25th October, 2024

Why creative bravery is more effective

Reading an article in Marketing Week reminded me of the absolute importance of being creative. It seems almost like the forgotten art in a world of analysis, data, technology, and AI. But creativity is fundamental to a brand’s growth.

At Fireworx we know that ideas backed by creativity wins hands down. In fact, when it comes to successful marketing, advertising, digital or social, creativity kicks the hell out of non-creative work. It’s that simple.

The best brands and businesses are the ones that people feel compelled to talk about. The ones that earn a place in people’s lives by being memorable, useful, relevant, different, or entertaining.

But as our careers progress and we grow into more commercial and business-focused roles, what we leave behind is often more precious than what we gain. Boxed in by clever accountants, decision-dodging MDs, awkward product managers or savvy-suited salespeople, it’s too easy to lose control. To suffer from a failure of imagination.

Are you a marketer of conformity or of conviction?

Do you seek to reach an existing consensus or to build a new one? Do you refuse to be led by the group-think mob? Do you stand tall and challenge the received logic of slow growth and incremental improvement, settling down to slug it out with performance media alone?

The best don’t settle for the binary. They know the one great truth in marketing: when you get it right, everything’s a multiplier.

They live in the realm of the imagination. Using the language of emotion over logic, listening to intuition as much as relying on data, they believe in the spirit of bold moves over incremental gain, and building their brand for the long term, all the while smashing the short-term sales targets out of the park. You see, the best in our industry don’t settle for the binary. They know the one great truth in marketing: when you get it right, everything’s a multiplier.

Customer, creativity, cost management: What every marketer should refocus on in challenging times 2 + 2 = 5. Long and short. Mass marketing and key target segments. Brand and performance. This profusion of opposites. This chaos of contradictions. These are what lie at the heart of finding and unlocking growth. The art of the marketer is to weave these together in unforgettable ways, while telling a compelling story to sceptical stakeholders.

Creativity in marketing is about how we use our imagination to find the most powerful ways to engage customers and unlock their value. We do this by facilitating an exchange: we deliver unique value to them, and in exchange, they give value back to us; be that in sales (money), loyalty, repurchase, a bigger share of basket, advocacy.

Are you focused on value creation or value exchange?

I’m not surprised anymore when I find out that someone’s marketing approach is untethered from value creation and value exchange. Too often today, marketers risk falling into being second-rate business spivs chasing the bottom of the funnel.

But this isn’t what the CEO, CFO or the board want. They want someone to pull open the festive cracker of extraordinary growth with a POP! They want their marketing leader to find a way for their business to blossom and grow, to explode in a storm of confetti and party streamers. They want their brand to be famous and deliver long-term growth.

And with the continual rollout of what I’d term ‘mediocre AI’. Which is largely in the hands of people who couldn’t tell you what good actually looked like anyway. This all starts with a Chat GPT prompt. We’re now fighting against a time, where more and more businesses are looking for the cheapest, fastest solution, not the best, most creative or effective one.

A business must have ambition – the CEO, the commercial director, the chairman, people with real authority have to be committed to winning big. If that doesn’t exist and your ambition is unabashed, it’s going to fall flat.

Are you in a position to make a braver creative choice?

Over the past 28 years, it’s been my absolute privilege to support some of the globe’s biggest brands or those that want to be. It’s normally the key part I see most brands get wrong outside of lacking real creative bravery. But it’s a fight to get the truly creative ideas through.

So please, if you’re in a position of influence in a business and appoint a new agency, when they present their ideas, consider the outlier, the ‘out there’ one, the one that talks to your inner child. I mean who would have thought the Police would adopt Cards Against Humanity as a campaign concept?

Whenever we present a range of ideas almost without fail there is a collective groan from the creative team when the ‘safe’ option gets picked.

Here’s to the entrepreneurs, the risk-takers, the crazy ones, those with ambition who want to do things differently and stand out from the crowd. Challenge the status quo, go with the wacky idea, make a dent, and avoid safety if you can… Think disruptive!

As we enter the last few months of 2024 and prepare for 25 with a new year of opportunity, how will your business use the power of imagination to deliver commercial effectiveness and enable better growth?

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