Trusting Creativity: Crispin Porter + Bogusky style
March 19th, 2008
Have you read the AdWeek article written by Alex Bogusky? I first discovered it via AdPulp and the sharp eye of David Burn. It’s a good read, but the part I like best is this:
“We are so lucky to be in a creative field at a time when the economy is running on creativity. Yet we are still inculcated to mistrust the concept of creativity. We may be perfectly positioned, but we spend our time trying to add scientific processes to our strategies and scientific testing to our work. Why do we distrust something that is so easy for us all to identify and identify with?”
Amen, brother Bogusky. Why do we, as creative companies continue to add “scientific processes to our strategies and scientific testing to our work?” Is it the need to prove the work? Is it that pesky ROI question that CMOs are always asking? Process charts and diagrams and pie charts. Sometimes they make me cringe. And sometimes they are one of the best resources we have.
Anyway, food for thought.
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linkerjpatrick says:
I like the line about the economy running on creativity! All too often we hear all this gloom and doom about the economy and people want to retreat into a hole when it’s trying times that often spark new ideas. When the tradition options cease to become options we tend to come up with some crazy stuff. I love it.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:31 amtessa stewart says:
I believe it was JFK that said something like this: “People don’t have a lack of money. People have a lack of ideas.”
March 19th, 2008 at 10:04 amBogusky is right.
olivier says:
True. Sadly, the economy can’t help but occasionally trip over the critical mass of its distrust of creativity.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:31 amSherida says:
Thanks for sharing. That article was the pick-me-up I needed on a rainy Wednesday.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:47 amCara Keithley says:
when the economy tightens, it is natural to question the areas that spend money rather than just produce it. The question always comes down to what we are generating…do our marketing efforts drive volume to the programs? In trying times, it just seems like good business to get back to the root of things–our partners and customers–and focus on creative, low cost ways to strengthen these relationships. I have to believe that doing this now will lead to higher volume as the economy rebounds and it sets an important precedent for continued dialogue and creative thinking, even when times are good.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:49 amPhil Klafta says:
Bogusky’s article is rooted in the same attitude that has almost killed the creative side of marketing. Unfounded and misdirected “creativity” may make for a good reel but it also makes for bad business for our clients. At some point marketing directors decided that “trust me” from an over-paid, over-stroked creative director was no longer acceptable evidence of potential or actual success. They may have over-compensated in the opposite direction, but they’re more right than we are.
March 19th, 2008 at 5:48 pmBIG Kahuna says:
Well as a company that does significant branding research I must say that I can’t fully agree. There is a place for research for darn sure.
March 19th, 2008 at 6:48 pmMeasuring the Awesomeness of Jimmy Page’s Stairway to Heaven Guitar Solo : Point Oh! says:
[…] parallel hit me while reading the excellent Brains on Fire post in response to an Ad Week interview with Alex Bogusky of Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Bogusky was […]
March 21st, 2008 at 6:43 amDavid Burn says:
Thanks for the shout out, Spike.
As for your question, that pesky ROI question isn’t going to go away. So let’s find a “creative” response to it.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:27 pm