Does Creative Matter? Absolutely.

Everyone and their dog has an opinion on what constitutes good creative.  Is it good if its memorable? Is it good if it tells a story? Is it good if its effective?

Sometimes, the answers come not from the industry, the peers and others inside the fishbowl, but from the clients and the results themselves.

Case in point: Last fall we featured work that was being done for the United Way of the Treasure Valley by a group of creatives in the Valley.  Last month, the United Way announced that their community campaign had generated $5.9 million in donations from individuals and corporations.  Today, the United Way announced 31 grant recipients of the funds.

Included in the article from the Idaho Statesman was a quote from Tod McKay, Vice President of Communications for United Way of Treasure Valley, recognizing the effort that went into the creative for the campaign:

The local United Way’s community campaign was hugely successful this year, despite hard economic times. The organization raised $5.9 million, a 9 percent increase over last year’s campaign and the most in the group’s 81-year history.

McKay said part of this year’s success can be attributed to a creative advertising campaign put together by some of the region’s lead advertising agencies free-of-charge.

“They helped us tell our story better than we’ve ever done before,” McKay said.

That’s when you know you’ve done a good job.

Congratulations, and well done, to everyone involved.

One Reply to “Does Creative Matter? Absolutely.”

  1. Great news about the good work being done for the United Way. Obviously effective work benefiting a valuable organization.

    As for the topic of the post, it kind of seems like asking “Does Breathing Matter?” (As a Creative, I’m occasionally prone to melodrama.) This came to mind:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYEf8XZKlUU

    Funny, and meant to be funny, but chock full o’ nuggets of truth.

    “Good” creative is, in my opinion, less subjective than is often commonly assumed. In other words, it’s not just a matter of opinion because, as un-PC as this is to say, not everybody has good creative judgment.

    Effectiveness against well-defined goals is the ultimate measure of “good” creative. And insightful, surprising, delightful, carefully crafted creative can not only achieve desired effectiveness but amplify it many-fold.

    Time to get off the soap box and go to lunch.

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