When someone will talk to me about creative, invariably the meaning gravitates toward the artistic or design aspects. Meaning we’re talking about color, paper, headline, copy, white space and everything that associates with it. When I think of creative, the first thing that occupies my brain matter is not the design, written word, etc., but the element of what I term “strategic creative.”
By no means am I dismissing the importance of the creative that grabs eyeballs and attention. But my mind works from the initial standpoint of what direction will lead any creative development. That’s where strategy comes in. Too often in my experience, many will jump ahead and put 100% emphasis in what something will look like, either in print, broadcast, digital or whatever way the final messaging will look. My thinking is that it’s probably because that’s the easiest. It will be visual, something to look at and either approve, dislike to made to give the thumbs up with some edits and changes.
The strategic creative needs more attention. Before any designer is brought in or any copywriter put to work, put just as much time into strategy, if not more, than when the professionals go to work on their Mac’s to whip up first drafts. Pertinent questions need to be addressed. What is trying to be accomplished? What is the audience target, if any? What does the competition already say? What can be measured in dollars and sense (not a misspelling, pun intended) compared to prior history?
Marketers need to be strategically creative. I would add that salespeople should also hold or develop the same trait. Why? It’s simple — customers look for solutions. How can you solve anything if you cannot be a strategic thinker, aka strategic creative?
