Despite era of certainty, creativity is still effective

Brands and marketers should strive to create work that drives a ‘return on creativity’, argues Ogilvy ANZ’s chief strategy officer, Fran Clayton.

Fran Clayton is the chief strategy officer of Ogilvy Network Australia

There’s a lingering false notion in business and life that being highly creative and highly effective are two different things. From a young age we learn about art and STEM in different classrooms, and sometimes entirely different schools and institutions. We perpetuate the myth that people are right or left-brained, as if they’re two separate systems, one more dominant than the other. It’s a stubborn fallacy that exists even in marketing and advertising, with distinct communities and celebrations around creativity and effectiveness.

It hasn’t always been this way. The relationship between maths and art goes back to ancient Greece. We seem to forget that the people who changed the world with science and tech were also the dreamers and original thinkers. Even today, the world’s most successful tech company is obsessed with design and beauty.

So, what has changed? As our world becomes increasingly complex, our human bias towards certainty has grown stronger. In almost any pursuit it is tempting to reach for a formula or be seduced by the promise of predictable outcomes. But this encourages a fixed and narrow mindset that leaves no room for unreasonable and imaginative solutions. It is fascinating to watch this play out with the rise of AI; a massively disruptive technology bringing loads of change, uncertainty and opportunity. Our industry has mainly responded by using AI to improve efficiency and productivity rather than as a creative amplifier. Most discussions have been about the tension between AI and creativity rather than the marriage of the two. It’s great to see that start to change as fear gives way to curiosity, play and experimentation.

This certainty bias is still on the rise, particularly in marketing. But the oftentimes overlooked truth is that the most effective marketers are also the most creative marketers. You can learn all the “laws” and apply all the theories, but you still can’t logic your way to effectiveness.

In the 2024 WARC Creative 100 ranking of the world’s most creatively awarded campaigns, the top three brands were Burger King, Corona and McDonald’s. These three brands all have something in common: they are also in the top 10 of WARC’s Effective 100 rankings. Corona also reclaimed the world’s most valuable beer brand measured by Brand Finance and is the world’s fastest growing beer. Even the most sceptical reader can’t deny the joy of stuffing a lime wedge into a cold bottle of cerveza. And if you haven’t heard about Corona Extra Limes, an idea that solved a lime supply problem in China while helping farmers and growing the brand, stop reading now and look it up.

In the same WARC rankings, the top two most creatively awarded companies of 2024, ABInBev and Unilever, were also the top two most effective companies. Unilever’s “Michael Cera Ve” campaign rewrote the rules of social and influencer marketing and contributed to outstanding results for the group’s beauty unit.

This data proves that the link between creativity and effectiveness is as strong as ever. Despite the subjectivity involved in judging creative awards, the connection between creative inputs and effective outcomes is clear.

In Australia, almost half of all Australian Effie-winning campaigns in 2024 also took home wins in our local creative AWARD Awards. Digging into our local success stories over the past five years reveals a few recurring themes.

Two brands stand out as consistent performers with three or more campaigns winning both Australian Effies and creative AWARDs. KFC and Aldi. Let’s call them “Creffies”. Both also happen to be Effectiveness Marketers of the Year, in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

KFC’s three “Creffie” campaigns were Michelin Impossible; a fast-food company on a quest to earn a Michelin Star, Kentucky Fly Chicken; an app promo that drove downloads by dropping international menu items doubling as travel giveaways, and KFC Degustation; an 11-course fine dining experience using KFC ingredients. All three campaigns ditched traditional media approaches, challenged expectations, and got people talking and sharing. Importantly for a QSR retailer they also drove action and tackled barriers to preference. They generated returns far beyond short-term ROI by galvanising staff, attracting partners and earning attention. At Ogilvy we call that high “Return on Creativity”.

Aldi has had five “Creffies” in five years. In each case the brand’s “weaknesses” were tackled in creative ways and often turned into strengths. In 2020, by winning over one very unhappy customer in a highly entertaining way, they convinced thousands of other brand rejectors to give them another try. Fast forward to 2024 and Aldi is facing into the uncomfortable truth that its customers “see other supermarkets” by inviting them to Shop Aldi First.

If you want to be more effective, aim for a Creffie. But realise that Creffies don’t start with an ambition to be effective. They start with an unreasonable problem to solve and a big appetite for creative solutions. You’ll need a desire to shake up a market, change behaviour or influence society. Creffies don’t follow a formula, nor do they deliver predictable, incremental returns. They take on a life of their own and create a ripple effect of growth far beyond your best laid plans.

Fran Clayton is the chief strategy officer at Ogilvy Network ANZ