Creativity in PR, a Global Study 2013

Creativity in pR | A Global Study 2013

In association with Co-authored by

Creativity. Of all the buzzwords that litter the marketing communications industry, this one is more elusive than most. Even as persistent overuse and empty application conspire to rob it of all meaning, the transformative impact of genuine business creativity has never been more important.

Hence, the report you are reading now. One year ago the Holmes Report and Now Go Create, in con-junction with Ketchum, set out to explore whether the public relations industry is truly creative enough to meet the demands of the 21st centu-ry. A world where citizens and activ-ists can see easily see through spin and understand the true character of an organization, where earning atten-tion, respect and, crucially, trust, requires ideas, innovation and cour-age.

Last year’s report revealed an ambiv-alent view of creative quality in the industry. 95 percent of respondents, however, cited it as a key skill, with 89 percent describing themselves as creative. If nothing else, the result confirmed a disconnect between perception and reality, one that the industry must bridge if it hopes to assume a more central brand-build-ing role.

The second edition of the Creativity in PR study again brings considera-ble insight into these critical ques-tions. The report polled 600 people from more than 35 countries across the world, helping us once again uncover some fascinating findings

about the state of creativity in PR. Respondents came from agency and in-house, and from a range of indus-tries and sectors.

They answered a variety of questions during the three months the study ran during the summer of 2013, encompassing attitudes towards creativity; tools and skills; opportuni-ties and challenges; and suggestions and advice. We are very glad to bring you the second edition of this land-mark study, particularly after the remarkable support the first effort received. As always, we appreciate your time, thoughts and feedback.

One of the key reasons for co-author-ing the Creativity in PR study is to understand what this much-bandied about word means and how it trans-lates into real-world outcomes. To wit my favourite Ogilvyism: “If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.”

In at the PR industry sharp-end for over 20 years I had to be creative daily to win and maintain clients. The question I'm now most regularly asked is "How do you build a creative culture?” Depending on the problem, workload, deadlines and people, the same team can deliver inspirational creative work one day, and really mediocre work the next. I’m obsessed with the variables that drive a creative business. This year’s Crea-tivity in PR study shows that:

The PR industry overall is self-critical with 60% saying the industry lacks big ideas. Creativity in PR is funda-mental to everyone but clients want better creative quality – only 18% of clients are consistently happy with their agency’s creativity. Budget has overtaken time this year as the key barrier to creativity. In 2012 the use of technology was identified as largely absent as a way to drive creativity and this continues as a trend in 2013. Creative infrastructure investment is relatively low - almost 90% of busi-nesses allocate less than 10% of their budget on creativity – often far less. The hundreds of anecdotal comments show some old-school attitudes that pervade around creativ-ity; that it’s the purview of a chosen

few, that process is anathema and that unstructured group brainstorms will cut it when it comes to answering a brief. There’s a simmering frustra-tion running through the survey responses – we’re as good as any other part of the marketing mix – why are we not recognized for our creative chops?

In-house teams face different creative challenges from agencies – often small teams, repetitive problems, corporate risk-aversion, multiple internal stakeholders to sell ideas to. A senior client bemoaned the only time they get the creative work they want from their PR agencies is when they competitively pitch the work.

I collaborate with talented agency PR’s and big thinkers in all sectors, whose creativity is hamstrung. As Matisse famously said: ‘creativity takes courage’. We need the collec-tive confidence in our creative abili-ties (like our ad agency brethren) to ask for better briefs, more face time, better insight, more time! Then and only then will be the creative divide between what clients want and what agencies can deliver be bridged.

Arun SudhamanEditor | Holmes Report

Claire BridgesFounder | NowGoCreate

2 | creativity.holmesreport.com

Introduction

www.holmesreport.com


www.nowgocreate.co.uk



Creativity in PR | A Global Study

Pg 4.............................................Business Value

Pg 10.............................................Ideas & Quality

Pg 15.....................................................Barriers

Pg 17.....................................Drivers & De�nition

Pg 20................................... Talent & Investment

Pg 27.................................... Techniques & Tools

Pg 33................................................... Appendix


This year's survey results confirm our worst suspicions; that even the campaigns win-ning creativity awards are not as creative as we tell ourselves, primarily because they are not as effective as they need to be. That's because, in our creative zeal, we leap too quickly and too blindly into solving a company's problem without first focusing on solving their customers' problems. Too many brainstorms focus on selling product benefits rather than magnifying audience needs and possible benefits. And we immediately limit ourselves as an industry if we think our creative mission is to purely earn media attention -- this has got to be our year to serve consumers and custom-ers creatively -- by imagining and imple-menting solutions that go way beyond generating publicity impressions. As one successful creative agency looks at it, we must find our creative solutions at the intersection between product truths and cultural truths. Only then will PR achieve its creative potential.

