The marketing and advertising industry is constantly changing with the advent of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) coupled with the introduction of new platforms and media channels.
If you are not on pulse with this, it is easy to be left behind and, agencies are constantly adapting, developing to enhance their offering through their talent and processes that are agile yet insightful.
In a nutshell, the task we as an industry face is keeping pace with change and delivering creative twice as fast and at half the price.
While these new digital platforms and technologies are tools that aid agencies in being more efficient, there is a major downside – some may say compromise – to their deployment, that is, creativity.
Today, need a logo for a website, here is a plethora to choose from. Need a script? No problem, there is a ‘bot’ for that. But where is the insight? What was the big idea? It is just vanilla!
As a result, on the one end, there is the creative process fighting for room and time to be creative. On the other, there is a business needing to get work out quicker and to constantly maintain the pace. Deadlines are becoming shorter and, if you do not deliver, there is another shop waiting to take on the business, tomorrow.
Creativity takes time
The reality though is that creativity takes time. A big idea or even building a brand needs time; it is not something that can be done on a whim. Its strength lies in being tested to create breakthrough and truly effective pieces of work. Parallel to this, is the need for brands to stand out more in a scramble for the audience’s attention.
There is, also, a very fine balance between work that is effective or efficient. Do we want to do effective work or efficient work? Effective work is what is needed to truly differentiate and stand out.
Effective work is that which is based on true insight and the position from which we need to reflect as creatives when approaching the creative work we can and want to deliver. It is also a position that brands also need to ask themselves the question of whether or not they are willing to deliver.
Yes, as agencies we need to ultimately do the ‘right thing’ and service our clients, and speak to the consumers in an effective manner.
Yes, we should all be open to using new technology to help us be more efficient and to keep up with the times. However, this should be to aid the creative process and output, not replace it.
And here is where the efficiency comes in. Finding efficiencies and using these innovative tools to allow for more actual creative time in delivering effective work.
Technology and automated creativity no doubt will get better and better. However, creativity is still and should always remain an art, not replicable by technology.
We should be open to embracing all the technological advancements in our industry as there is place for it. This will allow us to learn from it and to better our delivery. The balance, however, is in always remaining true to clients, to doing work with purpose and standing up for good creative as creativity is the most powerful tool of them all.
Born and raised in Johannesburg, Marco Santarelli completed a Bachelor of Business Administration, BCom Marketing and BA Communications before joining Joe Public for two years. From there he joined Mortimer Harvey for two years, Ireland Davenport and Ogilvy for a combined two and a half years (he followed Vodacom when it left the former) and finally GRID Worldwide where he stayed for seven years. In that time, he’s worked on numerous brands including Absa Bank, Telkom Group, Sasol, Sanlam, Santam, Betking, Pernod Ricard, Nissan, DSTV, SuperSport, Alexander Forbes, Singapore Airlines, Stanlib, Liberty, Net1, Atlasmara, Freshpack, University of Johannesburg, Michelin, Marble, Saint, Vodacom, British Airways, Avios, Jägermeister, Clover, eBucks, Cobra, Foodcorp (Bobtail, Yum Yum, Piemans, Supreme and Nola), Incolabs, Nike and FIFA. He is currently partner: creative and strategy at RAPT Creative.
