What is creative to whom and why? Perceptions in advertising agencies

The authors apply recent advances in creativity theory to discover perceptual differences in the factors of strategy, originality, and artistry among creatives and noncreatives. It was found that current advertising position influences subjective perceptions of what constitutes creative advertising. Creatives tend to perceive advertisements as more appropriate if they are artistic, but account executives tend to perceive advertisements as more appropriate if they are strategic. The study also indicates that creatives have a distinctive preference for a strong originality component to strategy. To be original within the confines of a tight strategy is perceived as the most creative by advertising creatives. Account executives are so focused on strategy, they will often accept artistic advertisements as a substitute for truly original work. The authors consider future research implications of the study and its limitations

Creating passion to engage versus enrage consumer co-creators with agency co-conspirators: Unleashing creativity

The purpose of this paper is to provide a perspective on how new interactive media trends affect the creative process in agencies and engage consumers as co-creators, based on recently published research and observation. Interviews, participant observation, and secondary analysis of recently published qualitative and quantitative research (1996-2008) by the author and leading scholars in the field is used in this offering. A review of emerging trends and conceptual thinking in this area prompts the suggested perspective along with an empirical longitudinal global study on what drives creativity in advertising ADCRISP©. This contribution illustrates examples of how a passionate approach drives creativity and change for an iconic brand. Ethnographic methods are suggested for reconnecting with changing consumers and environments. This viewpoint recognizes the potential of engaging the consumer and unleashing creativity while pointing out potential pitfalls of misplaced marketing and misdirected creativity. This paper offers a creative viewpoint and a practical direction on how agencies might be more appropriate in engaging the target consumer. The consumer participates as co-creator and impacts the agency-client-consumer creative development process. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT

Desperately seeking advertising creativity : engaging an imaginative "3Ps" research agenda

An overview and perspective of advertising creativity research is offered in a "3 Ps" (person, place, and process) framework to shape future research agendas. Emerging methodologies and tools are examined to enable a paradigm shift for academic researchers and emerging scholars seeking to stimulate new advertising creativity research initiatives. A discussion of key contributions, a literature review, and a classification table summarize various approaches to creativity. An introduction to research papers appearing in this special issue offers insights for scholars.15 page(s

Passion, expertise, politics, and support : creative dynamics in advertising agencies

Creativity is a trait that is treasured by both advertising agencies and clients. How is greater creativity nurtured and cultivated in such an intense environment? Passion (in the form of intrinsic motivation) as well as industry expertise and knowledge are highly desirable ingredients for driving creativity in an advertising agency (Young 2003). This research proposes a dynamic framework for greater creativity that includes passion (individual intrinsic motivation) as one of the most important factors in predicting creativity, along with industry expertise and knowledge. As a stimulus, management support for creativity serves to enhance passion’s influence on creativity in this model, while the influence of expertise is suppressed by organizational politics. The study uses a sample of 1,188 advertising campaigns from major U.S. agencies, reported by 413 respondents, to offer an insightful framework for advertising creativity.13 page(s

Creativity and ad theory

21 page(s

When bad is good : the creative conundrum of agency-client relationships

Some advertising agencies and their marketing clients have traditionally invested in long term relationships that were greatly valued. Recent economic imperatives have prompted many clients to break such long term bonds and re-define relationships. For example, in the auto industry, some client-agency relationships forged over one hundred years ago have recently been terminated during the search for new agency partners and creativity. Consumer packaged goods marketers like Proctor and Gamble and Unilever also tend to remain with their full service agency of record partners, even when switching account teams and resources globally.13 page(s

The Creative advertising development process : is organizational politics a recipe for disaster or a dysfunctional antidote?

18 page(s

Marketer perceptions of client–agency co-creation: Exploring the levels of partnership collaboration

Collaborative co-creation of advertising campaigns by agencies and clients is widely perceived to result in greater creativity and higher-quality advertising outcomes. This research examines three levels of collaboration in client–agency relationships. Environmental-level effects were found in that clients often had difficulty ceding control and trusting an outside agency. Yet when agencies are viewed as experts, clients come to trust them and better creative work results. At the dyadic level, the depth of information sharing between the agency and client was helpful. In stable client–agency relationships, client involvement need not be as extensive because the agency already understands the strategy. Interorganizational effects were also explored, but a surprise finding was an unexpected inverted U-shaped relationship between agency competency and effectiveness. Only at a moderate level of agency competency is the most effective advertising observed, which is indicative of a “dark side” of client–agency relationships. This study was based on qualitative interviews with 20 marketing clients and agency professionals from Australia and New Zealand. Quantitative results were based on 162 campaigns from the same region reported on by 60 brand managers