Karen StraussChief Strategy &

Creativity Director | Ketchum

Contents


www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

If you are in-house, how important is creativity in your decision to hire & retain an agency?

This year’s headline find-ing reveals that creativity is becoming an increas-ingly critical element in how businesses perceive PR value. In-house re-spondents were asked how important creativity is to their decisions to hire and retain an agency. The results demonstrate the premium that busi-nesses now place on cre-ativity in PR, with more than three-quarters (79%) rating it as 8 or higher out of 10, compared to two-thirds last year. Almost half (47%) scored it as 9 or more, while more than one in five (22%) gave it full marks for importance, both sig-nificant increases on the 2012 results.

The findings belie the notion that creativity in PR is a luxury. Instead they demon-strate, once and for all, the indelible importance attached to creativity by

in-house marketers and com-munications as a genuine business priority. Geographically, buyers of agency services in Asia and Europe are less concerned about creativity than their counterparts around the world. Predictably, creativity is a more important commod-ity in the UK (87%) and US (84%), according to the pro-portion of clients that rate it as 8 or higher out of 10. But there are surprises elsewhere. Australia, famed for award-winning creative PR campaigns, is only average, while Latin America and the Middle East score higher than Asia and Europe.

6 or Below

7 8 9 10

3.8% 10.7%

32.1%

24.5%

22.0%

One of the key reasons for co-author-ing the Creativity in PR study is to understand what this much-bandied about word means and how it trans-lates into real-world outcomes. To wit my favourite Ogilvyism: “If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.”

In at the PR industry sharp-end for over 20 years I had to be creative daily to win and maintain clients. The question I'm now most regularly asked is "How do you build a creative culture?” Depending on the problem, workload, deadlines and people, the same team can deliver inspirational creative work one day, and really mediocre work the next. I’m obsessed with the variables that drive a creative business. This year’s Crea-tivity in PR study shows that:

The PR industry overall is self-critical with 60% saying the industry lacks big ideas. Creativity in PR is funda-mental to everyone but clients want better creative quality – only 18% of clients are consistently happy with their agency’s creativity. Budget has overtaken time this year as the key barrier to creativity. In 2012 the use of technology was identified as largely absent as a way to drive creativity and this continues as a trend in 2013. Creative infrastructure investment is relatively low - almost 90% of busi-nesses allocate less than 10% of their budget on creativity – often far less. The hundreds of anecdotal comments show some old-school attitudes that pervade around creativ-ity; that it’s the purview of a chosen

few, that process is anathema and that unstructured group brainstorms will cut it when it comes to answering a brief. There’s a simmering frustra-tion running through the survey responses – we’re as good as any other part of the marketing mix – why are we not recognized for our creative chops?

In-house teams face different creative challenges from agencies – often small teams, repetitive problems, corporate risk-aversion, multiple internal stakeholders to sell ideas to. A senior client bemoaned the only time they get the creative work they want from their PR agencies is when they competitively pitch the work.

I collaborate with talented agency PR’s and big thinkers in all sectors, whose creativity is hamstrung. As Matisse famously said: ‘creativity takes courage’. We need the collec-tive confidence in our creative abili-ties (like our ad agency brethren) to ask for better briefs, more face time, better insight, more time! Then and only then will be the creative divide between what clients want and what agencies can deliver be bridged.

uk

LatAm

Us

middle east

Australia

Asia

Europe


8 or higher

Creativity in PR is business-criticalBusiness value

Are you happy with the creative capabilities of your agency?

Yes, Consistently

Yes, sporadically

No, its a constant challenge

Not at all

17.8%

50.4%

Clientview

28.7%

3.1%

Despite the obvious impor-tance of creativity, PR firms continue to underwhelm when clients actually rate the creative capabilities. Just 18 percent are consist-ently happy with PR agency creativity, a marginal increase on 2012. Half are sporadically satisfied, while more than a quarter (29%), believe it is a constant chal-lenge. In total, 32% of cli-ents are not happy with their firm’s creativity capa-bilities, representing a wor-rying increase on last year’s proportion (23%).

