Finding the Intersection of Creativity and Effectiveness in Marketing

Image credit: https://www.pexels.com/@kaboompics

We get tangled in ourselves at times: The pull to do something so mind-blowingly creative and edgy and different and fabulous distracts us from the goal the item needs to achieve.

I understand all too well the distraction: Creativity feels like expansion, open horizons, expanses of fresh air and thinking—especially when creativity for creativity’s sake is the primary goal of the project.

However, in most cases, we need to channel creativity to serving other goals. While I personally believe that a solid measure of creativity has relevance to every aspect of life and business—and not just marketing, where it tends to get lumped—I acknowledge that creativity most often is less the end goal and more often the path or the tool to achieving some other objective.

We employ creativity to solve problems, develop and execute research efforts, analyze data, and innovate on new products and services and their execution. In all these cases, creativity is critical for success—yet creativity is not the desired final product.

People on both sides of the table at FrogDog—ourselves and our clients—can get so caught up in the oo-la-la of the surprise-me creative that they lose sight of the overall objective. The most important question isn’t whether the effort will win awards for innovation but rather whether the effort will achieve the business objectives the company has brought us on board to achieve.

Because let’s be honest: We get assessed by how well we have achieved the client’s objectives in measurable ways. Further, professional projects need to suit budgets and return on investment—making it doubly important that our efforts achieve their objectives in the most straightforward ways possible.

And after more than two decades in marketing, I can assure you that the most effective marketing rarely wins the “most creative,” “coolest,” or “edgiest” designations at ritzy award shows. Typically, the most effective marketing clearly and crisply communicates the key messages in the most direct and accessible ways to the target markets.

If you must choose between the most creative and the most effective—in all cases outside fine art—you should always choose the most effective. Rarely, though, does the choice boil down so cleanly. The real trick? Finding the magic intersection between award-winning creative and creative that works.

The overlap in the creativity-effectiveness Venn diagram exists: It just takes a little more expertise and ingenuity to find it.