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CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY




                                                                                                                                       CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
Introduction                                                     Contents
Is the PR industry creative enough?
This was the question the Holmes Report and creativity experts
Now Go Create set out to answer through the first in-depth        Pg 3.................................... A lack of big ideas
study of creativity within the public relations industry.

The report, sponsored by Ketchum, polled 650 people from         Pg 6...................................... Creative quality
more than 35 countries across the world, helping us uncover
some fascinating findings about the state of creativity in PR.    Pg 8................................. Barriers to creativity
Respondents came from agency and in-house, and from a
range of industries and sectors, covering consumer, corporate,
healthcare, technology, digital and public affairs practices.    Pg 11...................................................... Clients
They answered a variety of questions during the two months
the study ran during the summer of 2012, focusing on attitudes
towards creativity; tools and skills; opportunities and
                                                                 Pg 13.............................................. Creativity is
challenges; and suggestions and advice.
                                                                 Pg 16.................................... Current practices

                      Arun Sudhaman
                                                                 Pg 19............................ Leadership & rewards
     Managing editor The Holmes Report

                                                                 Pg 21............................ Training & recruitment
                          Claire Bridges
                                                                 Pg 23.................................................. Catalysts
                    Founder now go create



1   creative.holmesreport.com
COMMENT




                                                                                                                                                 CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
    KEY FINDINGS
    > 1. A lack of big ideas                                                     > 4. An ambivalent view of creative
                                                                                   quality in PR, yet respondents
    > 2. The gap between aspirations                                               overwhelmingly describe themselves
      and working practices                                                        as 'creative'

    > 3. Resourcing seen as key                                                  > 5. Creativity in PR remains difficult
      barrier to creativity                                                        to define



                                                                                                   City
                                                                                                   University
     Karen Strauss, partner, chief innovation officer   Claire Bridges, founder                     Dr Sara Jones, programme director,
                                                                                                   M.A. Creativity & Leadership
     “To be more creative, we need to be more          “Big ideas come from the sweet spot         “The industry will need to address not only
     human. Creativity is not tactical or techni-      where bravery, time, imagination and        the issues around recruitment, training
     cal — it's emotional. By pausing to               talent meet. The industry needs to up the   and incentivisation, but also to look to
     develop insights before ideas, creative           ante on working practices to consistently   new opportunities such as those arising
     people in PR can and will deliver more            deliver.”                                   from recent developments in technology.”
     creative work.”

2    creative.holmesreport.com
Does the PR industry lack big ideas?




                                                                                                                                                CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 If PR people remember nothing             The PR industry has been
 else from the industry’s woeful
 performance at this year’s Cannes
                                           criticised for lacking ‘big ideas’.
 Lions festival, they may recall that      Do you agree?
 some judges criticised the
 profession’s ability to come up
 with big ideas. 61 percent of all
 respondents argued that this was
 a fair observation.

 Of even more concern, perhaps, a
 slightly higher proportion of
 in-house executives (66 percent)                   Yes it’s a fair judgement
 accepted this premise.
                                                    No it’s unfair
 Geographically, North America
 demonstrated the most resistance
 to this statement, with 44 percent
 saying that the statement is unfair.
 Latin Americans were least
 impressed: a full three-quarters
 agreed with the observation.


                                        Respondents from consumer practice areas also pushed back, with 44 percent labelling the state-
                                        ment unfair. Those that identified themselves as working in creative areas — including innovation,
                                        design and planning — were less forgiving, with 60 percent identifying the observation as a fair one.




3 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
    Respondents were asked to expand on their replies and many did, blaming clients, industry culture, competition from other disci-
    plines, and budgets…

    “In PR it's harder to see the big idea. It's not as overt because it's often overshadowed by an ad, a display, a website. The idea, in its
    consumer-facing form, suddenly is credited to that discipline. PR is a conversation. It's hard to see. It's even harder to sell, so we have to
    be EXTRA creative.” Global agency executive, consumer PR.


    “It's irrelevant. What "big ideas" does the advertising industry offer? The key challenge for PR is to manage to deliver business value in a
    changing environment.” German agency executive, corporate PR.


    “I do think the PR industry doesn't have enough big ideas, but upon further examination that criticism was misreported. If you dig deeper,
    you'll see that PR firms simply are not entering for awards at Cannes at the same rate as ad agencies. So, it's not surprising PR firms
    didn't win (as) much.” Global agency head.


    “I always feel that PR people do not get more involved with brand related initiatives from the start. They are bought in after the campaign
    idea is frozen and PR is seen as an additional value add than part of the core process.” In-house executive, India.


    “The industry doesn't lack the big ideas, it sometimes just lacks the budget or resources to execute them.” US agency executive.


    “If the norm is creativity for creativity's sake, it's unfair. PR industry is much better at linking strategy to creativity.” Agency executive,
    Belgium.


    “Other disciplines are eating PR's lunch. PR needs to change, not the ideas it generates. It needs data to support the ideas it presents in
    order to gain better recognition.” European agency executive.


    “I do feel we are not taking ownership of the fact that we have always been an "ideas" industry -- and are absolutely capable of break-
    through creative thinking. Too many people in the field seem to be silo-ed in terms of what they feel they are allowed to do -- versus adver-
    tising agencies that seem to approach their business as if they can take ownership of anything, and any discipline, they want.” US agency
    executive.

4    creativity.holmesreport.com
“Any lack of creativity is not the agency's or industry's fault, but rather the fault of companies not willing to invest appropriately in creative




                                                                                                                                                      CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 ideas. Many say they want it, few say they will pay for it and therein lies the problem.” European agency executive.


 “PR people are fearful pleasers and wimps. If this were high school we would definitely be bullied. Until we learn to fight for bigger budg-
 ets and more daring concepts, we will lose. There are always agencies willing to hand ideas away for free, undercharge, and let procure-
 ment make us their bitch. Instead of fighting, we whine. It's easier.” US agency executive.


 “Unfortunately, it feels like there are no new ideas - they are far and few between. It's tough with less attention from our audiences. There
 are so many distractions.” UK in-house executive.


 “You pay peanuts you get monkeys. Secondly there is a lot of self censorship about what the immediate client is likely to approve. Enve-
 lopes aren't there to be pushed. Obsequiousness and a victim culture are excused away as client service.” UK agency executive, digital.


 “Some innovative thinking IS taking place, though the world is changing around us. Quickly. Hard to judge new work by old standards.” US
 in-house executive.


 “Ideas in themselves can always be creative but the art is to build creative ideas that are strategic and add value to the business.” UK
 agency executive.


                                                    “We have all the big ideas. It's just nobody will pay for them.” UK agency executive, digital.