Creativity is not only critical to selling in ideas to clients andhelping prove the value of PR and its efficiency versus other channels,but ultimately what it will take to break through the clutter and get the attention of consumers in an increasingly more competitive marketplace.To me the solution to getting agencies to deliver more creative thinking is to remind and reinforce that there is always money for a good idea. I encour-age my agencies to be reactive and proactive – if you believe in something or see an opportunity, don’t wait for us to brief you, be proactive and bring new thinking to the table throughout the year in an opportunistic fashion. Even if we don’t execute the program or idea, many times you still get credit for the thinking, which ultimately helps generate additional trust in you as partners and in the PR channel.Heather Mitchell, head of global PR and social media, Unilever haircare


…but PR firms still struggle to prove their creative worthBusiness value

Unsurprisingly, then, only 42% of clients are more likely to approach their PR agencies for big creative ideas today than they were 12 months ago. The remain-ing 58% either said no or said there has been no change.

No

YesThere has beenno change

Compared with 12 months ago, are you more or less likely to approach your PR agency for big creative ideas?

41.8%40.5%17.7%

Firstly, creative work needs to be presented by creative directors. Just like you’d never put me in a room to sell a crisis plan, account teams should not be presenting the big creative ideas. Second, creative directors need to be core members of account teams, attending key meetings and tracking the progress of ideas and the client’s business situation. And last, we must continue to focus our efforts on selling ideas, not tactics. Clients want and should be ‘wowed’ by ideas. They want and should be surprised by amazing thinking. If we don’t deliver on that, we won’t be consulted for big crea-tive ideas.Marc Levy, Director of Strategic and Creative Planning, Ketchum New York


Business value

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

Advertising Agency

Digital Agency

PR Agency

Media Agency

Experiential Agency

In-house respondents were asked to rank the creative quality of their various agencies, with PR firms ranking behind advertising and digital agencies, but ahead of media and experi-ential. The results suggest one of two things. First, that the creative gap between the PR world and adland may not be quite as big as anyone thinks or, second, that PR scored higher be-cause the survey was un-dertaken by more comms directors than senior mar-keters.

Please rank the creative quality of your various agencies

Business valueWhere do PR firms rank?


1 2 3 4 5

While clients might be un-satisfied with PR agency creativity, there is more en-couragement to be found in the areas where firms can improve. 61 percent each cited content and integrated ideas, both areas where smart PR firms should already be able to make a difference.

Other areas that are ripe for creative improvement: Sto-rytelling (44%), insight/plan-ning (40%), media relations (39%) and, significantly, in the quality of their creative people (31.5%).

Also of note, hardly any clients are looking for PR firms to be improve creativi-ty in terms of paid media (4%) or even owned media (9%).

Clients: Which are the most important areas in which yourPR �rms need to improve their creative quality?

Content creation & marketing

Integrated ideas

storytelling

Insight/planning

Media relations

Quality of creative personnel

Realtime Marketing

Ownedmedia

Stunts/experiential

Paid Media


Room for improvementBusiness value

61.1%

61.1%

44.3%

40.3%

38.9%

31.5%

10.7%

8.1%

7.4%

4.0%

The dissatisfaction is not all one-way traffic. Disturbing-ly, agencies report an increase in clients that either have no set process for assessing creativity or do not assess it at all (41 percent vs 37 percent last year). Once again, agency creativity is most often as-sessed as part of client sat-isfaction (36.4%).

Agencies : Do clients assess your creative effort?

Co-creation between agency and client will be the key driver for more creativity in PR. There are communi-cations experts sitting on both sides – the agency and the client. A new generation of clients won’t wait until the creative agency team has baked up an idea for presentation. They want and should be part of the ideation process to shape ideas from the beginning.Petra Sammer, Chief Creative Officer, Ketchum Germany

Yes Some-times,

but thereis no setprocess

No Don’tknow

18.9%

41.6%34.3%

6.9%4.8%

20122013


Yes, as part ofclient satis-

faction

AssessmentBusiness value

17.6%

29.9%

6.5% 3.1%

36.4%

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

The client-agency divide extends to overall percep-tions of quality and ideas in the PR industry, demon-strating a much less favourable view from those on the in-house side of the equation.

Broadly speaking, opinions of creative quality within the PR industry have not shifted much over the past 12 months, demonstrating that ambivalence persists. Once again, more than half describe it as ‘ordinary’ or worse. 40% say it is good and just 7% label it ‘inspi-rational’. One in 10 de-scribe it as ‘unsatisfactory’.

How would you describe the quality of creativity in the PR industry?

Compared with last year, lack of budget (54%) has overtaken lack of time (44%) as the biggest barrier to creativity. 43% say client feedback or risk aversion is a barrier to creativity, whilst clients say they’re not happy with the level of crea-tivity from their agency. So where’s the disconnect?

