Creativity is a commodity
Oh really? thats an interesting viewpoint. I’d imagine it came from an account manager or maybe even a client?
its a strong perspective to say the least and not one i’d usually like to be associated with. but ever keen play the angles ive decided to give it some thought. what actually is creativity?
Well, in the new media digital environment i’d argue it is the “thing” that we all gather around. We eyei nervously lest we look directly at it while it floats into the nether. We cajole, encourage, protect and agrue fiercely to give it and those who have the talent to believe in it and to embellish it the rights to see it through. It is the campaing that sells toothpaste, touches hearts, drives us crazy, makes us laugh. It is the only touchpoint from which the consumer or user comes into contact with the brand in an honest way.
There is another school of thought that propoess That creativity can be turned on like a tap and that given a finite amount of time any given person can create a specified number of creative “things”. That it is pure touchy-feely, nice on the eye, visual candy. Poppycock. Without harnessing creativity in the right way and doing the utmost to care for it it does indeed become a commodiity and one that can be replaced ad nauesum by any number of other comodities, is this what we want for our brand communciations? is this what we are being asked to create? to truly deliver a compelling user experience? This tanks-on-the-lawn approach to the creative art is damaging in both the short and long term and has a major impact on ROI.
Bulldozing in and expect an immediate return results without investing the time, effort and care to grow the creativity and the team creating it into a world beating campaing, product launch or service is a sure path to failure.
It is then a very short path to not understanding the underlying reasons for the “thing” in the first place. why not replace the “thing” with another “thing” and see if that works. Monkeys and photoshop do not a campaign make.
The easily avoidable mistake here is that if creativity as an art is treated with the respect it deserves and not foisted upon the consumer as just another commoditity it will make a difference to ROI and it will begin a mutually rewarding consumer dialogue that builds trust and engages from the start. its simple really. Crude commodotising of the creative process only leads to conflicting direction, and ultimately harms the consumer or user who , lets face it, has every chance of seeing through an ill thought out product or service for what it is and never uses or buys it again.
Clearly understanding the process of creativity and clearing a path for its development can only be a good thing. Creativity + Thought + understanding = better brand communication, better thought out ideas and better return on investment. Join me in rallying against commoditising creative “things” and watch how much better the results will get