 “The industry just does cookie cutter work and is afraid to embrace different processes and ways of thinking.” US agency head.


 “Agencies work on behalf of their clients - if they don't ask us for big ideas why should we develop them? It's a business not a philoso-
 phy.” German agency head.


 “PR lacks the big budget for the biggest ideas” UK in-house executive.

                                    “It's easy to say there are no big ideas, but there are - you may just not like them.” US in-house executive.

 “PR reacts to briefs, rather than sells ideas. Clients don't buy big ideas, they are sold them.” Global agency head, digital.


5 creativity.holmesreport.com
An ambivalent view of creative quality




                                                                                                                                                    CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
      Inspirational


            Good


          Ordinary
                                                                                                          North America
    Unsatisfactory


             Poor


     Non-Existent

                                                                                                            Asia Pacific
                      0    5      10       15 20            25      30       35    40
                                             %
     The results are nothing if not instructive, starting with the head-      quality of creativity as ‘unsatisfactory’ or worse, and less than
     line finding: more than half of all respondents describe the              40 percent believe it is ‘good’ or ‘inspirational’.
     quality of creativity within the PR industry as ‘ordinary’ or worse.
     40 percent said it was ‘good’; just six percent labelled it ‘inspira-    Geographically, those based in North America are most bullish
     tional’. One in 10 described creativity as ‘unsatisfactory’, while       about the industry’s creative quality. 51 percent of respondents
     six percent said it was ‘poor’ or ‘non-existent’.                        from North America opt for ‘inspirational’ or ‘good’, and just 11
                                                                              percent think it is ‘unsatisfactory’ or worse. Asia-Pacific, mean-
     Surprisingly, perhaps, negative attitudes towards creative stand-        while, emerges as the least impressive region — 37 percent see
     ards are more prominent among smaller companies (those with              creativity as ‘good’ or ‘inspirational’, and 20 percent think it is
     50 people or less). In this group, almost 20 percent see the             ‘unsatisfactory’ or worse.



6 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
  Numerous responses pointed to an overall inconsistency regarding the quality of creativity in the PR industry.

  “At times it can be inspirational. It completely depends on the brief and the client's appetite to excite.” UK agency executive.

  “The whole range. Sometimes inspirational, sometimes non-existing. The overall level could be much higher…” German agency executive.

  “So difficult to say - I think there are pockets of hugely creative people but then a huge volume of non-creatives” UK in-house executive.




  …but everyone thinks they are creative

  Do you think being creative is a                                                         I am creative
  key skill for PR professionals?



                                             Yes

                                             No

                                             Don’t Know




  Despite the ambivalence towards creative quality, the vast majority of respondents see themselves as being creative, suggesting a
  disconnect between perception and reality. 89 percent described themselves as creative.

  95 percent, meanwhile, said that creativity is a key skill for PR professionals, a result that delivered similarly strong backing irrespective of
  region and practice area.


7 creativity.holmesreport.com
Barriers to creativity




                                                                                                                                                  CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
What stops you or your company from being creative?
                             Lack of clear
                       creative objectives

                              Lack of time

                          Lack of budget


                 Regulatory environment

              Difference in opinion about
                               what it is...
                  Lack of understanding
                between agency & client

                        Staff overworked

                      We’re stuck in a rut

                       Leadership do not
                      view it as important

                        We’re risk averse



                                               0   10   20       30       40        50       60        70       80
 If there is an ambivalence about creative quality, and a view that the industry lacks big ideas, it is worth figuring out why. We asked what
 stops you or your company from being creative. Overwhelmingly lack of time was cited as the biggest barrier, at 65 percent overall with
 little difference between in-house and agency.

 Other major barriers include lack of budget (48 percent), overworked staff (37 percent), and a lack of clear creative objectives (33 percent).
 A quarter also blamed a lack of understanding between agency and client.

8 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
  The findings chime with a recent creativity study by Adobe where respondents said they felt increasing pressure to be productive at work
  rather than creative.

  We also received a huge amount of anecdotal feedback in response to this question:

  “The PR industry is creatively trapped by its reliance on time billing. Ad agencies don't have this and they hire creatives whose sole job it
  is to come up with ideas. We're not structured this way and until we change creativity will merely be part of what we do.”


  “Pharmaceutical/healthcare industry PR professionals must take on an added responsibility of pushing boundaries when it comes to
  creativity - it's so easy to get caught up in medical, regulatory and legal guidelines that colleagues often resort to what's tried and true.
  On the other hand, when colleagues in this field do demonstrate creativity or make new strides in campaigns and day-to-day work, it
  often goes unnoticed by others since the work may have been done in other fields with fewer regulations before or since others just do
  not realize that working in pharma/healthcare requires EXTRA creativity and skills in order to break through while minding regulations.”
  Healthcare agency, US


  “Not having enough conceptual thinkers and not giving the few we do have enough time.” Global agency head (Richard Edelman)


  “Everyone talks about taking a creative risk, but there are very few examples of failed attempts or proof points that the agency will tolerate
  a mistake. How do you tell a client that the idea just might fail? I think it all sounds great in theory, but it's not practical. Also, the tradi-
  tional PR practitioner (and certainly this is true in our office) is usually great at media relations (developing interesting angles), account
  management, or client service. None of these really requires creativity as it is now defined (more in line with ad agencies). While our
  agency is doing its best to provide training, we need to ensure there is an incentive for staff to be pushing creativity and an incentive for
  the leadership teams to be reinforcing the message.” Agency, Canada.




9 creativity.holmesreport.com
Importance




                                                                                                                                                    CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
                                                       20

 vs involvement
 Asked to rate the importance of creativ-
                                                       15
 ity in their day-to-day work out of 10,
 almost a third of respondents opted for                                                                                     What percentage of
 full marks, and around two-thirds said 8                                                                                    your day-to-day work
 or higher.                                            10
                                                                                                                             requires creativity?
 Almost 40 percent, meanwhile, said
 that more than 70 percent of their
 day-to-day work involves creativity.                  5
 However, almost half of all respondents
 replied that creativity is only involved in
 half of their day-to-day work or less - a
 finding which perhaps helps to explain                0
 the gap between the perception of                                      10   20   30   40   50    60    70    80        90   100
 creativity, and the reality of its day-to-                                       % of work involving creativity
 day impact on the profession.


