MICHAEL NUTLEY
Creativity in digital goes way beyond advertising
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The definition of creativity is too focused on the ‘big C’ creativity of the ad agency world
Anyone who’s read Conan Doyle or Mark Haddon knows the curious thing about the dog in the night is not that it barked but that it didn’t.
When I was researching the introduction to this year’s nma Top 100 Interactive Agencies guide, one question I asked agency heads was where the skills gaps were. The consensus was that understanding of strategy and the ability to utilise data were the key things missing. No one mentioned creativity.
When I realised this as I came to write the piece some time later, it was a shock. Only a few years ago, creativity was the biggest issue among digital agencies. More recently a lot has been written about the fact that UK agencies don’t seem to be winning the big international prizes for creativity, and that we’re being overtaken by such creative hotbeds as Brazil.
So why didn’t the dog bark at the lack of creatives? Has a flood of native talent poured into the industry in the past two years, producing great online advertising? I’m not convinced. And while I suspect the perceived dominance of places like Brazil is more an artefact of how big international awards are judged than a genuine reflection of how great their ad industries are, I don’t think we’re in the middle of a golden age of online advertising. But I’m not sure that’s through lack of creative talent. What seems more likely is that the definition of creativity in this space is too focused on the ‘big C’ creativity of the ad agency world, which is a small and arguably shrinking part of online marketing overall. In fact, much of the creativity that goes into online marketing is either invisible or manifests itself in things that aren’t ads.
This has been true for a while. Creativity in technology and use of media has been always a hallmark of the interactive industry, while the rise of branded utilities a couple of years ago, now formalised as apps, is a great example of online creativity outside the realms of advertising.
And it does seem like the importance of ‘big C’ creativity could be declining in the interactive world. A short while ago we ran a feature about real-time bidding on display ads, which reported that, although only about 1% of display is currently traded in real time, this is expected to increase to 20% in the next few months (nma 8 July 2010). Real-time bidding is based on the relevance of the advertiser to the user, judging from their browsing behaviour. It can be seen as the application of the search model to display, or the extension of ad targeting. But whichever way you look at it, it’s about data rather than creative.
And the growing importance of data was acknowledged by AMV BBDO MD Ian Pearman when I interviewed him for the September nma Podcast. He acknowledged that data wasn’t a core part of his agency’s skills or culture, making it a key recruitment need. I’ve mentioned this issue of creative talent to a few creative directors since the Top 100 came out and they’ve all been keen to stress that the industry still needs creatives. But it seems it needs data experts and strategists more.
Readers' comments (3)
Paul Kitcatt, Creative Partner at Kitcatt Nohr Ale | Thu, 4 Nov 2010 10:39 am
This is very like the kind of thing that used to be written about DM. It's part of ad agencies' defensive strategy to ring-fence 'creativity' as essentially the stuff they do, and then to position everything else outside the definition. Unfortunately, many DM creatives over the years have been suckered into trying to play this game on ad agencies' terms, and of course, they fail, although they may get a patronising pat on the head in passing.
In reality, this is an entirely parochial discussion, and anyone outside the fish tank ad agencies inhabit would find it laughable. And since we are outside - both as DM and Digital creatives - we should laugh too. The definition of creativity is not in fact decided by ad agencies, but by a far wider group of people who are engaged in creative activities ranging from painting to manufacturing, and ultimately by an even wider group - speakers of English.
The definition offered by psychologist Dr Jonathan Plucker is as follows:
'Creativity is the interaction among aptitude, process, and environment by which an individual or group produces a perceptible product that is both novel and useful as defined within a social context.'
This may not be elegant, but it is well considered. By this definition, the work of digital and DM agencies is often highly creative, while much of advertising is not, and seems to only focus on novelty, and fails most frequently to be in any sense useful.
So I'm agreeing with the author of this piece, up to a point. The definition of creativity is at fault. It needs to be wider, to include, as he says, people outside the creative department. But it also needs to be deeper, to recognise that the world has moved on from the narrow definition of creativity offered by ad agencies, and now must include ideas that consumers find useful, interesting, involving, and critically, that invite their participation.
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Fiona Grantham (Freelance Planner) | Mon, 8 Nov 2010 5:17 pm
I agree that 'creativity' is too often ring fenced by ad agencies but i find it odd that it has been separated out from good strategy and data! My personal view (as a planner) is that its 'creativity' that allows us to identify new data sources, look at data in unique ways, or develop ground breaking strategic solutions based on interpretations from that data. There is no point being data driven if you can't use it in a creative process. The two (or three) elements are completely interdependent.
I therefore agree with what Paul says above; creativity is as much a process and environment as it is an aptitude. Ad agencies have creativity running through their veins and therefore everyone from account management to planning to research approach things in a creative way - and are rewarded for doing so. I think the industry is too quick to downplay this advantage they have - we all know culture is the hardest thing to change!
This is the bit i think lots of digital agencies are missing. Creativity flourishes in a business that values exploration, experimentation, risk taking, brevity and confidence. Being too data led can sometimes undermine these required attributes. It’s a delicate but important balance we all have to crack and its an interesting new dimension to the on-going 'land grab' debate in this industry.
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Mick Collopy | Thu, 11 Nov 2010 2:24 pm
Agreeing with all the above, to which I would also add that it is possible to be creative with data itself - they are not mutually exclusive.
For example, how do you segment? It's part art, part science. Unless the data team have some creativity, imagination and empathy with the end customer, the insights will be limited by the brief, which "doesn't know what it doesn't know".
This is of course assuming that we 'should' segment - what if the customers segmented themselves? This is where the technology/data team need to create an environment which will allow people to interact in a way that they reveal their preferences.
Market research and geodemographics are still popular segmentation methodologies, but still require a leap of faith when it comes to creative - planners have to interpret the results, then imagine what the lifestyle preferences are to inform advertising content and targeting strategy.
However it is possible to create digital environments which will allow customers to interact with data that will cut to the chase - by analysing which content customers spend time on, segmenting on this behaviour, then profiling the resultant segments , we may be able to increase relevance, response rates, less spam, and increase ROI!
The more creative with data, the more informed the creative brief, the more interaction, the more data....and so on.
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