It seems self-evident that powerful creative work can be a core driver of impact for brand. How else can attention, mental availability and conversion be seized in a world characterised by fragmentation and self-defined spaces?

 

But marketers are still underestimating the importance of creative quality, despite research highlighting creative quality as the second biggest factor in marketing effectiveness. The focus has instead been on issues such as media mix allocation, balancing brand vs performance marketing and targeting.

 

Fighting established perceptions can be an uphill task, made more difficult by the fact that drawing a line from creative work to impact on business bottom lines remains a roundabout process.

 

But is this never-ending quest a lost cause?

 

Ronnie Wu, chief creative officer, TBWA\China notes that one would be partially correct in believing creativity is not one of the powerful drivers of brand growth.

 

“Creativity is about generating ideas to solve problems, it’s one important part for the solution, not the only part. Without fundamentals such as products, services or brand value, without proper strategic thinking or right media channels, creativity is nothing but a sandcastle. When you look closely, creativity does exist in all the above listed factors,” he says.

 

This perception gap may also be because “creativity” is only perceived for its meaning in a narrow sense of the word, says Takahiro Hosoda, chief creative officer, TBWA\Hakuhodo.

 

“In business, the word creativity doesn’t only mean ‘creative advertising expressions’, it covers each and every process of realizing brand’s vision - of what it should be like in the future,” he adds. “Creativity isn’t just a wrapping for the brand to look nice; it is what refines the contents within and in that sense, there’s no brand that doesn’t require creativity.”

 

Annika Park, senior strategist, TBWA\Hong Kong believes the disconnect exists because so much of creativity feels personal.

 

“We intuitively know when something speaks to us or moves us to action. It’s often towards a vision of what we believe must be that calls upon us with a powerful new idea. How do we bottle that?”, she says. “Our responsibility is to continue allowing audacious, courageous, and rebellious minds to push against a world that finds it harder than ever to accept that what’s most personal is the most creative.”

 

Parixit Bhattacharya, chief creative officer, TBWA\ India notes that a brand, eventually, is its voice. A voice registers when it is differentiated and cuts through the noise. Creativity helps get to this voice.

 

“With time and patterned interventions this voice resonates more, and the brand grows. Technically, no voice means no brand. No creativity means no voice,” he explains. “However, a super short-term lens can prevent someone from seeing that creativity is one of the most powerful drivers of brand growth.”

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Data-led or creativity-led?

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It's no secret that marketers are increasingly concerned with data and measurement models to tie marketing efforts to the business bottom line. According to Gartner, 26% of CMOs surveyed consider marketing data and analytics as a top-three capability gap, with 22% citing marketing technology – indicating an overall emphasis on shoring up in-house capabilities.

 

This means that conversations had with marketers as creative partners, need to tackle brand challenges within this context in mind.

 

Hosoda points out that truly meaningful data is always a source of creative inspiration. 

 

“It gives us hints on how to move people's hearts and minds,” he says. “However, it is important to not be completely beholden to data, rather using it as a springboard to make a creative leap. The creativity of human beings supported by data is invincible.”

 

Wu agrees, adding that data and measurement models are important tools to a creative – It can help identify truths and offers another perspective to find insights.

 

“It can help us to understand why an idea doesn’t work or it works well. It tells you the truth, but it still needs us, human, to find out what is behind the truth or what can we get out of it,” he adds.

 

Chayada Suntong, creative group head, TBWA\Thailand notes that without creativity, data is just raw information waiting to be transformed and illustrated in more interesting ways.

 

“Creativity helps articulate the data, helping draw conclusions and making the data more meaningful, and easier to understand. It is important for creativity and data to work together to bring the most effective business results,” she adds.

 

Park agrees data and measurement models are powerful tools to determine creativity that works against a predetermined objective but argues that the current pressure to “sell in” creative ideas with data and measurement in mind cheapens the importance of this process.

 

“Creativity is the art of personal persuasion, but we must never forget that our responsibility is with persuading our clients’ clients – the customer. It’s not ‘selling it in’ if it’s a bare minimum of our responsibility; to ensure that ideas work to move the customer to thought or action,” she says.

 

Melvin Mangada, managing partner and chief creative officer of TBWA Santiago Mangada Puno has always believed that imagination and intuition are game changers.

 

“But creative work is powered by data and insights. Agencies sell ideas grounded on human truths and behaviour,” he says.

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The path for partners

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Despite some flares of optimism at the start of 2022, the overall economic outlook remains gloomy, as political uncertainties, inflationary pressures and supply chain woes continue to dampen recovery efforts.

 

When asked about a recession, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton famously said: “I thought about it and decided not to participate.”

 

It could be argued that in such uncertain times, the importance of marketing and advertising becomes heightened, as businesses work harder to convert and retain wary consumers. Conditions that can underscore the true value of an inspired creative idea.

 

Creative-led agencies are actively reframing the role they play in client partnerships.

 

“As agencies evolve and innovate in the ever-shifting landscape, the challenge is to gain the respect of clients as a vital partner beyond advertising,” says Mangada.

 

As Bhattacharya points out: “As creative consultants to businesses, the ultimate result we deliver is growth. We just need to constantly reiterate with our work that the path to sustained growth is through creativity.”

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