                                                  important     1

                                                                2
                                                                                                             How important is creativity
                                                                3
                                                                                                             to your day to day work?
                                                                                                             Score out of 10 with 10 being
                                                                4



                                                                                                             fundamental
                                                                5
   “It's fashionable to say that creativity is
   important, but far harder to actually                        6
   perform creatively. We need to find
   ways to remove mindless, routinized                          7
   tasks from our days so we're all spend-
                                                                8
   ing more hours gaining the creative
   inspiration to conceive novel ideas and                      9
   do break through work.”
                                                 fundamental   10
      Karen Strauss, chief innovation officer

                                                                    0         5       10       15       20         25         30   35
10 creativity.holmesreport.com                                                       % of respondents
Clients…




                                                                                                        CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
                                         Are you happy with the creative capabilities
 In-house respondents were asked         of your agency?
 to score the importance of creativ-
 ity in their hiring decisions out of
                                        Yes, consistently
 10. Over three-quarters scored 7
 or above, and two-thirds opted for
 8 or higher. For clients, then, it     Yes, sporadically
 seems clear that creativity is a
 critical element in the decision to
 hire and retain agencies.                  Yes, but they
                                          could do better

 However, 40 percent of clients said
 that their agencies could do better                  No

 when it came to their creative
 capabilities. Just 16 percent were     No it’s a constant
 consistently happy with these                   challenge
 capabilities, while 23 percent said
 they were not happy with their                 Not at all
 firm’s creative capabilities.

                                                             0   5   10   15   20   25   30   35   40
                                                                               %




11 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 Assessment                                             Do clients assess your creative effort?
 Agency creativity is most often
 assessed as part of client satis-
 faction reviews (42 percent).
 37 percent said that clients                                 Yes
 assess creative efforts sometimes
 or not at all.

                                               Yes, part of client
                                                     satisfaction




                                                     Sometimes




   “Judging effectiveness is an objective                     No
   exercise, but judging creativity is
   completely subjective — based on risk
   tolerance, country culture, industry
   sector, and personal expectations.                Don’t know
   Creativity depends on novelty, so what
   seems novel in one region or industry
   may seem familiar or usual in another.”
      Karen Strauss, chief innovation officer                         0   10    20        30       40   50
                                                                                    %




12 creativity.holmesreport.com
Creativity is...




                                                                                                                          CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 Creativity means different things to                                  In your opinion, what are the factors that drive
 different people. In a public relations
 context, the definition of creativity                                  great creative PR campaigns?
 can appear elusive, so we asked
 respondents for their suggestions,
 and received around 550 of them.
 They appear in the appendix to this              Great storytelling
 report, and suggest a fundamental
                                                  Audience insight
 question: amid so many different
 definitions of creativity, does the PR            Content creation
 industry require a settled, uniform
 view?                                                     Purpose

 When asked which factors drive                             Results
 great creative PR campaigns, ‘great
                                                           Humour
 storytelling’ attracted most support
 (71 percent), followed by ‘audience                Viral execution
 insight’ (63 percent); ‘content crea-
 tion’ (52 percent).                       Technological innovation

 Interestingly, ‘purpose’ came fourth      Third party endorsement
 with 41 percent. The Holmes
                                                    Crowdsourcing
 Report’s recent Creative Index,
 which attempted to rank the most                           Stunts
 award-winning campaigns over the
 past year, found that ‘purpose’ was
 a significant component in several                                     0    10     20     30     40     50     60    70
 cutting-edge programmes, including
 Electrolux’s Vac from the Sea, IBM
 at 100, Unilever’s Lifebuoy Hand-
 washing campaign, and Goodyear
 China’s Lifetime Commitment to
 Safety.
13 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 Which factors did our respondents
 find less important? Stunts ranked
 last with six percent, behind crowd-
 sourcing and third-party endorse-              Do you think creativity should be separated from
 ment. Of note, humour only gar-
 nered 29 percent.                              effectiveness/results when evaluating PR campaigns?

 Versus effectiveness
 A nascent debate in the industry
 relates to whether PR campaigns
 should be judged solely on creativ-
 ity, like many ad campaigns,                                                          No
 irrespective of results. The industry
 appears to disagree with this notion,
 with almost three-quarters saying                                                     Yes
 that creativity should not be sepa-
 rated from effectiveness/results
 when evaluating PR campaigns.                                                         Don’t know




   “It's hard to believe anyone believes that
   creativity should operate independent of
   ROI. Creativity should causally lead to
   effective results. Gratuitous creativity
   has no place in the business world.”
      Karen Strauss, chief innovation officer




14 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
   Favourite campaigns
   We asked those polled to name their best
   example of a creative PR campaign that
   drove business results over the past 18
   months. Here are those that polled multi-
   ple mentions, in decreasing order of
   popularity.

   P&G Moms

   BA Olympics

   Old Spice

   Head & Shoulders with Troy Polamalu

   Tourism Queensland Best Job in the World

   Ariel Fashion Shoot

   Jay-Z Decoded

   T-Mobile Angry Birds

   Dove Real Beauty

   Depend Great American Try On

   Chengdu Pambassadors

   IBM at 100/Watson

   Perhaps the key finding here is how many
   of these campaigns exhibit a compelling
   level of integration.

15 creativity.holmesreport.com
Current practices




                                                                                                                                                   CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 We explored what processes and
 practices are in place to deliver the ideas
                                                  Do you have a creative process in your business?
 that drive outstanding campaigns, influ-
 ence behaviour, generate content and
 grab media headlines.                            Process                                                                       No

                                                  71 percent say they have a creative
 What’s in the toolkit?                           process in their business. Research                                           Don’t know

                                                  shows this is an important factor in
                                                  consistently delivering ideas.                                                Yes
 When it comes to idea generation, group
 brainstorming is the default — at
 86 percent it’s by far the most popular
 method of generating ideas.
                                               Do you use any of the following      Edward De Bono’s
 Whilst anecdotally agencies referred to                                              6 Thinking Hats
 their own internal processes, there is a      techniques to generate ideas?
                                                                                  Group brainstorming
 heavy reliance on old-school techniques,
 and technology is notable in its absence.                                                     Insight

 On the subject of techniques:                                                         Random stimuli

                                                                                        Related worlds
 “I have yet to see anything work with PR                                        Reverse brainstorming
 people. We're missing the secret sauce.”
                                                                                    What would x do?
 Agency head, full service, US                                                             SCAMPER

 “IMHO most of these are brainstorming                                                 Lotus Blossom
 tactics, not means of truly getting to                                           Morphological matrix
 breakthrough creative ideas. That simply
 takes time, talent and persistence.”                                                We don’t use any
                                                                                           techniques

 Richard Edelman
                                                                                                         0   20   40       60         80     100
16 creativity.holmesreport.com
                                                                                                                       %
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 What is done to support creativity in your organization?
 After brainstorming, using case studies, mentoring and insight are the top three initiatives cited to support creativity. 11 percent say
 nothing is done, it’s just part of the job.
                                                                              %




                                                     10


                                                                 20


                                                                             30


                                                                                          40


                                                                                                      50


                                                                                                                   60
                                            0
                             Brainstorming
                                  activities

                                 Mentoring


                        Facilitation training


                        Training in creative
                                techniques

                        Using case studies


                              Job rotation/
                              secondment

                          Audience insight
                               & planning

                      Nothing, it’s just part
                                  of the job




17 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
How do you assess your own or your agency's creative ideas?

