Today’s Holy Grail: Strategic creativity

Source: © 123rf 123rf There is evidence of a strong trend of strategic creativity being the magic ingredient

“What we’re hearing is clients looking for creativity that exceeds merely coming up with ideas but includes innovative strategising,” says Johanna McDowell, CEO of Independent Agency Selection (IAS) and managing partner Scopen Africa.

“The quality of strategic thinking is not limited to creative campaigns but would include the marketing approach a client may be taking, providing an external perspective on what a marketer may or may not be doing.”

A brief glance at the graph of what clients really want in agencies in the 2023/24 Agency Scope South Arica study shows a strong uptick from the 2021/22 study in effectiveness/ROI; the agency’s team; and strategic planning in both advertising and communications, and creativity

Here, César Vacchiano, president at Scopen, notes, lies the importance and real value of strategy.

“What has become noticeable in the last few months - and has been borne out by Agency Scope data - is that clients are actually recognising the importance of creativity once again.

“The focus has shifted from a clicks obsession to the realisation that it is creativity and the way in which the content shows up across the growing number of media channels that allows it to stand out from the clutter.

”Marketers are keen to see how agencies think through things.”

Agency selection: Forget everything you know about Tinder…

Johanna McDowell  30 Sep 2024

McDowell agrees, “Clients want to hear - and we encourage them to listen to - agencies’ thoughts on possible strategic direction that marketers should be taking,” says McDowell.

This is vital when it comes to digital, she asserts, and marketers are rediscovering how important creativity in conjunction with robust strategic thinking is.

“All agencies can produce content and all agencies can produce ads,” she notes.

“But it’s the quality of thought that goes into the preparation of an advertising campaign, a retail story or lead generation activity.

“It’s the strategy behind that, along with the creativity that results from that thinking, that clients are looking for,” says McDowell.

This is supported by Scopen global trends, which show strategic planning and creativity being the disciplines most valued by Marketers

Standouts in results and initiatives

“What we saw and the takeaways attendees got from the Cannes Advertising Festival in June this year included, again, marketers emphasising creativity and its importance over performance in brand building.”

There’s no question about the creativity that is required in brand building, she says.

“It’s all very well having all these channels and the ability to produce analytics and data ourselves into a coma, but if the content is still shoddy, it could seal the fate of the brand.”

The level of creativity

Vacchiano adds, “The level of creativity that needs to go into that content is far higher than it used to be, as is the strategic thinking that must back it up.”

McDowell concurs, “The thinking here must be for an agency to determine how it can make the content show up in these spaces, and even combine platforms where possible to drive potential clients through the ‘sight-to sign up’ process.”

It's not just for the sake of innovation, she notes, but the underlying thinking that shows marketers that their agency has thought about sustainability, reliability and ensuring the brand stands out.

“Today’s agency needs to understand the power and potential of everything from TikTok to outdoor digital; and be able to drive a client’s journey across all platforms with the agility to adapt to the ‘next shiny thing’, with continuity and durability. That is today’s Holy Grail.”