“For a client there is a per-ceived risk in taking a crea-tive (read, more expensive) idea to market. Unlike adver-tising we do not control the end result of the editorial (unless, as some agencies do, they are paying for con-tent – but that's another con-versation). So there is a per-ceived risk in offering a crea-tive idea which runs an increased risk in "not having the client taken seriously", and the idea itself ends up being more interesting than the reason why you went to market in the first instance. Plus, the vagaries of editorial

mean that with a lack of con-trol in the editorial outcome, it makes clients nervous. We cannot guarantee the way the story will be carried. The other end of the spectrum is the 'creative PR agency' who forgets the rules and etiquette of PR and does not integrate the idea with the tried and tested solid com-munication techniques of running a PR campaign.” Agency, Australia

"I believe the biggest barriers to creativity in PR are (in no particular order): Client AND team risk-aversion; unclear direction from clients/fear or apprehension of pushing back to gain greater under-standing of the challenge; not enough planning/re-search, which leads to lack of strong insights about con-sumer target; the belief that the ad agency is always going to lead creative, so we sit back and take their direc-tion. We need to be

pro-actively coming up with creative ideas and presenting them to clients. We are just as creative as ad folks, we just need to assert that fact. This is especially true as the lines become more blurred between "advertising" and "PR." Agency, US

“Creativity is particularly lack-ing in PR agencies in Asia Pacific: many agencies are stuck in the 90s bringing cobbled-together, recycled PPT with hollow ideas to client meetings/pitches. This is an agency management issue: creativity and new thinking is not taken serious-ly, invested in and rewarded.” Agency, China

“PR agencies are not struc-tured to provide creativity as a service. To do that, you need a creative team that is paid solely to think and create. Not account teams

who like to think they are creative, but spend the ma-jority of their time managing projects and clients. Until PR agencies shape themselves more like creative agencies, they won't be creative.”Agency, UK

Improving the use of insight is cited most often (33%) as a catalyst for greater creativity compared to ‘more time’ in 2012. Also rising in importance is the ability to take more risks (32%). Resourcing — budget and time — contin-ue to be seen as areas ripe for improvement, as is a better knowledge of crea-tive tools. Significantly, op-tions such as hiring a plan-ner, hiring a creative direc-tor or ‘more fun’ garnered relatively little support.

2 | creativity.holmesreport.com 10 | creativity.holmesreport.com

GoodOrdinaryUNsatis-factory

POor

37.7%

4.4%

9.6%

39.2%

5.6%

Inspirational

Ideas & Quality

Significantly, clients have a considerably more jaun-diced view of creative quali-ty than their agency breth-ren. Just 39% describe it as inspirational or good, while more than 60 percent see it as ordinary or worse. Once again, it appears that agen-cies are falling down in their quest to prove to clients that they have the neces-sary creative credentials for today’s engagement envi-ronment.

47.2%

34.6% 11.0%

4.7%2.4

%

Clients: how would you describe the quality of creativity in the PR industry?

“Good but needs to get much better - more intercon-nected and bolder.”Agency, France

“Really depends on the sector. However, when I look at ‘award-winning’ cam-paigns — they all seems to recycle the same ideas over and over.” In-house, US

“In our region (MENA) clients like the idea of creativity but in the end refuse to allow agencies to do anything cre-ative. This is because, in most cases, in-house corp comms people have less experience and far less imag-ination. PR for global brands is very often generated in Europe, North America or the Far East and issued in a command and control fash-ion.” Agency, Qatar.











Ideas & Quality

Good

Inspirational

ordinary

poor

Unsatisfactory

Further clarity is provided when respondents are asked whether they think the quality of creativity in PR campaigns has im-proved over the past year. 61% disagree that it has, suggesting that there are no quick-fix solutions to raising creative standards.

Respondents in Anglo-Sax-on markets — Australia (56%), the UK (54%) and US (50%) — held the most favourable view of creative quality, with Asia (38%) some distance behind.

Stagnant thinking?

Over the past 12 months, do you feel that the quality of creativity in PR campaigns has improved?

Yes no no change

38.8%

28.1%

33.1%











Inspirational or good

Stagnant thinking?

Ideas & Quality

Aust

ralia

Uk Us Euro

pe

Mid

dle E

ast &

afr

ica

LatA

m

Asia

Again, clients are even less convinced that quality is improving; just 26% agree with that statement.

Latin American respondents (71%) are least likely to see an increase in creative qual-ity, followed by US (69%) and UK (66%). Australia stands out, with just 59% disagreeing with the notion that the quality of creativity in PR has improved over the past year.

Clients: Over the past 12 months, do you feel the quality of creativityin PR campaigns has improved?

