EDITORIAL | MARKETING
COURAGE THE CORE OF CREATIVE ADVERTISING
IMAGE Nattapat Jitrungruengnij , Shutterstock . com
STEPHANIE DALE
Managing Partner , DMC Advertising Group
In the words of Henri Matisse , “ Creativity takes courage .” Creativity , impossible to define , impossible to miss . Courage and creativity manifest in man ’ s magnificence ; in endeavours , in architecture and in art . Creativity got man to the moon , built the Opera House and left us the legacy of Da Vinci ’ s Last Supper . It is energy made tangible .
In the arena of advertising , creativity is the holy grail . Revered and worshipped , we prostrate ourselves before the altar of our gods : Creativity and her twin sister , Clever . We celebrate creativity with prestigious awards such as the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity , for the best in branded communication . This is advertising ’ s answer to the far more famous film festival of the same city and winning is the mad man ’ s equivalent of receiving an Academy Award .
Ad agencies dream of clients who have the courage to embrace creativity . So often clients tell us , ‘ think outside the box , be creative ’. But once presented with the concept , they falter . Fear of failure takes hold , constraining creativity in a straitjacket of conservatism , leaching the life from the concept , diluting it to a pale pathetic permutation of the original . Thus , concerns of ineffectiveness , of management reaction , of public backlash , ensures the ‘ Free set of steak knives !’ school of ‘ badvertising ’ continues .
Of course , there are times when the creative misses the mark completely . We have all seen commercials that , in seeking to be creative , confound and confuse , leaving us wondering what the product was . We would give examples but we cannot recall the products in order to cite them .
The best ads , the shiny , bright , sparkly ones that capture our attention with their creativity , whilst generating sales , the one ’ s we would sell our souls for , are those where creativity is employed in the service of effectiveness . These are the dynamic darts of marketing that hit the target market dead centre with a sound satisfying ‘ thunk ’. So how can this be achieved ?
The first step is to arm your agency with that sharpest scalpel of effectiveness , data . Know your core customer better than your partner : understand who they are , what they love and loath , where they sleep , what they eat , read and watch . Secondly , provide the agency with your objectives . What is the purpose of the campaign - brand awareness , sales , increased market share ? Finally , take a big deep breath , have the courage to take the creative road and stay the course ; we promise you the risk is worth the reward .
Stephanie Dale is Managing Partner at DMC Advertising Group , a boutique advertising agency which offer effective , creative advertising , marketing and social media solutions .
For more information , contact Stephanie Dale on 02 9912 4400 , email sdale @ dmcadvertisinggroup . com . au or visit www . dmcadvertisinggroup . com . au
12 Spring 2017