The key to creativity in times of crisis
Last year, global marketing effectiveness guru Peter Field decried The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness in his report of the same name, which was launched at the 2019 Cannes Lions. The report covered almost 600 case studies from 1996 to 2018 and is a follow-up to the IPA’s 2016 publication Selling Creativity Short that warned of the dangers to creative effectiveness posed by short-termism in marketing and highlighted a misunderstanding of how brands grow.
So what are the implications of this creative crisis for brands faced by the series of real world short-term crisis we’re now seeing across the globe, from Brexit in the United Kingdom, to civil unrest in Hong Kong, to bushfires in Australia, and now the coronavirus sweeping the world?
In a stark warning to marketers and creative agencies alike, Field’s key conclusion was that short-termism has driven a collapse in creative effectiveness and efficiency. This can be explained largely by the shift to short-term activation-focussed creativity and the strategic and media trends this has promoted.
Field’s earlier studies found that creativity was once the single most important driver of effectiveness, with enormous effectiveness multipliers evident for the most creative campaigns.
However, creativity delivers very little of its full potential over short time frames, and yet the trend to short-term, disposable and ultimately inefficient creativity continues.
This problem is only compounded in uncertain times, when marketing conservatism typically triumphs over creativity just when it should be other way around.
When the world is going through difficult times, it's more incumbent than ever on marketers to maintain creative, engaging and entertaining brand communications rather than take cover with more conservative marketing messages.
For the shrewd marketer who can do this, while still ensuring they still strike the right tone for the times and for their brand, it's a unique opportunity to boost both share of voice and share of market as their competitors cut spend and strike a more sombre tone.
As Field notes, there is a huge gulf between creative best practice and poor practice. Yet high performing creative campaigns have been quantified to be on average eight times more effective than their low performing peers in terms of the number of business effects they generate and almost 16 times more likely to bring major profitability growth.
These high performers are defined by a more balanced approach to short and long-term risks and objectives. As well as the maintenance of the campaign in market for long enough to embed behavioural change - at least six months typically. And more broadly, earlier targeting of consumers rather than data-driven real-time communications linked to purchase intent.
All important effectiveness pointers for the marketer prepared to maintain campaign creativity and continuity in times of crisis.
