Birth rates are in decline, meaning an ageing population. Immigration has changed racial and religious compositions, and norms around family structures have dramatically shifted. And that’s to say nothing of the burgeoning tech landscape that affects us all. All of these factors are fundamentally changing the audiences with which marketers must connect.

These connections are what marketing is all about. Here are four qualities marketers and creatives need to nail to flourish in the next 10 years.

1. Authenticity in turbulent times

A tesla car driving with greenery behind it and a 1 digit in the background.

What Steve Jobs said: “Marketing is about values” — is the most important line I’ve ever heard on marketing.

Audiences and customers are increasingly cynical. On the one hand, they absolutely want brands to have a point of view. More than 70% of respondents to Edelman’s Trust Barometer survey last year said they want brands to take a side on political issues, which is scary when you think about it.

On the other hand, if they get even a hint that you’re not authentically embracing a position, you’ll feel a lot of pain. Many brands have learned that the hard way. Think Bud Light and Tesla.

So how can we guarantee authenticity? Well, I know how to destroy it. Be a weather vane that changes direction based on whoever happens to be the current President of the United States.

2. Creativity in the era of data and tech

A man in a white shirt wears a VR headset, with a 2 digit in t he background.

The role of creativity has come a long way in the age of metrics and data. There are more tools around that can tell you whether something has worked, and therefore whether you should keep doing it. But it’s an evolution, not a revolution.

Data is great, but it's still mostly a backward looking thing. It's a rear-view mirror. It might tell you a little bit about the future, if you keep doing the same thing.

But marketing demands creativity. And treating audiences as data points rather than humans is absolutely one of the marketing ‘skills’ that needs to be left behind as quickly as possible.

Smart brands are finding ways to delight customers with the data at their disposal — not simply to use it to target them over and over again.

Spotify Wrapped and Netflix’s personalised thumbnails are brilliant examples of creative marketing that uses data to create experiences that enhance connection to a brand.

In a panel at 2025 Content Summit Brisbane, Matt Liddy, News Story Lab Editor from the ABC, said the most successful data storytelling is where people can put in their own postcode and say ‘how is this affecting me?’

In the age of AI, a lot of this stuff becomes easier to do. Consumers have a much greater expectation of personalisation. We’re going to start having to market, to a market of one.

That is where AI can take us. Targeting particular people and telling the stories that are very relevant to them as individuals.

That’s the power of AI, but only with human craft on top. We can never forget about human craft in all of this.

3. Courage

The face and mane of a lion, with a 3 digit in the background.

Creative marketing can be informed by data, but should not be driven by it. It’s about trusting yourself before there’s any data or proof points, and that requires courage.

It’s an important trait for marketers and creatives in your team. Creativity is about finding people who aren't afraid to make mistakes.

Because you're not going to make that leap unless you try something different. The data is not going to tell you what that is. That's what humans are so great at. Don't forget that.

I'm all in for AI. But the lived experience that AI doesn't have is what's really going to help you make the leap forward and create something new.

AI is the next canvas. That’s the way I’m encouraging people in my team to think about this stuff.

In 2025, we’re where we were with photography in the 1880s. It’s a new canvas. When photography came out, people were up in arms. ‘Oh, painters are going to be out of a job.’

‘There’s not going to be any craft.’

‘It’s low quality.’

‘Where is this going to lead human artistry?’

Fast forward to today. Creativity has massively exploded since those days. AI is the new canvas and you’re in control.

As long as marketers and creatives are out there creating and building, there is going to be room for human thought.

4. Innovation

Two robotic hands about to grasp one another, with a 4 digit in the background.

In ever-changing times, innovation emerges from understanding those timeless human needs — shelter, love, connection, storytelling — through modern means, tempered with the cultural understanding that cannot come from technology.

Innovation can and does come from everywhere and clearly establishing a strong culture of innovation matters a lot. It starts with your people and ensuring you have the right kind of characters around. They must be great observers of the world, but also have the confidence and skill to act on those observations.

They must not be satisfied with the status quo. If you are content with the status quo, then there’s no reason to innovate.

The alternative to innovation, though, is stagnation. What marketing team wants that?

This article is based on Ricky Robinson’s commentary at Content Summit Australia 2025.