Creativity as a service

But that’s one of the challenges advertising creatives are facing. They don’t talk much about it. They may say “too bad we didn’t get it”. But if the agency calls itself a creative agency, it will simply go back to work and come up with something else. Unless the client turns out to be stupid. Believe it or not, it has happened before that an advertising agency, desperate for new business, has turned down a client because they were acting randomly, costing more than they brought in. By the end of the day, also creative work is work measured by economic standards.

The reasons why a client chooses an advertising agency are various. For one, they need someone to take off this burden of creating something they wouldn’t come up with. Creativity is one aspect, but not all to it. They also need partners who think like them, who understand them and who will actually get what they want from them. They also need caring and guidance, that’s based on the experience of the agency.

Creativity as a business

Some clients pick their creative agencies for one of those reasons. In the least cases it’s only because of creativity. A lot of people think that creativity counts most, but that is not the case. Clients want to sell a product and hope for an idea that elevates this product to gain exposure to the public, to rise into the attention span of the audience. That is one aspect. But clients also want to look good with their bosses. Most big companies have defined yearly budgets for product groups. If you’re an advertising company for Coca-Cola, you don’t talk to the big bosses. You talk to the division chief of your state, for the product group of Sprite, for an example. And this product manager has a schedule of gaining output volume of his product, within a specific range. Not too much, not less.

This client behavior leads to certain politically moves that are designed to bring the most convenience to the product manager. He/she wants to look good in front of his/her bosses, but not outstanding. It is a balance thing, it is human and it is understandable.

Not too creative please

For the ad agency though, for the creative team, this isn’t really fun. It means “they want an idea of us, but not one that works too well”. How distorted is that? But it’s true, I have experienced it over and over. Markets are in steady motion, but no one in the middle hierarchies of big corporations whants to be responsible for shifting the market too much in one direction. I know of one case with the company mentioned before, where a successful product launch was killed because the product was a little too successful, pulling off market share of another product within the same range, from the same brand. These things happen on a daily basis for creative agencies.

Still, being creative is rewarding. The simple fact you are put in charge to come up with something, to create something from scratch, find a solution to a difficult question, or surprise your audience with something fresh—all this is a tremendous reward for all the hours you waste for campaigns that never made it. By the end of the day, that pile of stuff that didn’t make it will be ten times as high as your pile of campaigns that were published. But that is a given part of the game.

Creativity and direction

A creative director is someone who gives ‘direction to creative’. A good creative director doesn’t ‘make’ people go in one direction, or forces them to use his own ideas. He is there to analyse ideas and help them being born. He has a certain amount of power within an agency structure, and if he is good at his job, it is power based on respect, for his ability to see the good.

Seeing the good is what it is all about when you are a creative director. It elevates you from the position of designer, art director, copy writer or strategist. Creative director brings the responsibility of hiring people, supporting them, guiding them, not being too intrusive with it all, and also of firing them, if they aren’t successful. It’s not a nice job, and you are not invited for beer after work because you do your job. But if you’re good at it, you are respected by the people who work with you because of your judging capabilities. If you’re not good at that, you will have a hard time having good ideas emerge and prosper out of teams.

Creativity from designers

If you, the web company, ever considers hiring a designer, you should take this in consideration. You will miss out on the experience of a creative director. Do you really just need a designer, or do you need someone who is capable to carry responsibility? Designer is an extremely widely fetched term. A lot of people think they’re designers if they are capable of using Photoshop, Indesign and Flash. A lot of people sell themselves with nice background patterns, sprayer-like illustrations, good looking, fresh and giddy, curly, splashy illustrations. That is not design, it is showing off. And good design never shows off, it is a show in itself because it was designed well.

Designers can be smart, they can be conceptual and they can know XHTML, PHP, AJAX and CSS in and out. They might know the best shortcuts for Photoshop too. But that doesn’t make him a creative. It’s not just about executing on ideas, it’s about making them. A lot of companies think that hiring a designer will fulfill their purpose: executing on look and feel. Make it nice. Make it look good. But that doesn’t cut it. You need creativity to be a good designer, and that goes way beyond making something pretty.

What is your idea of a designer, what is your idea of a creative director? I’m looking forward to your comments!