Big companies don't need creativity

Innovation and creativity are issues that every advertising company thinks about. Creativity is a smarter solution, not intelligence itself. Why don't big companies need creativity? Is there still value in a creativity-oriented advertising company? This article discusses these three aspects.

We recently lost a client.

The client is a Fortune 500 company in a traditional industry. They originally approached us to launch a creative campaign. They had never done anything out of the ordinary before, and had never cooperated with a creative hot shop. They were honest in marketing and made a lot of money. Maybe they were itching to try out a creative hot shop after seeing the constant screen-sweeping in the marketing circle.

The cooperation was quite uncomfortable because we couldn't understand each other and basically we were talking at cross purposes. The most creative brand action they had ever taken was a standard peripheral material. In our opinion, there was nothing much to say about it and we could just find a roadside printing shop to make it. We proposed several creative proposals according to the company's usual production standards. Of course, they were not earth-shattering, but at least they would not be embarrassed to post them on Shuying. The client had no idea about creative materials, creating topics, creating content, KOL communication and other common actions in the Internet era. Although they didn't understand it, they judged that this set of things would not significantly increase sales.

The boss of the client's marketing department still respected us very much. He thought that the brand execution team was not good enough, so he replaced two groups of people. In the end, everyone couldn't talk on the same channel, so forget it. I guess all subsequent projects were cancelled.

1. Creativity is a smarter solution, not intelligence itself

Advertising companies promote works that win awards at Cannes. Winning a Cannes Lion is the dream of many advertisers. But when we look at those award-winning works, we find that first of all, they are really imaginative, but after watching them, you hardly notice which brand made them. The brand presence is very weak.

It can make the audience remember the work, but the fatal thing is that the client's product or brand is ignored.

What customers need are smarter solutions, not paying you to put on a smart show.

An idea can even be very simple if it solves a business problem.

Taobao's Double 11 is a great idea, but its core in the first three years was a 50% discount promotion. This was an ordinary promotional method that was not creative at all in the eyes of advertising companies, but it solved the major problem of Taobao Mall's growth. And it was done every year, and it was still done after Taobao Mall was upgraded to Tmall. It was not until the fourth year that Double 11 was registered and started to be operated as Alibaba's most important marketing IP.

We always say that advertising and creativity change people’s cognition. Double 11 has changed people’s cognition so thoroughly that nowadays young friends hardly know that Double 11 was originally “Singles’ Day”. They only know that it is Taobao’s annual shopping carnival.

Many of Apple's ads are very clever, but almost all of them are centered around the product. You will be impressed by the product's value after watching it. For example, when it comes to taking photos, many manufacturers are racking their brains to create some events like taking photos of the stars and the moon, or shooting a TVC with a clever plot to show how amazing night scenes and portraits are. Apple's approach is to directly put the photos of iPhone users around the world on outdoor ads, with the words "shot on iPhone".

Smarter solutions have the potential to develop into strategic big ideas that energize brands and drive business.

2. Why don’t big companies need creativity?

Even super large companies like Alibaba and Apple need creativity. What kind of large company doesn’t need creativity?

Large companies doing traditional business don’t need it.

Traditional large companies have a mature marketing system, and the 4Ps of marketing, including products, prices, channels, and promotions, have long been arranged clearly and are very stable.

The company's marketing demand for creativity is not that great. A company can survive well without creativity or even advertising.

More importantly, creativity will put the brand or marketing manager of the client at risk in their careers. This is because unconventional creativity is often risky. If it works well, everyone will be happy. But if it fails, what will happen? The advertising company will only lose a business, while the brand manager will bet on his own future. It is better to stick to the routine.

What is the most important thing for a big company? Not making mistakes. Making fewer mistakes is more important than innovation.

It is harmful for talented players to work in big companies. Big companies do not need people who are too outstanding or too mediocre, but they need excellent mediocre players.

I had a discussion with Teacher Cai Tou, the gist of which was that large companies can pull people who scored 70 points to 80 points, and suppress people who scored 90 points to 80 points. The company as a whole is a huge 80-point super army. There is no need for individual heroes to sprint. All the soldiers need to keep their movements in unison and march forward to crush their opponents.

The key is to be neat and tidy. Individual heroes with ideas will disrupt the army. Traditional large companies can remain invincible for a long time if they honestly make their products 80% perfect, maintain their channel networks like capillaries, and do not focus on innovation in marketing and promotion.

Apart from traditional large companies, start-up brands also do not need creativity.

3. Are creative-oriented advertising companies still valuable?

Companies that follow the positioning school or the Hua & Hua group are particularly suitable for start-up brands or brands that do not require a premium, and they help solve basic brand awareness and business operation problems.

What they produce may seem uncreative or even looked down upon by creative-oriented advertising companies, but it is really effective.

Red Bull changed its advertising slogan from "Drink Red Bull when you are tired and sleepy" to "Your energy is beyond your imagination", which seems like something that a normal advertising company would do. But it is a major commercial mistake.

Dongpeng Special Drink got a great deal by changing the slogan to "Drink Dongpeng Special Drink when you are tired and sleepy". Which advertising company would dare to come up with such a creative idea? If they are not fired by the boss, they will be scolded by the client. However, Hua & Hua dared to insist on saying, why not use a good slogan?

Most of the clients who come to the creative hot shop where I work are international brands or big local brands. Although they also emphasize "product and effect synergy", most of them do not have strict requirements for immediate results in creativity, because there are many options to achieve immediate results, such as grass-roots promotion, live streaming, promotions, etc.

The greatest value of a creative-oriented advertising agency is to inject vitality into super brands and provide smarter solutions for brands that need upgrading, transformation or premiumization.

If a brand is in the stage of survival, it is unrealistic to expect a creative advertisement to make the brand popular overnight or turn around. It is better to do a solid job in the basic links of marketing and have a full meal before thinking about creative afternoon tea.

Author: Chen Wuyong

Source: WeChat public account "Chen Wuyong (ID: wuyongzhiyong2022)"