Ecommerce Playbook: Numbers, Struggles & Growth Creative Strategy Is Dead (Here’s What Actually Works in 2026)
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Jan 20, 2026 Traditional creative strategies are failing businesses. Experts suggest treating creative as a supply chain aligned with growth instead of just brainstorming. Tying creative decisions to financial forecasts and media spend is crucial. They discuss the importance of modeling ad volume based on budgets and health metrics. Diversifying production sources and focusing on systems over singular great ads helps optimize efficiency. Real-time tracking and a profit engineer role are also necessary for success in this evolving landscape.
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Creative Strategy As A Broken Loop
- The old creative loop of ideation → briefs → CTR-chasing is broken and inefficient.
- Taylor Holiday says creative must become a supply chain tied to business outcomes, not opinions.
CTC's Long History With Creative Production
- Common Thread Collective ran studios, TV shoots, motion design, and in-house production historically.
- Taylor Holiday acknowledges CTC has been complicit in the old inefficient creative processes.
Plan Creative From Financial Forecasts
- Start creative planning from the financial forecast and media budget, not from ideas.
- Tie creative demand directly to revenue goals so production matches what the business needs.