Creative quality is the largest profit multiplier a marketer actually controls
StatBrand Strategy
Paul Dyson's ranking of profit multipliers puts brand size first at x20, but that is not something a marketer can change this quarter. Creative quality is second at x12, ahead of budget setting across markets (x5.0), multimedia (x2.5) and target audience (x1.1).
Source
The Creative Dividend - a partnership between Effie and System1 (2026)
Andrew Tindall (System1), with Effie Worldwide; ESOC advised by Les Binet
Table 1, p. 6, The Creative Dividend (Effie x System1, 2026), citing Paul Dyson, The Drivers of Profitability (2023)
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StatCreative quality and media support together explain most of what a campaign achievesPrincipleCreative Dividend and Excess Share of Creativity - creative advantage, then creative advantage at scaleStatCreative advantage backed by media raises the odds of market share growth in a straight lineStatThe profit payoff from creative advantage compounds rather than accumulatesPrincipleDistinctiveness turns spend into revenue, emotion turns revenue into profitStatDistinctive and emotional work multiplies profit hardest on the smallest budgetsWarningMarketers rank targeting above creativity, and the data says it is the other way roundStatCampaigns that deliver several business outcomes are dramatically more likely to deliver profitStatRevenue is the easy result, profit is the rare oneWarningStacking short-term objectives onto a campaign drives its chance of profit to zeroStatThe rise of short-term campaign objectives tracks platform revenue almost perfectlyStatConsistency multiplies profit likelihood more than emotion, showmanship or distinctiveness