For many chief marketing officers, the instinct to play it safe is understandable. Tight budgets and growing client expectations often mean that sticking to tried-and-tested strategies feels like the most responsible path. The truth is, playing it safe is often the riskiest (and most expensive) move a creative department can make. And I'm not talking about creative consistency here.
Vanessa Bolosier is the creative strategy director at Incubeta. Source: Supplied.
The hidden price of playing it safe
On the surface, safe creative choices seem to minimise risk. Campaigns that echo past successes, KPIs that are easy to report, and strategies that avoid controversy or novelty all promise predictability. But beneath this veneer of security lies a host of hidden costs.
When creative teams focus on safety, they often default to easily reportable metrics and low-risk activities. This approach may keep the boardroom happy in the short term, but it stifles innovation and limits growth. Brands that avoid risk become predictable, blending into the background while competitors capture attention and market share with bolder ideas.
What’s more, safe strategies can lead to wasted spend. Without the willingness to experiment, teams may continue investing in campaigns or channels that are merely “good enough,” missing opportunities to discover what truly resonates with their audience. The result is stagnation and creative work that fails to inspire, move the needle, or deliver meaningful business outcomes.
A profitable marriage of data and daring
AI and machine learning have transformed the creative process. Teams don’t have to wait weeks or months to see if a campaign is working. With the right tools, marketers can test ideas quickly, gather feedback in real time, and optimise content on the fly. This rapid feedback loop means that bold ideas can be tested safely, refined quickly, and scaled efficiently.
When creative teams take calculated risks that are grounded in data and aligned with business goals, they unlock new possibilities for engagement and growth. AI can identify which creative concepts are resonating, predict audience responses, and even simulate outcomes with synthetic audiences before a campaign goes live. This dramatically reduces the cost and uncertainty of experimentation.
Optimising creative intelligence
The most successful brands combine human creativity and emotional intelligence with the analytical power of AI. This “creative intelligence” is all about using insight to inform ideas, not replace them. It’s how you take smart creative risks instead of shots in the dark. You quantify your intuition and act on it with high-level, quality craftsmanship.
On a practical level, AI can handle the technical, repetitive aspects of creative work, freeing up human talent to focus on higher-level strategy and storytelling. By leveraging data insights, creative teams can move beyond gut instinct, making informed decisions about where to take risks and how to measure success.
How to sell smart creative risks to stakeholders
Smart creative risk-taking starts with a clear understanding of business objectives and audience needs. It’s not about gambling the brand on a wild idea, but about using data to identify where boldness can deliver the greatest impact. The best teams start with focused, small-scale tests, gathering early learnings and proof of concept before scaling up.
To sell bold ideas internally, teams should frame them in terms of strategic alignment and potential upside. Use data from early tests to build confidence among stakeholders, and emphasise the safeguards in place, especially iterative testing and clear measurement frameworks.
Boldness is a better investment
In-touch leadership will understand that the real cost of playing it safe is missed opportunity. Brands that cling to the familiar may avoid short-term risk, but they pay a far higher price in the long run, including lost relevance, wasted spend, and stagnant growth. Staying safe feels cost effective, but it’s actually the most expensive move you can make. Risk, when it’s calculated, is how you outperform.
Marketing leaders must remember that today’s platforms are designed to reward relevance and originality. If you’re bland, you’re invisible. By embracing bold, data-informed creative and leveraging the power of AI, CMOs can drive greater engagement, unlock new revenue streams, and deliver more profit to the bottom line.
