with evidence, with facts, with stories, with anecdotes. This informs, inspires and importantly makes you think. Many authors attempt to solve the problem. Very few try to provoke better solutions. If you want the latter, you are reading the right cover."

    Aparna Sundaresh / Global Chief Marketing Officer / De’Longhi Group

  • “Using Creativity with Data is a sharp, timely exploration of how marketers can turn data from a blunt instrument into a creative superpower. It reflects what I believe in: marketing that’s culturally curious, emotionally resonant, and insight-led. This book is for anyone who wants to build brands with purpose, precision, and imagination”

    Arjoon Bose / Global Chief Marketing & Digital Officer / Bel

  • “As Gen AI boosts efficiency, marketers who fail to harness data for creative insights and inspiration will be left behind. Tom Ollerton draws on real-world examples from seasoned leaders to demonstrate how data can fuel, not stifle, impactful work. Essential reading for those aiming to drive business growth through the blending of data and creativity”

    Lisa Delaney / Regional Head of Marketing & Lifestyle - Europe / Cathay Pacific

  • “Tom’s lived this tension first-hand, and it shows. This is an inspiring, practical read for anyone trying to unlock creativity at scale. Use data to be relevant to more people, not visible to fewer — and let empathy, not just efficiency, guide your marketing. It’s a book that earns your attention.”

    Jerry Daykin / Head of International Media / Restaurant Brands International:

  • “Like a renaissance polymath, Tom Ollerton beautifully orchestrates how art and science must coexist to drive the best pieces of innovation. Only by being genuinely curious and having your audiences as a starting point, that can new assertive possibilities be presented. Leveraging the right data combined with human-centric strategies is the only path to produce a masterpiece!”

    Michelle Urdiales / CMO Latin America / Maersk

  • In a world overwhelmed by data and performance metrics, creativity is under attack. Through case studies and interviews with brands and leading industry voices this book deftly navigates and acknowledges the real challenge: how to control, understand and humanise your data to unleash creativity - not constrain it - putting marketing firmly back in the drivers seat

    Adam Boita / CMO / Ecologi

  • “Tom Ollerton’s Creative Marketing in a Data Driven Age is the antidote to the endless ‘data is king’ decks we’ve all endured. It’s a confident, no-nonsense playbook that proves data alone isn’t enough - creative interpretation is the real unlock that makes campaigns catch fire. Bold, practical and ahead of the curve, he challenges tired marketing orthodoxy and delivers actionable inspiration by the bucketload.”

    Scott Somerville / Director of External Affairs / E.ON

  • “As a marketer we often feel that data dictates our creative campaigns rather than enhances it. But how do you turn this on its head? Tom’s ‘Using Creativity and Data in Marketing’ will be the reset button you’ve been looking for. The book offers invaluable insights into how data can inspire and enhance creative ideas, rather than limit them. From better understanding your target customer, writing better briefs, building effective teams, and measuring success meaningfully, the book is packed with real-world examples and contributions from industry leaders. Unlock the full potential of data-driven creativity that helps you to create standout campaigns you, and your boss were looking for!”

    Jasper Martens / Chief Marketing Officer / PensionBee