Have you ever had to defend research results? Even if they surprised you? Or stand behind your recommendation that someone’s nephew isn’t the right spokesperson? Or argue the sky is actually blue?
Ad agencies that don’t win a lot of creative awards have this saying: “…But our stuff works. Creative awards are not an indicator of effectiveness.” I would buy that … if it were true.
It’s not just the argument that better creative gets more attention, is more memorable and gets shared more often. All of that is presumably correct if you believe the million different studies out there. After all, the largest advertisers don’t hire the most creative firms for no proven reason. And not to bring up the Super Bowl one too many times for everyone, but many brands invest as much in producing their ad as they do for the time slot ($8mm+ this year).
Here's the kicker from MediaPost: System1, an ad research organization, recently published a paper along with Effie Worldwide that found the most creative campaigns generated profits 21 times greater than the least creative campaigns. 21x greater profit. Nielsen/NCS has a study that shows creative quality accounts for about half of a brand’s sales lift from advertising.
I also see “highly creative” work quite often that I believe is strategically wrong, which is why I rarely agree with the annual ad meter that follows the Super Bowl. Everyone can have a good idea, but a creative idea alone won’t move the needle much. Good idea, maybe, but not great for the brand.
So, when VI talks about 35 years of award-winning creative work, thousands of creative awards, eleven total AAF ADDY Best of Shows (eight at Oklahoma ADDY Awards, for you fact checkers), and why we sometimes need more time to get it right, or why we throw away dozens of pretty good ideas before bringing you the very best, it’s because we believe that’s what you hire us for. To make your investment pay off. To maximize it, squeeze every nickel of profit. To surpass other brands that don’t value how the human brain makes decisions.
So, who decides what is highly creative and what’s meh? An experienced creative marketer, for starters. One with a ton of awards from a bunch of different contests. One who has stood out consistently over many years. And one who will push your boundaries. 21x greater profit…