Yes No, or no change

25.8%

74.2%










The issue that comes to mind here is ‘diligence.’ Creativity shouldn’t be transactional — if we’re only deliver-ing ideas for the client when they ask for them, we’re doing it wrong. Agencies should be delivering a steady stream of creative ideas to clients, demonstrating that we have a never-ending supply — and that we’re always thinking about their business. Marc Levy, Director of Strategic and Creative Planning, Ketchum New York


Aust

ralia

UkUs Euro

pe

Mid

dle E

ast &

afr

ica

LatA

m

Asia

Disagree

Stagnant thinking?Ideas & Quality

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

The PR industry has beencriticised for lacking ‘big ideas’. Do you agree?

Yes it’s a fair judgementNo it’s unfair

59.7%40.3%










Similarly, people continue to agree with the contention that PR agencies lack big ideas, a contention that is often voiced by ad industry types at Cannes. 60 percent believe the statement is a fair one, essentially the same proportion as last year.

Among clients, the view is even more pronounced, with 69% believing that the PR industry lacks big ideas.

‘The PR industry has a range of obstacles in putting for-ward and driving 'big ideas' and very few agencies have managed to master the art of both creating a 'big idea' and harnessing the power of their own structured traditional PR techniques.’ Agency, Australia.


Lacksbig ideas

Stagnant thinking?

Stagnant thinking?

Ideas & Quality



What stops you or your company from being creative?

Lack of budget

Lack of time

Client feedback or rick aversion

Lack of clear objectives

Lack of understanding between agency & Client

Differences in opinion about creative quality

Regulatory enviroment

Our own risk aversion

Leadership do not view it as important

The economy

It’s the domain of other departments...









Barriers

(54.0%)

(44.2%)

(43.6%)

(40.7%)

(23.4%)

(20.5%)

(19.6%)

(17.2%)

(11.9%)

(9.8%)

(8.6%)





If you could only do three things to improve your own or your company’s creative capabilities what would they be?

Improve use of Insight

Ability to take more risks

More Budget

More knowledge of creative tools

More time

Educate clients

More external stimulus

Clearer client briefs

More rewards for being creative

More training

All other Responses







Barriers

33.2%

32.4%

30.4%

28.8%

24.6%

24.3%

17.9%

17.9%

17.3%

15.6%

11.1%










It is one thing to talk in gen-eral terms about creative standards, but a more useful picture emerges when respondents are asked to zero in on the areas where an increasing need for creative thinking and ideas is seen.

Content creation comes out on top (74%), reflecting surging demand from brands, followed by inte-grated ideas (64%), digital comms (59%), content mar-keting (44%) and media relations (41%). In common with in-house findings, paid media scores considerably lower (15%).

In which areas are you seeing an increasing need for creative thinking and ideas? Paid media

Realtime marketing

owned media

stunts/experiential

media relations

content marketing

digital communication

integrated ideas

content creation

14.7%

22.9%

27.8%

28.6%

41.1%

44.2%

58.9%

63.8%

73.5%


Drivers & definitions










A new question in this year’s survey addresses one of the fundamental issues that affects creativity. How exactly should agencies be reimbursed for their ideas? This question was put to both clients and agency people, revealing a disturb-ing dichotomy between each side.

Agencies would rather stick to billable hours (46%) with slightly less also favouring set fees for ideas (45%), despite adland’s signal fail-ure on the latter count. Cli-ents — demonstrating more innovation than they are perhaps known for — would prefer to pay agencies based on sales results tied to ideas (46%). Just 22% of clients like billable hours and not too many are convinced of the merits of set fees for ideas (29%) or IP/licensing ideas (24%).

The findings would appear to confirm that a more inno-

In terms of developing ideas would you prefer topay or be paid according to:

AgencyClient

Billable hours

Set fees for ideas

Intellectual property and licensing of ideas

Sales results tied to ideas

Billable hours

set fees for ideas

Intellectual property and licensing of ideas

Sales results tied to ideas

vative approach to funding would help encourage idea development and overall creativity. Put more simply, it appears that agencies need to work harder to find common ground with clients that are searching for more creative PR work.

"Campaigns that are self-serving, and briefs that focus on the product and not the consumer, are not producing ROI. Creative that cuts through to the heart of consumer need is the brand of creative that moves minds, bodies and product. If clients are intent on paying for creative that leads to sales, they will need to buy ideas that are less self-serving than they may be accustomed to.”

Sarah Unger, VP, Insight and Strategy, Ketchum NY


Getting paidDrivers & definitions

45.8%

44.7%

30.8%

15.0%

21.8%

29.1%

23.6%

45.5%










Finding a definition for crea-tivity in PR remains elusive. Like last year, we asked respondents for their sug-gestions and received around 400 of them. They appear in the appendix to this report and again sug-gest that creativity means different things to different people.