Many of the methods used are subjective. Evaluating the value of PR has been a critical issue for years and based on our findings, improv-
ing metrics to better assess ideas is an area where the industry could improve. This can only serve to support selling ideas and overcoming
objections.




                                    SWOT


                          Risk assessment


                      Personal Experience


                           6 Thinking Hats


                      Comparison Analysis

                        Creative Director’s
                                  decision

                 Work as part of integrated
               agency team who give input

                                    Voting

                         We don’t use any
                        particular proccess




                                              0     10           20            30           40           50           60
                                                                               %
18 creativity.holmesreport.com
Leadership & rewards




                                                                                                                             CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 In answer to the question – does your
 business have clear creative objectives –                 How do you reward creativity?
 the responses were almost equally split:



                                                40
 44% no
 46% yes
 10% not sure
                                                30

 As with delivering against any other key
 business objective, leadership is often
 considered crucial to the development of
 a creative business. This would seem to
                                                20
 be an area where companies can dra-
 matically improve the likelihood of suc-
 cess.

 PWC Global CEO Survey 2011 is clear in
 this area:
                                                10

 “Responsibility for innovation can’t be
 delegated. The drive to innovate begins at
 the top. If the CEO doesn’t reward inno-
 vation, protect the process or change
 internal relationships to foster innovation,
                                                 0
                                                     Internal awards                    Promotion opportunities
 the effort will fail.”
                                                                       Financial incentives                       We don’t


19 creativity.holmesreport.com
Training & recruitment




                                                                                                        CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 Creative Director

 Should PR firms or departments             Do you have a creative director?
 have a creative director? Our
 respondents tend to think not, with
 the majority noting that the position
 is not necessary, as it is part of
 everyone’s job. Just under a third of
 our respondents already have this
 role in place, with another 13 per-
 cent considering it.                                                         We’d like to, but we
                                                                              cannot afford it
 “Culture change is crucial to driving
 creativity. Creativity drive must per-                                       Yes
 meate the organisation from hiring,
                                                                              No, but we are
 leadership, training, rewards, show-                                         considering it
 casing etc. It's not one person's job
 - a creative director is not the                                             No, not necessary, it’s
 answer to educating 1000 staff on                                            part of everyone’s job
 creativity.”

 Global agency

 “It’s typically a non-billable position
 for the most part. Very difficult to
 add a position like this in a smaller
 firm.”




20 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
  Recruitment
                                                           How do you recruit for creativity?


                        Specific interview questions


                              Specific interview test


                                   Use interviewer’s
                                         judgement

                               Assess interviewee’s
                                    previous work

                                  Recommendation


                 We don’t use any specific methods



                                                       0            10               20               30               40              50


  “Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learnt. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which
  improves teamwork, productivity and, where appropriate, profits.” Edward De Bono


  “Talent is the biggest obstacle: where are the creative people?” Agency Head, full service agency, US.



21 creativity.holmesreport.com
Catalysts




                                                                                          CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 Does your company…?



 These factors identified by Ekvall &
                                               Support ideas
 Arvonen and many other exponents
 of creativity highlight the elements
 that can make the difference                  Give employees freedom
 between a productive and stagnant
 creative climate. The responses are
 a positive result for the industry,           Encourage debate
 demonstrating deliberate efforts to
 drive creativity.                             Foster trust and openness

 “Creativity flourishes in environ-
 ments where risk-taking is                    Devote time to ideas
 celebrated and rewarded. It stag-
 nates in environments that are
                                               Allow for playfulness
 fear-based. In other words, senior
 leadership bear the responsibility
 for creating a culture of creativity in       Support risk-taking
 which mistakes are forgiven, even
 celebrated, in service of better
 creative thinking.”
                                           0                         20    40   60   80
 Global agency head, technology

                                                                           %



22 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
                                                  If you could do one thing to improve creative
                                                  capabilities what would it be?

We asked respondents to identify                                      More time
one thing that would improve
                                               More knowledge of creative tools
creativity at their organisations.
Unsurprisingly, more time came out                     Ability to take more risks
on top, along with better knowl-
edge of tools and an ability to take                            Educate clients
more risks. But there were many
more factors cited, suggesting that                                More budget
a multifaceted approach is required
                                                         Improve use of insight
to tackle the issue.
                                                         More external stimulus

                                                More rewards for being creative

                                                           Hire creative director

                                                            Clearer client briefs

                                                                   More training

   “More time! Creative ideas take time to              More diverse workforce
   be birthed — time that PR has never
   allotted for in the way advertising has.
   Rather than rush to tactics, our industry
   must insist upon insight development,
   followed by rounds of ideation, so we
   stop settling on expedient ideas.”
                                                                                    0   3           6        9   12
      Karen Strauss, chief innovation officer
                                                                                            % of respondents


23 creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
Appendix -
‘Big ideas that generate buzz or disruption, that have legs for longevity or opportunity to build - rooted in strong consumer insights.’

‘Finding new ways to differentiate our clients and connect in memorable ways with their target audiences, both directly and indirectly’

‘Unique campaigns that resolve the issues and impact stakeholders’

‘Unique, beautifully disruptive articulation of a concept that helps to fuel dialogue and accelerate a desired action with a target audience.’

‘A concept that raises my adrenaline levels because I immediately understand how it came from an insight and can be implemented into a program that will move
consumers to action’

‘The ability to create not a tactic but a vision...an experience for the end user that will make them want to live in the world you've created for them.’

‘Challenging the way things have been done. Bringing the outside in. Considering the unexpected. Creating something that makes you stop and think.’

‘The ability to create new and fruitful links between a company and its publics’



‘Making the complex accessible an interesting. Adding color to a monotone situation. Bringing out the perspective that others don't see’

‘Insight-driven clever ideas.’

‘Finding appropriate solutions that help contribute to the client's business success. I don't think "creativity" is a value of it's own. Unbiased thinking, new
approaches, but also merging bits and pieces that have proven successful before are all creative elements.’

‘The use of unusual and impactful communications ideas, strategies and tactics to gain awareness, help form opinions and attain desired results.’

‘That something extra that makes a good campaign great.’

