ESSAY: Embracing the creative revolution

It’s now increasingly easy for consumers to buy and harder for businesses to sell. Consequently, the need for individualism has never been more imperative, as brands struggle to win the war over consumers’ growing need for individuality.

Mass production was driven by efficiency and standardisation, and therefore mass marketing embraced that approach by building big generic brand ideas that worked across broad target markets.

However, in the pursuit of cost savings and efficiency we have lost something in the process. We have lost specialness, individuality and creativity, now a valuable currency that can drive change in consumer behaviour.
This demand has forced brands to go back to offering individuality and variation, as our new consumer searches for ways to feel like a unique individual again.

So welcome to the creative revolution. Creativity is at the heart of this cultural shift and is further substantiated by the increase in trends towards craftsmanship, customisation, co-creation and brands that can offer a unique ideology.

At Passport we have embraced all that is the creative revolution. In order to do that, we have remained a fluid and flexible company that challenges the tried-and-tested approaches and seeks out the new ones. We now see creativity as more valuable than ever before – we’re not just talking execution but, more importantly, the process of thinking. It’s the big ideas that drive real competitive difference for a brand.

Another realisation we have faced is that mass production has also developed a generation of mass thinkers accustomed to following typical marketing behaviours. We see the same generic structures and brand templates across the industry, even when brands are desperately striving for competitive and differentiated outcomes. So the challenge is not only in our marketing tools but also in our marketing minds, and this is going to have to shift in order to embrace creativity.

Our core methodology is about helping clients build creative opportunity in the planning and business structure rather than just at the creative execution phases of a project. Our approach is to overcome conservative thought patterns that still exist in the creative industry and challenge the perception that creativity is an executional behaviour rather than strategic practice.

Through strong creative planning and isolating the big idea, we can ensure branding is more dimensional in its approach to the shopper, by building customised experiences across multiple channels, rather than the “one fits all” strategy of the mass marketing age. It’s not just about the packaging or above the line, but also about getting back to talking to consumers at a retail level.

Before traditional media channels existed, the market was the epicentre of the village – a place where people relied on the recommendation of their local shopkeeper to steer them towards products that were good value for money, or actually did what they said they would. Today consumers rely on the recommendation of their peers and opinion leaders, so involving consumers is essential in the marketing strategy and creative idea.

For all of these things to happen and to leverage the true power of creative thinking, there needs to be strong client/ agency trust.

The creative brief needs to be exactly what it suggests. More about creative and less about execution. Typical briefs are destined to produce typical outcomes.

At Passport we constantly ask if we are producing ideas that will help build the creative new brand. One that is uniquely positioned for future growth with a core creative idea that is not just reliant on above the line or PR activity but can work across multiple channels. This is key if they are to win in the future.

So we say long live the creative revolution and long live brands that identify a shift in consumer needs and therefore a shift in marketing approach. Now is the time to let go of old process and tools that lead to typical outcomes and stop thinking the slow down in mainstream brands is based on economical influences over consumer relevance