CREATIVITY IN ADVERTISING

"We do not separate advertising

from life." 
 Creativity is a very subjective term.

Who can really say what is creative, for we all have

different opinions on what we individually think is
creative.

Some people believe creativity is an engrained concept

that you are born with it.

Other people believe it is a talent that can be learned

and taught.

We personally believe it is a little of both.

The essential elements of creativity are really imagination
and inventiveness disciplined by routine skills.

Your imagination is something you are born with, it can

be large and wild or it can be small and controlled.

Inventiveness is something that can be disciplined, it can

be taught and learned with practice and skill.

Put those two concepts together and anything is possible.

In advertising, agencies live and die by creative
communications.

Creativity is one of the reasons clients justify advertising

and their choice of agencies.

So what exactly is creative in advertising?

Some creative commercials are effective, some effective
ads are creative, and other ads are neither creative nor
effective.

Creativity and effectiveness ultimately join in the

consumer's minds rather than remain separate.
We must then ask, what is efficiency?

Well, efficiency of an ad is determined by the correct

combination of its impact and retention.

Impact being the ability of an ad to attract attention and

retention being the ability of an ad to stay on viewers'
minds.

We can thus say with certainty that an advertisement

needs to be creative to succeed. Its creativity needs to be
effective in both its impact and retention.
Although creativity in advertising is an important factor,
one must remember to not be creative just for creative
sake. The creativity must also be effective.

Successful creative strategies result from pinpointing an

idea, a nuance, an insight, or a piece of information
gathered from research or sometime from an
understanding or quickness of human nature.

The true role of the strategy is to make that bound which

defines the relationship between the brand and its user.
Creativity versus Innovation

Professor Simon Majaro of Cranfield School of

Management defines innovation as: 'Creativity is the
thinking process that helps us generate ideas.

Innovation is the practical application of such ideas

towards meeting the organization's objectives in a more
effective way.’

But this means all ideas are creative. In reality, many ideas
will be rejected. Using the working definition of creativity,
it would recognize that, to be 'creative', the idea must
offer some form of added value.
Innovation can instead be defined as the 'adoption,
adaptation, or implementation by a third party of
someone's creativity (ie an added value product)'. When
appraising a painting, one does not say: 'artist is being
innovative.'

Should another artist adopt some element of this work,

such as its style, subject matter, materials or techniques
used, then the original work can be said to be innovative;
it has inspired the application of some creative element of
the original work by a third party.
"Creativity and innovation are normally complementary
activities, since creativity generates the basis of
innovation, which, in its development, raises difficulties
that must be solved once again; with creativity…

It is not possible to conceive innovation without creative

ideas, as these are the starting point."
Flood yourself with information in your chosen area of
creativity then deliberately expose yourself to
information outside your area.

Respect and care for your creativity.

Attend to your needs, listen to your creative inner voice,

and spend time with yourself.

Manage stress in your life as much as possible.

Practice some kind of peaceful, relaxing activity such as
handwork or quiet exercise.

Avoid becoming too fixed in your routines.

Don't allow your beliefs to distort your perceptions.

A useful technique is to deliberately and consciously

attempt to integrate opposites at every opportunity
within your own mind.
Develop the attitude that your creative work is important
even if others do not share your belief; allow such
judgmental attitudes to be their problem, not yours.

Practice using affirmations and reframing (seeing things

from another angle or in another context) to de-program
your self critical habits.
Creativity is not a gift of some sort; it is a state of being.

Learning a creativity- increasing technique of some sort

will give you some tools and help you, but will not
automatically change your point of view about yourself
and your creativity; your belief and value systems about
creativity and creativity myths must change as well.