• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Ramesh Narayan

How can creativity flower?

CREATIVITY is probably the one word that assumes great importance in any enterprise. More so in the advertising industry.

Let's look at it closely. Tomes have been written on its critical importance. A hundred seminars and workshops have never tired of stressing how it is the cornerstone of the industry.

I don't think anyone questions its importance. Creativity is really something that everyone accepts as vital. Then why is it that there is so little of it evident in our work?

Let us step back a little and question why I dare say there is so little evident in our work. How does one assess or judge creativity? Well, I believe here is where the entire problem begins. There is no real yardstick by which creativity can be precisely measured.

How do jury panels judge creativity? Very simple. They specify "impact" and "relevance" as two parameters to evaluate or judge creativity.

Having said this you then slip into an ethereal world where advertising associations are locked in an unending battle to define who can actually judge creativity.

"Obviously, only creative people should be called upon to judge creativity," says one big lobby.

"No, call in those who evaluate creativity as a part of their profession," says another school of thought.

Shorn of its niceties, the first school of thought lays out a case where creators of creativity are the best judges of it. The second school advocates the inclusion of marketing people who in any case judge the creativity of agencies every day in the real world and decide what actually goes out to the ultimate consumer.

Having seen both schools of thought prevail at different periods of time, I am qualified to comment on what goes on in the differing scenarios.

Firstly, when you have only eminent creative directors judging creative work, you tend to look for what the supposedly creative mind recognises as truly creative. You end up with a view that almost none, or at least a very small proportion, of the work entered deserves to be awarded for creativity.

This really is an affirmation of what this school of thought said in the first place. As clients have already judged the work, killed any sign of creativity, and only allowed what remains to appear in print or celluloid, there is obviously nothing left to judge in it.

When clients are involved in the judging process the creative directors turn up their noses and say that they would rather not enter their work than have a dead body killed all over again.

So what do the creative directors call creative? Some elusive thing called the big idea. The same thing that many clients disdainfully dismiss as something "minimalist." And how do these creative directors form their opinion? "From their inner being" would be what they would like to say.

"From what wins at Cannes or Clio" is what the general public would chorus. And what does win at Cannes?

Well, judging from the Indian victories at Cannes, the overwhelming majority of the few pieces of work that have been hailed by the international creative community is work done for NGOs. Even if it is work done for a brand, it is probably some environmental message from the company, not its regular advertising.

So what does that mean? Why is it that there are a growing number of global majors increasing their advertising through a large number of global agency alliances and we could not get one single gold Lion at the Cannes advertising festival? Meanwhile the bronzes we picked up are for everything other than "regular" advertising of large advertisers.

Public service is the area where we score regularly. Think about it. These are advertisements or hoarding messages that are probably created pro bono and so do not go through the rigours of approval from a client. They appear on one hoarding site in Worli, Mumbai or somewhere similar. It does not make the message any less creative, but it is certainly not representative of the advertising in India.

So what does this really mean? Is the jury at Cannes out of sync with creativity? Our very own Piyush Pandey was Chairman of the jury this time, so we can't complain.

Are our clients not willing to, or unable to, approve creative communication?

Before I am hung at dawn for suggesting something as blasphemous as this please note the interrogative tone.

If everyone agrees that creativity is all-important, and everyone agrees that a Cannes award is the Holy Grail of creativity in advertising, why do I sound like a sports editor does after the Olympics? A billion Indians and not one Gold!

Or is it just that we are paying too much heed to all the hype and hoopla of some international circus on creativity? "Remember," says the marketer, "we are creating advertising that works. And that is what is important."

Then why am I so despondent?

(The author heads Canco Advertising)

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Are you wearing SMS today?

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line