‘To generate ideas that will tell a story to the people who need to hear it in an interesting, engaging and beautiful way.’



‘Creativity is not being careful with crazy ideas’

‘New thinking. New ways of presenting old thinking. Fresh language. Clever story ideas.’

‘Coming up with ideas that can make things happen, and innovative ways to communicate complex stories’

24   www.creativity.holmesreport.com
CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
 ‘Anticipating the next step before your peers.’

 ‘Generating new ways to communicate that capture imagination and transfer emotional voltage as well as an appeal to intellect.’

 ‘Providing the clients innovative methods of dealing with mediocre events and stuff’

 ‘Original, imaginative thinking that leads to powerful interaction between audiences’

 ‘Advising a client to 'do nothing' is frequently a demonstration of creativity at its best.’

 ‘Daring to develop new ideas, new approaches and challenging others to also think differently’

 ‘Ideas that change behavior and attitudes.’

 ‘Creativity is not only understanding how to stand out in the mind of your audience but inspire them on an emotional level.’

 ‘A simple idea based on a consumer or market insight’


 mofos out there’

 ‘That spark of insight that generates an idea for a client.’

 ‘To provide new solutions that enhance your client's reach to existing and potential customers and/or stakeholders.’

 ‘Drive understanding between people.’



 ‘Creating stunts that are talked about positively.’

 ‘Thoughtful ideas that build big brands with great reputations. Creativity is woven into all aspects of PR. It's not about just one 'big' idea, but rather a stream of
 them used to inspire consistent conversation.’

 ‘Trying to do the same thing for every client but in a different voice’

 ‘Doing things differently so that the work makes people at least stop and think.’

 ‘Being able to identify the key insights for your client and then marry them to big ideas to make an impact for your client's target audiences, and to meet their
 business goals.’

 ‘The ability to think differently and approach a problem or challenge in a new, commercially relevant way’

25   www.creativity.holmesreport.com
Arun Sudhaman                   Claire Bridges             Karen Strauss
 Managing editor                 Founder                    Partner, chief innovation officer
 The Holmes Report               NowGoCreate                Ketchum
 arun@holmesreport.com           claire@nowgocreate.co.uk   karen.strauss@ketchum.com




 Copyright © Holmes Report & Now Go Create 2012
26 creativity.holmesreport.com
 www.holmesreport.com

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Creativity in PR, a Global Study