When asked which factors drive great creative work, respondents again ranked ‘great storytelling’ first (73%). And, once again, insight/planning came second (59%). However, emotional resonance took third spot this year (48%), followed by content crea-tion (43%). Significantly, fewer respondents cited purpose as a creative driver compared to last year (34%), reflecting the paucity of purpose-driven cam-paigns in the Holmes Re-port’s recent Global Crea-tive Index.

In your opinion,what drives great PR work?Great storytelling

Insight & planning

Emotional resonance

Content creation

purpose

Results

Third party endorsement

humour

viral execution

Technological innovation

all other responses

73.4%

59.1%

48.4%

43.2%

34.6%

29.2%

16.4%

13.6%

11.7%

11.2%

3.7%


Creativity is...

Drivers & definitions










Like last year, almost half of all respondents think that a dedicated creative director role is unnecessary. 35% of organisations say they have one, with another 14.5% considering it. 4.5%, mean-while, say they’d like a CD but can’t afford it.

"Our Creative Director devel-ops our creative process and helps to inspire others to be more creative. Often takes the lead on 'big idea' generation." Agency, UK

"The CD engages with the brand from the outset to help shape and define the creative brief. He is then involved in the whole creative process – from beginning to end." Freelance, UK

Do you have a creative director?

No, but we are considering it

Yes

No, not necessary, it’s part of everyone’s job

we’d like to but we cannot afford it

45.5%

34.7%

15.2%

4.7%

“We find the best ideas come from the youngest team members...one person cannot go across all practic-es and over 100 clients.” Agency, India

“To me the biggest issue of all is investment in creative talent. In most cases, agen-cies rely on their account leaders to generate creative ideas (these people also engage media, manage client relationships, manage internal operations, etc., - they're multi-taskers). There needs to be investment in Creative Talent that does nothing more than ADD crea-tive value and insights into solving client challenges. Ad agencies do this, PR agen-cies rarely do. That's the problem.” Agency, Australia


Creative director

Talent & Investment










“Avoid hiring all MBA's and Ivy League grads - theses people oversaw the great recession. Take ‘chances’ on other types of people - a few successful fuck ups who challenge everything.” Agency, Belgium

A brilliant track record is more likely to land a PR creative a new job than any-thing else (48%). Blowing your own trumpet leading to recommendation has increased by 10% on last year (36%). Specific inter-view questions are also up on last year by almost 10%.

“Talent in China is hard to find let alone great people in who are top creatives. It is a bigger issue in this line of work and getting people to think larger picture is always a struggle.” Agency, China

Award Portfolio

Specific interview questions

Specific interview test

Use interviewer’s judgement

Assess interviewee’s previous work

Recommendation

We don’t use any specific methods

11.9%

47.5%

How do you recruit for creativity?

“We need to hire people with strong, proven creative track records. Most likely from outside PR.” Freelance, UK

“We have a tougher time finding creative directors among our Genera-tion Y candidates. Baby boomers and Gen Xers are used to throwing ourselves into every challenge and every creative opportunity we see, no matter how much it eats into our private life. Gen Y is different. On the one hand this is the best educated generation we have ever had. Talent-ed and skilled. On the other hand, they are also pragmatic and rational thinkers, always keeping an eye on their work-life-balance. The genera-tions have to learn to work together to build a great creative staff.” Petra Sammer, Chief Creative Officer, Ketchum Germany


Recruitment

Talent & Investment

43.9%

17.5%

40.0%

35.8%

25.6%

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

Do you feel that your business adequately invests in creativity?

48.0% 39.4%

12.7%

YesNo

Not sure

Is your business investing enough into creativity? While 40% say yes, the ma-jority – 47.5% – say no. In total, an overwhelming 60 per cent are not convinced their organisation is doing enough.

“There are exceptions, but mostly no. And it's the number one, fundamental reason PR lags behind ad-vertising in this area.” Agency, Australia

“The investment is there. The adoption needs more work.” Agency, Canada

“Not enough - creativity is a challenge and is often at odds with the structured thinking of traditional PR programs.” Agency, Australia


Investment

Talent & Investment

Brainstorming is still the most dominant activity to support creativity (61%), followed by award entries (51%), bookending the be-ginning and end of the crea-tive process. 27.5% of respondents say they are given non-billable time to think, which represents an encouraging development on 2012. This is a practice that many creatively suc-cessful businesses adopt, with Google’s 80:20 rule — 1 day a week of protected time to think - being the most well known. However, there is a 5% increase in respondents saying there is no investment and that it is just part of the job.

