• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 12, 2025

Email teams have reason to be wary of those in charge of creative at their companies. 

While 53% of marketers think creative work is getting better over time, only 24% of agency personnel agree, according to The BetterIdeas Project, a study by BetterBriefs.  

In addition, a mere 27% of marketers claim they are well-trained in how to evaluate creative ideas, versus 30% of agency personnel. Worse, neither side feels good about their output. 

For instance, marketers are proud of only 36% of the work they have been involved with in their careers. Creative agency people are proud of even less -- only 26%.

And in-house teams take pride in 32% of their work.  

The three groups have different criteria for evaluating ideas. For instance, 51% of marketers say their top concern is engaging the target audience, and 59% of agencies agree, although 61% say the message must be “on brief.” As for in-house teams, 50% cite engagement as the top concern, which may be disappointing to email specialists. 

Moreover, 54% of marketers and 75% of agencies agree that most creative work doesn’t stand out.  

In-house people may be keeping their heads down. The study shows that 70% of agencies lack trust in the creative judgement of marketers.  

And they have different views of the client approval process: 56% of marketers think it is working well, compared to 23% of agencies. 

Majorities on both sides say that it is hard to evaluate ideas. That must explain everything.

BetterBriefs surveyed 1,034 respondents from 54 countries.