  • 1. In association with Co-authored by CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY
  • 2. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Introduction Contents Is the PR industry creative enough? This was the question the Holmes Report and creativity experts Now Go Create set out to answer through the first in-depth Pg 3.................................... A lack of big ideas study of creativity within the public relations industry. The report, sponsored by Ketchum, polled 650 people from Pg 6...................................... Creative quality more than 35 countries across the world, helping us uncover some fascinating findings about the state of creativity in PR. Pg 8................................. Barriers to creativity Respondents came from agency and in-house, and from a range of industries and sectors, covering consumer, corporate, healthcare, technology, digital and public affairs practices. Pg 11...................................................... Clients They answered a variety of questions during the two months the study ran during the summer of 2012, focusing on attitudes towards creativity; tools and skills; opportunities and Pg 13.............................................. Creativity is challenges; and suggestions and advice. Pg 16.................................... Current practices Arun Sudhaman Pg 19............................ Leadership & rewards Managing editor The Holmes Report Pg 21............................ Training & recruitment Claire Bridges Pg 23.................................................. Catalysts Founder now go create 1 creative.holmesreport.com
  • 3. COMMENT CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY KEY FINDINGS > 1. A lack of big ideas > 4. An ambivalent view of creative quality in PR, yet respondents > 2. The gap between aspirations overwhelmingly describe themselves and working practices as 'creative' > 3. Resourcing seen as key > 5. Creativity in PR remains difficult barrier to creativity to define City University Karen Strauss, partner, chief innovation officer Claire Bridges, founder Dr Sara Jones, programme director, M.A. Creativity & Leadership “To be more creative, we need to be more “Big ideas come from the sweet spot “The industry will need to address not only human. Creativity is not tactical or techni- where bravery, time, imagination and the issues around recruitment, training cal — it's emotional. By pausing to talent meet. The industry needs to up the and incentivisation, but also to look to develop insights before ideas, creative ante on working practices to consistently new opportunities such as those arising people in PR can and will deliver more deliver.” from recent developments in technology.” creative work.” 2 creative.holmesreport.com
  • 4. Does the PR industry lack big ideas? CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY If PR people remember nothing The PR industry has been else from the industry’s woeful performance at this year’s Cannes criticised for lacking ‘big ideas’. Lions festival, they may recall that Do you agree? some judges criticised the profession’s ability to come up with big ideas. 61 percent of all respondents argued that this was a fair observation. Of even more concern, perhaps, a slightly higher proportion of in-house executives (66 percent) Yes it’s a fair judgement accepted this premise. No it’s unfair Geographically, North America demonstrated the most resistance to this statement, with 44 percent saying that the statement is unfair. Latin Americans were least impressed: a full three-quarters agreed with the observation. Respondents from consumer practice areas also pushed back, with 44 percent labelling the state- ment unfair. Those that identified themselves as working in creative areas — including innovation, design and planning — were less forgiving, with 60 percent identifying the observation as a fair one. 3 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 5. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Respondents were asked to expand on their replies and many did, blaming clients, industry culture, competition from other disci- plines, and budgets… “In PR it's harder to see the big idea. It's not as overt because it's often overshadowed by an ad, a display, a website. The idea, in its consumer-facing form, suddenly is credited to that discipline. PR is a conversation. It's hard to see. It's even harder to sell, so we have to be EXTRA creative.” Global agency executive, consumer PR. “It's irrelevant. What "big ideas" does the advertising industry offer? The key challenge for PR is to manage to deliver business value in a changing environment.” German agency executive, corporate PR. “I do think the PR industry doesn't have enough big ideas, but upon further examination that criticism was misreported. If you dig deeper, you'll see that PR firms simply are not entering for awards at Cannes at the same rate as ad agencies. So, it's not surprising PR firms didn't win (as) much.” Global agency head. “I always feel that PR people do not get more involved with brand related initiatives from the start. They are bought in after the campaign idea is frozen and PR is seen as an additional value add than part of the core process.” In-house executive, India. “The industry doesn't lack the big ideas, it sometimes just lacks the budget or resources to execute them.” US agency executive. “If the norm is creativity for creativity's sake, it's unfair. PR industry is much better at linking strategy to creativity.” Agency executive, Belgium. “Other disciplines are eating PR's lunch. PR needs to change, not the ideas it generates. It needs data to support the ideas it presents in order to gain better recognition.” European agency executive. “I do feel we are not taking ownership of the fact that we have always been an "ideas" industry -- and are absolutely capable of break- through creative thinking. Too many people in the field seem to be silo-ed in terms of what they feel they are allowed to do -- versus adver- tising agencies that seem to approach their business as if they can take ownership of anything, and any discipline, they want.” US agency executive. 4 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 6. “Any lack of creativity is not the agency's or industry's fault, but rather the fault of companies not willing to invest appropriately in creative CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY ideas. Many say they want it, few say they will pay for it and therein lies the problem.” European agency executive. “PR people are fearful pleasers and wimps. If this were high school we would definitely be bullied. Until we learn to fight for bigger budg- ets and more daring concepts, we will lose. There are always agencies willing to hand ideas away for free, undercharge, and let procure- ment make us their bitch. Instead of fighting, we whine. It's easier.” US agency executive. “Unfortunately, it feels like there are no new ideas - they are far and few between. It's tough with less attention from our audiences. There are so many distractions.” UK in-house executive. “You pay peanuts you get monkeys. Secondly there is a lot of self censorship about what the immediate client is likely to approve. Enve- lopes aren't there to be pushed. Obsequiousness and a victim culture are excused away as client service.” UK agency executive, digital. “Some innovative thinking IS taking place, though the world is changing around us. Quickly. Hard to judge new work by old standards.” US in-house executive. “Ideas in themselves can always be creative but the art is to build creative ideas that are strategic and add value to the business.” UK agency executive. “We have all the big ideas. It's just nobody will pay for them.” UK agency executive, digital. “The industry just does cookie cutter work and is afraid to embrace different processes and ways of thinking.” US agency head. “Agencies work on behalf of their clients - if they don't ask us for big ideas why should we develop them? It's a business not a philoso- phy.” German agency head. “PR lacks the big budget for the biggest ideas” UK in-house executive. “It's easy to say there are no big ideas, but there are - you may just not like them.” US in-house executive. “PR reacts to briefs, rather than sells ideas. Clients don't buy big ideas, they are sold them.” Global agency head, digital. 5 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 7. An ambivalent view of creative quality CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Inspirational Good Ordinary North America Unsatisfactory Poor Non-Existent Asia Pacific 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 % The results are nothing if not instructive, starting with the head- quality of creativity as ‘unsatisfactory’ or worse, and less than line finding: more than half of all respondents describe the 40 percent believe it is ‘good’ or ‘inspirational’. quality of creativity within the PR industry as ‘ordinary’ or worse. 40 percent said it was ‘good’; just six percent labelled it ‘inspira- Geographically, those based in North America are most bullish tional’. One in 10 described creativity as ‘unsatisfactory’, while about the industry’s creative quality. 51 percent of respondents six percent said it was ‘poor’ or ‘non-existent’. from North America opt for ‘inspirational’ or ‘good’, and just 11 percent think it is ‘unsatisfactory’ or worse. Asia-Pacific, mean- Surprisingly, perhaps, negative attitudes towards creative stand- while, emerges as the least impressive region — 37 percent see ards are more prominent among smaller companies (those with creativity as ‘good’ or ‘inspirational’, and 20 percent think it is 50 people or less). In this group, almost 20 percent see the ‘unsatisfactory’ or worse. 6 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 8. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Numerous responses pointed to an overall inconsistency regarding the quality of creativity in the PR industry. “At times it can be inspirational. It completely depends on the brief and the client's appetite to excite.” UK agency executive. “The whole range. Sometimes inspirational, sometimes non-existing. The overall level could be much higher…” German agency executive. “So difficult to say - I think there are pockets of hugely creative people but then a huge volume of non-creatives” UK in-house executive. …but everyone thinks they are creative Do you think being creative is a I am creative key skill for PR professionals? Yes No Don’t Know Despite the ambivalence towards creative quality, the vast majority of respondents see themselves as being creative, suggesting a disconnect between perception and reality. 