Mentoring, significantly, is down by almost 10%. While lack of budget is cited as the key barrier to creativity, mentoring represents a useful way to nurture crea-tive talent in cash-strapped times. Giving top creative performers the opportunity

Which investments are made to support creativityin your organisation?

Brainstorming activities

award entries

using case studies

Mentoring

audience insight & planning

training in creative techniques

facilitation training

Non- Billable time to think

crowd-sourcing

job rotation/secondmentall other responses

to share their experience and talent with others has been shown to increase profitability and business confidence. It also helps encourage an open culture that takes risks and asks questions.


61.1%

15.9%

InvestmentTalent & Investment

50.4%

44.1%

40.0%

34.8%

32.9%

30.7%

27.4%

19.5%

18.1%

According to 70% of our respondents, less than 5% of overall budget is spent on improving creativity. Almost 90 percent, furthermore, allocate less than 10 per-cent. These stats perhaps support the notion that investment in innovation has collapsed since the 2008 financial crisis, and has yet to recover.

What percentage of your department or agency’s overall budget/revenue is spent on improving creativity?

3-50-2

6-10

26-5011-25

51 & above

39.6

%

29.6

%

18.2

%

5.6%

5.9%

1.2%


InvestmentTalent & Investment

20122013

More than 50% of respond-ents do not think that their creative ideas are properly rewarded. Bridges points out that this can be a com-plex area.

Do you feel that your business adequately rewards creativity?

YesNo don’t know

34.1%


“If those tasked to be creative don't feel like they are adequately compen-sated, is it any wonder that they're not firing on all cylinders? The rewards for creative performance are proven to be more effective if they are NOT financial – recognition, promo-tion, freedom to take risks & more opportunities to be creative all have their place.”Claire bridges, Founder, Now go create

Rewards

Talent & Investment




How do you reward creativityand creative behaviour?

Internal awards

financial incentives

promotion opportunities

As part of annual performance review

We don’t

The majority of businesses (58%) reward creativity within the annual perfor-mance review. More than one in five do not reward creativity at all — compared to 42% in 2012, however, this is a significant improve-ment.

“The effectiveness of the campaign — creative or not — is judged. Creativity is not its own reward!” In-house, Australia

“It is just part of the job.” Freelance, US


RewardsTalent & Investment

44.9%

20.2%

33.8%

56.8%

21.9%

How would you rate the quality of creative thinking and personnel within yourbusiness?

Respondents were asked how they would rate the quality of creative thinking and personnel within their business. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, agencies are far more confident, with more than two-thirds labelling it inspirational or good. On the client side, though, almost as many see it as ordinary or worse, perhaps helping to explain the gap in how creative quality and big ideas are viewed by the two groups. As Tom Kelley, founder of innovation firm IDEO, has pointed out, con-fidence is a major factor when it comes to innova-tion:

“Creative confidence is the natural human ability to come up with breakthrough ideas combined with the courage to act on them. The courage turns out to be a really important part. Be-cause lots of people have these ideas in passing but are too timid to put them into action.” Inspirational Good Ordinary UNsatisfactory POor

10.5%5.3%

33.6%

45.1%

11.5%

56.2%

23.6%

6.9%

2.9% 2.7%

AgencyClient


ConfidenceTechniques & Tools

Despite the ambivalence, it is difficult to find anyone who believes that creativity is not a priority to their busi-ness. 81% rate it as a fun-damental or high priority; just 18% see it as average or worse.

How high a priority is creativity for youin your current business?

fundamental

high

average

non- existent

low

42.2%39.2%

15.1%

3.2%

0.2%


Top priorityTechniques & Tools

66% of respondents have a creative process in their business, even if some of the anecdotal comment disagreed.

“Creativity is not a process. It’s a mindset. An attitude. It needs to be in the DNA. So the question should really be about creativity as a culture. It can be supported by pro-cesses but it cannot have a process otherwise the con-cept of lateral thinking gets replaced by boxed in thinking or linear thinking. Contradic-tion!” Agency, India

“The words 'creativity' and 'process' jar with each other – every idea is and should be conceived differently. If you have a process, you're not being creative.” Agency, UK

Do you have a creative process in your business?

don’t know65.5%

27.6%3.8%

NoYes

Those agencies that have a creative process are the ones winning creativ-ity awards and rooting their ideas in solid strategy. In particular, clients expect a process, a way of arriving at ideas. It is hard to think of another fundamental business area where outcomes are left to chance. If you look at creative businesses and unpick what they do there’s always process involved, it’s not accidental. Whether it’s creating an environment where people are free to make mis-takes like 3M or time for ideas like Google, it’s deliberate.Clarie bridges, Founder, Now go create


Brainstorming

Techniques & Tools




Do you use any of the following techniques to generate ideas?

