Monday, January 12, 2009

Advertising Creativity Matters. A Lot.


Don't ever, ever, ever feed me that false, yet oft-repeated advertising motto, "It isn't creative unless it sells." The bold-faced fact is, it won't sell unless it's creative -- simply because it won't get noticed. Period. Exclamation point.

In support of that premise, I wrote a nationally distributed booklet titled "Why Creativity" that offers research-based facts touting the cause of intelligent creativity. (Email me at Richter7 for a free copy.)

It doesn't include, however, findings from a relevant, new study published in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Advertising Research. I shouted hosanna when I read the title: "Advertising Creativity Matters." The study was conducted by three professors at the Stockholm School of Economics. Here are just a few, quick excerpts:

“Brand interest was significantly higher among consumers exposed to more creative advertisements…revealing a more significant effect on purchase intention.”

“...an extra degree of creativity may send signals about the advertiser that rub off on consumer perceptions of the brand. In our experiment, more versus less creative advertising signaled greater effort on the advertiser’s behalf and was taken as proof of the brand’s smartness, and ability to solve problems and develop valuable products. As a result, consumers became more interested in the brand and perceived it to be of higher quality.”

“Our analysis reveals that more versus less advertising creativity produces a signal of marketing effort that is similar to advertising expense. This is good news, as this revelation implies that the advertising does not need to spend excessive amounts of money to signal confidence in the product. Instead of spending money on bigger advertising spaces or more frequent campaigns, the same effects may be attainable by increasing creativity instead. Thus, the study provides compelling evidence that creativity could be a way to produce greater results per advertising dollar.”

“This study shows that high versus low creativity works as a signal for familiar and established brands…they need to stay interesting to consumers even when they have nothing new to say. Creative advertising does increase consumer interest in brands, not by communicating a new message, but by communicating the same message in another way.”


In short, the authors confirm that advertising creativity is a powerful, positive signal when promoting familiar or unfamiliar brands. Too many creatively inept agencies cop out by saying, "We don't care about creative awards, just about results." In my opinion, that's a cheap excuse for poor ability and/or laziness.

Another research study, quoted in the booklet mentioned above, suggests creativity and effectiveness are inseparably linked, and specifically declared, "Award-winning advertising is four to five time more likely to reach client goals than non-award winning work."

In reality, awards send a clear signal that the work stands out, is memorable, and is meaningful. Any other kind of advertising is a waste of money. In today's economic environment, where fewer dollars have to work harder and where it's increasingly difficult to differentiate brands, that would be a crying shame.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Ultimate Creative Effort


Here's a shout-out to my eldest daughter, Farrah, and her husband Jon, for their latest creative (or, more accurately, pro-creative) effort -- 10-pound, 22-inch Graham. Initial indications suggest he will be a world-class copywriter, creative director, baseball player, football player, basketball player and consumer of dairy products.