89 percent described themselves as creative. 95 percent, meanwhile, said that creativity is a key skill for PR professionals, a result that delivered similarly strong backing irrespective of region and practice area. 7 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 9. Barriers to creativity CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY What stops you or your company from being creative? Lack of clear creative objectives Lack of time Lack of budget Regulatory environment Difference in opinion about what it is... Lack of understanding between agency & client Staff overworked We’re stuck in a rut Leadership do not view it as important We’re risk averse 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 If there is an ambivalence about creative quality, and a view that the industry lacks big ideas, it is worth figuring out why. We asked what stops you or your company from being creative. Overwhelmingly lack of time was cited as the biggest barrier, at 65 percent overall with little difference between in-house and agency. Other major barriers include lack of budget (48 percent), overworked staff (37 percent), and a lack of clear creative objectives (33 percent). A quarter also blamed a lack of understanding between agency and client. 8 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 10. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY The findings chime with a recent creativity study by Adobe where respondents said they felt increasing pressure to be productive at work rather than creative. We also received a huge amount of anecdotal feedback in response to this question: “The PR industry is creatively trapped by its reliance on time billing. Ad agencies don't have this and they hire creatives whose sole job it is to come up with ideas. We're not structured this way and until we change creativity will merely be part of what we do.” “Pharmaceutical/healthcare industry PR professionals must take on an added responsibility of pushing boundaries when it comes to creativity - it's so easy to get caught up in medical, regulatory and legal guidelines that colleagues often resort to what's tried and true. On the other hand, when colleagues in this field do demonstrate creativity or make new strides in campaigns and day-to-day work, it often goes unnoticed by others since the work may have been done in other fields with fewer regulations before or since others just do not realize that working in pharma/healthcare requires EXTRA creativity and skills in order to break through while minding regulations.” Healthcare agency, US “Not having enough conceptual thinkers and not giving the few we do have enough time.” Global agency head (Richard Edelman) “Everyone talks about taking a creative risk, but there are very few examples of failed attempts or proof points that the agency will tolerate a mistake. How do you tell a client that the idea just might fail? I think it all sounds great in theory, but it's not practical. Also, the tradi- tional PR practitioner (and certainly this is true in our office) is usually great at media relations (developing interesting angles), account management, or client service. None of these really requires creativity as it is now defined (more in line with ad agencies). While our agency is doing its best to provide training, we need to ensure there is an incentive for staff to be pushing creativity and an incentive for the leadership teams to be reinforcing the message.” Agency, Canada. 9 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 11. Importance CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY 20 vs involvement Asked to rate the importance of creativ- 15 ity in their day-to-day work out of 10, almost a third of respondents opted for What percentage of full marks, and around two-thirds said 8 your day-to-day work or higher. 10 requires creativity? Almost 40 percent, meanwhile, said that more than 70 percent of their day-to-day work involves creativity. 5 However, almost half of all respondents replied that creativity is only involved in half of their day-to-day work or less - a finding which perhaps helps to explain 0 the gap between the perception of 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 creativity, and the reality of its day-to- % of work involving creativity day impact on the profession. important 1 2 How important is creativity 3 to your day to day work? Score out of 10 with 10 being 4 fundamental 5 “It's fashionable to say that creativity is important, but far harder to actually 6 perform creatively. We need to find ways to remove mindless, routinized 7 tasks from our days so we're all spend- 8 ing more hours gaining the creative inspiration to conceive novel ideas and 9 do break through work.” fundamental 10 Karen Strauss, chief innovation officer 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 10 creativity.holmesreport.com % of respondents
  • 12. Clients… CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Are you happy with the creative capabilities In-house respondents were asked of your agency? to score the importance of creativ- ity in their hiring decisions out of Yes, consistently 10. Over three-quarters scored 7 or above, and two-thirds opted for 8 or higher. For clients, then, it Yes, sporadically seems clear that creativity is a critical element in the decision to hire and retain agencies. Yes, but they could do better However, 40 percent of clients said that their agencies could do better No when it came to their creative capabilities. Just 16 percent were No it’s a constant consistently happy with these challenge capabilities, while 23 percent said they were not happy with their Not at all firm’s creative capabilities. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 % 11 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 13. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Assessment Do clients assess your creative effort? Agency creativity is most often assessed as part of client satis- faction reviews (42 percent). 37 percent said that clients Yes assess creative efforts sometimes or not at all. Yes, part of client satisfaction Sometimes “Judging effectiveness is an objective No exercise, but judging creativity is completely subjective — based on risk tolerance, country culture, industry sector, and personal expectations. Don’t know Creativity depends on novelty, so what seems novel in one region or industry may seem familiar or usual in another.” Karen Strauss, chief innovation officer 0 10 20 30 40 50 % 12 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 14. Creativity is... CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Creativity means different things to In your opinion, what are the factors that drive different people. In a public relations context, the definition of creativity great creative PR campaigns? can appear elusive, so we asked respondents for their suggestions, and received around 550 of them. They appear in the appendix to this Great storytelling report, and suggest a fundamental Audience insight question: amid so many different definitions of creativity, does the PR Content creation industry require a settled, uniform view? Purpose When asked which factors drive Results great creative PR campaigns, ‘great Humour storytelling’ attracted most support (71 percent), followed by ‘audience Viral execution insight’ (63 percent); ‘content crea- tion’ (52 percent). Technological innovation Interestingly, ‘purpose’ came fourth Third party endorsement with 41 percent. The Holmes Crowdsourcing Report’s recent Creative Index, which attempted to rank the most Stunts award-winning campaigns over the past year, found that ‘purpose’ was a significant component in several 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 cutting-edge programmes, including Electrolux’s Vac from the Sea, IBM at 100, Unilever’s Lifebuoy Hand- washing campaign, and Goodyear China’s Lifetime Commitment to Safety. 13 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 15. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Which factors did our respondents find less important? Stunts ranked last with six percent, behind crowd- sourcing and third-party endorse- Do you think creativity should be separated from ment. Of note, humour only gar- nered 29 percent. effectiveness/results when evaluating PR campaigns? Versus effectiveness A nascent debate in the industry relates to whether PR campaigns should be judged solely on creativ- ity, like many ad campaigns, No irrespective of results. The industry appears to disagree with this notion, with almost three-quarters saying Yes that creativity should not be sepa- rated from effectiveness/results when evaluating PR campaigns. Don’t know “It's hard to believe anyone believes that creativity should operate independent of ROI. Creativity should causally lead to effective results. Gratuitous creativity has no place in the business world.” Karen Strauss, chief innovation officer 14 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 16. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Favourite campaigns We asked those polled to name their best example of a creative PR campaign that drove business results over the past 18 months. Here are those that polled multi- ple mentions, in decreasing order of popularity. P&G Moms BA Olympics Old Spice Head & Shoulders with Troy Polamalu Tourism Queensland Best Job in the World Ariel Fashion Shoot Jay-Z Decoded T-Mobile Angry Birds Dove Real Beauty Depend Great American Try On Chengdu Pambassadors IBM at 100/Watson Perhaps the key finding here is how many of these campaigns exhibit a compelling level of integration. 15 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 17. Current practices CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY We explored what processes and practices are in place to deliver the ideas Do you have a creative process in your business? that drive outstanding campaigns, influ- ence behaviour, generate content and grab media headlines. Process No 71 percent say they have a creative What’s in the toolkit? process in their business. Research Don’t know shows this is an important factor in consistently delivering ideas. Yes When it comes to idea generation, group brainstorming is the default — at 86 percent it’s by far the most popular method of generating ideas. Do you use any of the following Edward De Bono’s Whilst anecdotally agencies referred to 6 Thinking Hats their own internal processes, there is a techniques to generate ideas? Group brainstorming heavy reliance on old-school techniques, and technology is notable in its absence. Insight On the subject of techniques: Random stimuli Related worlds “I have yet to see anything work with PR Reverse brainstorming people. We're missing the secret sauce.” What would x do? Agency head, full service, US SCAMPER “IMHO most of these are brainstorming Lotus Blossom tactics, not means of truly getting to Morphological matrix breakthrough creative ideas. That simply takes time, talent and persistence.” We don’t use any techniques Richard Edelman 0 20 40 60 80 100 16 creativity.holmesreport.com %
