Creativity in Marketing with Doug Zanger

Creativity is essential when it comes to standing out with your marketing. It will help your startup cut through the noise and quickly capture your customer’s attention. On episode 08 of the FiredUp! podcast, Doug Zanger, founder of Creative Bohemian shares the importance of incorporating creativity into your marketing!

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In this episode of the FiredUp! podcast, Doug Zager shares how data and creativity are important when creating engaging marketing strategies and how sometimes taking a step back to focus on other things is the best thing you can do to spark creative solutions.

Doug Zanger is the founder of Creative Bohemian, a Portland, Oregon-based advisory and consulting practice focused on developing strategic narratives for agencies, brands, media, editorial and more. Additionally, he started Indie Agency News, a platform for independent agencies, in the summer of 2023. Zanger is also executive director of ThinkNW, a marketing trade body focused on the Pacific Northwest and an adjunct professor in the school of business at Portland State University. A 30-year veteran of the advertising and marketing industry, Zanger was director of brand and purpose communications at The Martin Agency. Prior to The Martin Agency, Zanger was an editor at Adweek and Americas editor at The Drum, with coverage prioritizing DEI, sustainability, climate and other critical purpose-related topics. Before his tenure in journalism, Zanger spent eight years at Stillwell Partners, working on the Advertising Week B-to-B events and its content development. In his 15 years in radio, Zanger built in-house creative practices at Rose City Radio and Entercom, winning the coveted Radio Mercury Award in 2003 and other recognition throughout his tenure.

Doug, Morgan, and Nicole discuss:

- Blending data science and optimization with the art of creativity and how to use data to “measure” creativity.
- Progress over perfection. Creating an environment that fosters experimentation and risk-taking.
- Finding the tone to reflect the brand’s personality.
- AI’s impact on creativity- is it killing it or getting the ball rolling?

Ideas don’t always come from the office. They might start there but they don’t always end there. If you find yourself in a rut, try taking yourself out of the situation and letting your brain focus on something else. You just might find the ideas will start flowing naturally.

Thank you for listening! Tune in to all the episodes for practical tips on crushing your startup marketing goals. Don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast, and tell us your key takeaways!