Tony,
Thanks for the waiting.
Allow me to sidetrack a little bit. Let’s compare desk diaries between a creative person and a client.
A creative’s desk diary might look like this…
1000 Briefing for a new business pitch
1130 Brainstorming session/Creative review
1430 Teleconferencing on regional creative platform
1530 Preproduction meeting with production house
1700 Meeting with planning and account servicing
1800 Presentation to client
While a client’s might look like this…
0830 Budget review
0930 Sales forecast meeting
1100 Pre-launch meeting with operation department
1230 Lunch meeting with suppliers
1430 Marketing plan review
1530 Dealers and wholesalers’ meeting
1730 Meeting with agency
1830 Trade cocktail party
Well, it is hypothetical but it says something about the difference of a typical working day between a client and us.
To a client, advertising is just a tiny bit of his tasks. To us, it is the whole.
And we tend to believe that everything centers around advertising, including a brand’s success. In fact, it is hardly true. (Remember the conventional saying of the 4 Ps? Not one P, right?)
Now, going back to your question, “Is creativity, ever, an integral part of effective advertising?”
I have no dispute with that, period.
But effective advertising cannot stand on its own and plays only a part in successful marketing. And if creativity is just part of advertising and advertising is only part of marketing, then creativity can’t be the sole element that makes or breaks a brand. Sounds cumbersome but I can’t find a better way to articulate this.
In a nutshell, advertising is only a thin slice of the total marketing mix. Effective advertising helps. And that is it. Successful marketing programs of a brand rely a lot on other marketing arms and promotional vehicles, and never solely on advertising.
I have no intention to belittle what we are doing for a living but I am reluctant to magnify it to an extent that is out of its proportion.
cc