Creative matters. It matters a lot. It’s often the least valued yet most valuable commodity in the world of advertising.

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No matter how much you crunch the numbers, compile your analytics or use the perfect algorithm to get your message out to the masses, if the creative isn’t on point, they’ll be clicking on to the next best thing. Keeping your creative fresh and current should be a core element to any successful marketing strategy.

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Creativity is a difficult thing to measure. Outlining the difference between good and bad creative is not a clear and simple task. It is the ability to create the striking image that will draw glances from busy commuters or come up with a killer slogan to be emblazoned on billboards across the world.  We might not be able to fully define the alchemy of traffic stopping creative but we all hit the brakes when we see it.

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Choosing your creative will obviously depend entirely on your brand. No matter if you’re an established household name with international reach or a new tech startup that wants to disrupt a settled market, you’ll need fresh creative to make your brand memorable in the minds of the eternally distracted modern consumer.

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“Nothing is more efficient than creative advertising. Creative advertising is more memorable, longer lasting, works with less media spending, and builds a fan community…faster.”

‍Stephan Vogel - Chief Creative Director for Ogilvy

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The law of diminishing returns

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In the world of economics the simple theory of diminishing returns is a guide for investment and profits. It’s also a theory that will be perfect for looking at how you can fully optimise your marketing campaigns. Put simply, the law states that if you only focus on one single area of investment (no matter how successful) while all other areas remain stagnant then you will soon see the overall performance will decline. This is just as important in advertising as it is in economics. 

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There’s nothing better than a winning formula. It’s something every brand wants, from Nike’s all conquering “Just Do It” slogan to the comparethemarket.com’s cheeky meerkat characters. Once a brand finds the right creative, then it wants to stick with it for as long as possible and milk the asset for everything that it’s worth. It can be like advertising wildfire and the ultimate aim is to positively influence how people think and talk about your brand. But what happens when there are less and less returns for that stonewall classic creative you’ve relied on all these years.

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When something that once stood out to an audience becomes tired and formulaic, it’ll soon drive customers away and worst case scenario will get on their nerves. We were all guilty of shouting “Wassup” as we chugged down Budweiser back in 1999 but it wasn’t long before this (pre-viral) viral campaign went from hilarious to tedious in just a year or two. This is the downward slope of your returns and the best way to counteract this decline is to get back to the drawing board and come up with something new and exciting. 

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The Big Refresh

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With 21st Century popular culture being even more prone to exaggerated shifts and changes, it’s often tempting to jump in with every trend that appears week to week. While there is wisdom in wiping the board clean and coming up with something totally new, it might also be possible to alter, update or evolve certain elements of your previous campaigns.

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Let’s take one of the most successful advertising phrases ever as a prime example. When you hear that “I’m lovin’ it” jingle, there’s only one thing that’s on your mind. The genesis of this blockbuster McDonald’s campaign is itself fabled in advertising folklore, a five syllable stroke of pure genius that became their first global campaign. It’s also the fresh creative they desperately needed to turn their four quarter profit decline into world domination. It’s not just a great example of how taking a new direction can revive a declining business but also how a strategic refresh of existing creative can pay dividends for years to come.

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It’s hard to believe that the fast food behemoth that is McDonald’s was looking down the barrel at a business valuation slashed by up to 50% and a slew of unit closures across the globe. Way back in 2003 (the pre-smartphone era) they held an agency competition to find the answer, which ended up being a truly global advertising triumph. A German company won with their “Ich Liebe Es” pitch (translated as I’m Lovin It) and the rest is history. 

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The scale of the project was, of course, enormous, including hiring pop titans Pharrel Williams and Justin Timberlake to produce and sing a bonafide hit. It turned their fortunes around 180 degrees and has seen their share price rocket by almost 15 times the amount it was before the campaign. After years and years, it still caps every single of their commercials, which is in no small part to their ability to repackage the familiar in new and interesting ways. The most recent example coming in 2015 with their ‘moments of joy’ refresh that synchronised 24 city events in 24 hours under the ‘imlovinit24’ moniker to great effect.

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It’s proof that fresh creative is essential, whether it be a brand new ‘out of the box’ ideation or a fresh look at an already established campaign. It’s a mindset that can work across all industries, from the world beaters like McDonald’s right down to the newest company on the block.

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Keep it fresh

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Obviously the need for an epic game changing brand refresh isn’t needed each and every occasion you want to see an upturn in profits. Instead, the mindset of keeping your creative fresh should be a part of everyday conversations at your company. When investing substantial money in media year on year, then you want to ensure the creative will be worth the outlay. It might be that you’ve been running the same messaging for a few years and are worried it’s become background noise or you want a new take on a winning formula.

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Either way, you’ll need fresh creative to get your brand what it needs. As a production house that specialises in creative solutions, we pride ourselves on delivering original visual work that will turn heads. Whether you’ve got a great concept that can be reimagined, or need a totally fresh idea for your campaign, get in touch with us.

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Talk to us about your creative video marketing.