  • 18. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY What is done to support creativity in your organization? After brainstorming, using case studies, mentoring and insight are the top three initiatives cited to support creativity. 11 percent say nothing is done, it’s just part of the job. % 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 Brainstorming activities Mentoring Facilitation training Training in creative techniques Using case studies Job rotation/ secondment Audience insight & planning Nothing, it’s just part of the job 17 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 19. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY How do you assess your own or your agency's creative ideas? Many of the methods used are subjective. Evaluating the value of PR has been a critical issue for years and based on our findings, improv- ing metrics to better assess ideas is an area where the industry could improve. This can only serve to support selling ideas and overcoming objections. SWOT Risk assessment Personal Experience 6 Thinking Hats Comparison Analysis Creative Director’s decision Work as part of integrated agency team who give input Voting We don’t use any particular proccess 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 % 18 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 20. Leadership & rewards CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY In answer to the question – does your business have clear creative objectives – How do you reward creativity? the responses were almost equally split: 40 44% no 46% yes 10% not sure 30 As with delivering against any other key business objective, leadership is often considered crucial to the development of a creative business. This would seem to 20 be an area where companies can dra- matically improve the likelihood of suc- cess. PWC Global CEO Survey 2011 is clear in this area: 10 “Responsibility for innovation can’t be delegated. The drive to innovate begins at the top. If the CEO doesn’t reward inno- vation, protect the process or change internal relationships to foster innovation, 0 Internal awards Promotion opportunities the effort will fail.” Financial incentives We don’t 19 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 21. Training & recruitment CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Creative Director Should PR firms or departments Do you have a creative director? have a creative director? Our respondents tend to think not, with the majority noting that the position is not necessary, as it is part of everyone’s job. Just under a third of our respondents already have this role in place, with another 13 per- cent considering it. We’d like to, but we cannot afford it “Culture change is crucial to driving creativity. Creativity drive must per- Yes meate the organisation from hiring, No, but we are leadership, training, rewards, show- considering it casing etc. It's not one person's job - a creative director is not the No, not necessary, it’s answer to educating 1000 staff on part of everyone’s job creativity.” Global agency “It’s typically a non-billable position for the most part. Very difficult to add a position like this in a smaller firm.” 20 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 22. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Recruitment How do you recruit for creativity? Specific interview questions Specific interview test Use interviewer’s judgement Assess interviewee’s previous work Recommendation We don’t use any specific methods 0 10 20 30 40 50 “Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learnt. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves teamwork, productivity and, where appropriate, profits.” Edward De Bono “Talent is the biggest obstacle: where are the creative people?” Agency Head, full service agency, US. 21 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 23. Catalysts CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Does your company…? These factors identified by Ekvall & Support ideas Arvonen and many other exponents of creativity highlight the elements that can make the difference Give employees freedom between a productive and stagnant creative climate. The responses are a positive result for the industry, Encourage debate demonstrating deliberate efforts to drive creativity. Foster trust and openness “Creativity flourishes in environ- ments where risk-taking is Devote time to ideas celebrated and rewarded. It stag- nates in environments that are Allow for playfulness fear-based. In other words, senior leadership bear the responsibility for creating a culture of creativity in Support risk-taking which mistakes are forgiven, even celebrated, in service of better creative thinking.” 0 20 40 60 80 Global agency head, technology % 22 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 24. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY If you could do one thing to improve creative capabilities what would it be? We asked respondents to identify More time one thing that would improve More knowledge of creative tools creativity at their organisations. Unsurprisingly, more time came out Ability to take more risks on top, along with better knowl- edge of tools and an ability to take Educate clients more risks. But there were many more factors cited, suggesting that More budget a multifaceted approach is required Improve use of insight to tackle the issue. More external stimulus More rewards for being creative Hire creative director Clearer client briefs More training “More time! Creative ideas take time to More diverse workforce be birthed — time that PR has never allotted for in the way advertising has. Rather than rush to tactics, our industry must insist upon insight development, followed by rounds of ideation, so we stop settling on expedient ideas.” 0 3 6 9 12 Karen Strauss, chief innovation officer % of respondents 23 creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 25. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY Appendix - ‘Big ideas that generate buzz or disruption, that have legs for longevity or opportunity to build - rooted in strong consumer insights.’ ‘Finding new ways to differentiate our clients and connect in memorable ways with their target audiences, both directly and indirectly’ ‘Unique campaigns that resolve the issues and impact stakeholders’ ‘Unique, beautifully disruptive articulation of a concept that helps to fuel dialogue and accelerate a desired action with a target audience.’ ‘A concept that raises my adrenaline levels because I immediately understand how it came from an insight and can be implemented into a program that will move consumers to action’ ‘The ability to create not a tactic but a vision...an experience for the end user that will make them want to live in the world you've created for them.’ ‘Challenging the way things have been done. Bringing the outside in. Considering the unexpected. Creating something that makes you stop and think.’ ‘The ability to create new and fruitful links between a company and its publics’ ‘Making the complex accessible an interesting. Adding color to a monotone situation. Bringing out the perspective that others don't see’ ‘Insight-driven clever ideas.’ ‘Finding appropriate solutions that help contribute to the client's business success. I don't think "creativity" is a value of it's own. Unbiased thinking, new approaches, but also merging bits and pieces that have proven successful before are all creative elements.’ ‘The use of unusual and impactful communications ideas, strategies and tactics to gain awareness, help form opinions and attain desired results.’ ‘That something extra that makes a good campaign great.’ ‘To generate ideas that will tell a story to the people who need to hear it in an interesting, engaging and beautiful way.’ ‘Creativity is not being careful with crazy ideas’ ‘New thinking. New ways of presenting old thinking. Fresh language. Clever story ideas.’ ‘Coming up with ideas that can make things happen, and innovative ways to communicate complex stories’ 24 www.creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 26. CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY ‘Anticipating the next step before your peers.’ ‘Generating new ways to communicate that capture imagination and transfer emotional voltage as well as an appeal to intellect.’ ‘Providing the clients innovative methods of dealing with mediocre events and stuff’ ‘Original, imaginative thinking that leads to powerful interaction between audiences’ ‘Advising a client to 'do nothing' is frequently a demonstration of creativity at its best.’ ‘Daring to develop new ideas, new approaches and challenging others to also think differently’ ‘Ideas that change behavior and attitudes.’ ‘Creativity is not only understanding how to stand out in the mind of your audience but inspire them on an emotional level.’ ‘A simple idea based on a consumer or market insight’ mofos out there’ ‘That spark of insight that generates an idea for a client.’ ‘To provide new solutions that enhance your client's reach to existing and potential customers and/or stakeholders.’ ‘Drive understanding between people.’ ‘Creating stunts that are talked about positively.’ ‘Thoughtful ideas that build big brands with great reputations. Creativity is woven into all aspects of PR. It's not about just one 'big' idea, but rather a stream of them used to inspire consistent conversation.’ ‘Trying to do the same thing for every client but in a different voice’ ‘Doing things differently so that the work makes people at least stop and think.’ ‘Being able to identify the key insights for your client and then marry them to big ideas to make an impact for your client's target audiences, and to meet their business goals.’ ‘The ability to think differently and approach a problem or challenge in a new, commercially relevant way’ 25 www.creativity.holmesreport.com
  • 27. Arun Sudhaman Claire Bridges Karen Strauss Managing editor Founder Partner, chief innovation officer The Holmes Report NowGoCreate Ketchum arun@holmesreport.com claire@nowgocreate.co.uk karen.strauss@ketchum.com Copyright © Holmes Report & Now Go Create 2012 26 creativity.holmesreport.com www.holmesreport.com