To think of "content marketing" as a way to "nail the best ad" is to totally miss the boat, in my opinion. I have been contributing to content sites for major corporations for almost a decade. From my perspective, content marketing is about (1) engaging an audience and (2) providing them with the gift of useful information.

If the goal of the marketing team is "content marketing" and not just churning out ads, you do need much more than "creative" types. You need people who have are closely familiar with the target audience. You need people who have a deep understanding of the content that will interest this audience. And you need people with the skills to present this content in a way that is accurate, accessible, and engaging. If you miss on any of these three, it is not likely that your efforts will be perceived as the gift that you intend, and instead will ring hollow as just another pitch.

I totally agree with Alfred. As a writer for various websites over the years, engaging the reader with useful information is key. It positions the company as the expert in their specific field.

Alfred Poor and Sherry Granader you both raised very good points that make total sense, and there's no doubt an advertiser needs to know his or her audience and how to engage them.

However, I think you did not really understand the question and where I was coming from and I'm happy to give some background.
When I said "the perception of content creators" (by everyone who are not them) I meant the way they are perceived and not what they actually are. Think of the general public watching Mad Men on Netflix.
The idea is that most people who work in this industry apply more "right brain" skills that involve creativity, intuition, and emotional intelligence to achieve exactly what you guys described - the creation of engaging and enriching content that brings added value to clients and can contribute to the creation of an actual user community.

I am curious to know if in the age of big data and analytics, do you think that involving some "left brain" people such as marketing and data analysts and researchers in a content creation team can help cultivating a new brand of brand story telling? Sometimes the person with the insights can help contributing to a narrative a lot, but it requires a change in how we think about content creation (think more about something like data journalism applied in Marketing) .

I myself am an analytics and business intelligence analyst, and a blogger on the side (I took a journalist writing course back in the day and contributed content to online magazines so I always have an urge to write), with a background in marketing, technology and sustainability. I hope that helps clarifying where I'm coming from with my question.

Any thoughts?