Why creativity is the only thing that matters in advertising

I felt compelled to write a post about why creativity is still what only matters when it comes to what advertising is all about these days.

At the C-level in most conglomerates, the talk always revolves around how advertising can lead to more sales, conversion rates, etc.

Digital marketing is always touted as the answer to all that is wrong with the current state of branding.

But, the truth is, the game of advertising has stayed the same over the years…and its only driven by one thing.

It all boils down the essential human component that is extremely unique yet almost irreplaceable…CREATIVITY.

The recent Tide ad that aired at the Super Bowl is a perfect example. It won a Grand Effie…and as Mark Ritson of Marketing Week, puts it, P&G’s agency on record, Saatchi & Saatchi knew exactly what they were doing.

I urge you to watch his video explaining the strategy behind the making of the creative concepts, and immediately, the one thing that will strike you is the simplicity of the idea.

The creative team at this agency certainly deserved the accolades for the work, but the client was also instrumental in recognizing the potential of a great idea.

In this day and age, we are always talking about targeting, recency, reach and other nonsensical metrics that are normally being spewed out by media agencies to clients.

But as the image above shows, Nielsen’s statistics show that creativity is still the ultimate benchmark when it comes to what makes advertising successful.

This is perhaps the most damning screen grab from Mark’s presentation. To those who think awards are just a waste of time, this graphic should stop you right in your tracks.

But the best part in his presentation is captured in the screen grab below.

In my past decade in advertising, I have always observed how clients and even agencies seem to be more interested in media placement rather than the actual content itself.

In 2019, it’s all about programmatic data, insights, technology-infused mediums, digital transformation, CX, UX and all that jazz.

But like the legendary David Abbott said once upon a time, ‘Shit that arrives at the speed of light is still shit.”

Let that sink in for a minute.

The priority of advertising has never really changed. It’s always been about ideas. It’s always been about the human element. Technology is just an enabler. One has to always keep this in mind.

I’ll end this post with the picture above. Enough said.

Source: Marketing Week.