Group brainstorming

insight

What would x do?

Random stimuli

Related worlds

Proprietary process

Reverse Brainstormingedward de bono’s6 thinking hats

we don’t use any techniques

When asked which tech-niques PR people use to generate ideas, group brain-storming remains number one (85%). The result calls to mind Maslow’s quote: “If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every prob-lem as a nail.”


84.9%

6.8%

Brainstorming

Techniques & Tools

Given the dominance of the practice, we asked respondents whether they really feel that group brain-storming is worthwhile. De-spite being the dominant mode of idea generation, nearly 10% think it is a waste of time. But 45% think that it’s effective, with a further 46% saying that it’s ‘good enough’. Among clients, only 18% are con-sistently happy with the results.

Do you feel that group brainstorming is...?

GOOD ENOUGH EFFECTIVE A WASTE OF TIME

46.7%

44.0%

9.3%


“If you have 8 people in a room without any kind of process, insight or structure then it’s a waste of (billable) time and energy. Different personality types also come into play and the extraverts will chatter and dominate whilst the more reflective types may not say much at all. It’s just lazy practice and probably accounts for the fact that the ideas are not cutting it with clients.”

Claire bridges, Founder, Now go create

Brainstorming

Techniques & Tools




Results are very similar to 2012, with mainly subjective measures being used to assess ideas; personal ex-perience leading (45%), closely followed by SWOT analysis. 25% (slightly less than last year) say they are not using any particular pro-cess.

“The best yardstick of crea-tivity is in the approval of a client and the execution gen-erating the desired behaviour in the target audience. All else is cosmetic show and tell.” Agency, India

How do you assess your own or your agency’s creative ideas?

Personal experience

SWOT

Work as part of intergrated agency team who input

We don’t use any particular process

Comparison analysis

Risk-assessment

Creative director decision

Voting

6 thinking hats

44.6%

1.8%


Assessment

Techniques & Tools

“We truly believe in breaking down geographic and mental boundaries to produce a steadier flow of brilliant ideas that break through. We reject boundaries of city, state, country or continent by sourcing ideas through our collaborative global networks within and outside our agency. We also reject boundaries of bias, fear, parochial thinking and time by trying to engage clients as often as possible in our creative process, and advocat-ing persuasively for ideas that take chances.” Karen Strauss, Chief Strategy and Creativity Director

32.8%

32.1%

25.8%

23.8%

19.0%

13.3%

7.8%

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

Ability to experiment with the instru-ments, rather than stick with the same kit

Change is the only thing which is constant

Making big yet simple ideas that, when well told, attract people's minds & hearts.

Innovation that makes people take notice, take the desired action, and do it more fulsomely and faster

Big idea but also authenticity

An incredible idea that not only gets media talking but can be transcended across all platforms, that creates masses of shareable content and that sparks ripples after it has happened

Big, campainable ideas - ones that are independent of one particular discipline (PR, advertising, market-ing). Great, creative ideas can serve as the foundation for truly integrated campaign work.

Content that on it's surface doesn't immediately appear to be a PR point.

Convincing teams and clients that being edgy won't hurt their brands, if it's done right.

Clever presentation of messaging that make it more appealing to and less canned for businesses and consumers.

More PRativitty, please.


What is your definition of creativity in the context of PR?Appendix

Something that's so immediately obvious that anyone could have thought of it - except that no one else had

That, which is innovative enough to grab the consumer's attention, leads to conversion/ engagement in some form and gives the consumer and the marketer maximum benefit from such engagement.

The ability to craft a clever idea which has messages of the client deeply embedded within it, and an idea which has the ability to be 'PR'd' itself. Marry that with tracking back to the business objectives of the client. Fresh, compelling, new and yet makes absolute sense to the client's needs and objectives.

An idea that is refreshingly new but still relevant and, as a result, highly engaging.

The challenge is to make brands tell a genuine story, one that is true to its values and also relevant to the public - and do this in a creative, engaging way.

Ability to generate ideas, which, filtered, produce practical results.

Handling adversity well. It's now part of the connected world. And inte-grating/thinking more in terms of business process and opportunity loss.

Finding and listening to the thoughts and opinions of stakeholders/publics

you didn't even know you had.

Forming conversations that would otherwise not exist.

Fresh combination of insight and ideas to create work so fresh you don't notice its PR, and that results in behaviour change

Forget what was - concentrate on what is and what will be.

PR lies at the heart of brand commu-nication. It needs to grasp the nettle and take control of comms across all channels. By positioning PR as the brand's "editor", the discipline will work with all channels to deliver cohesive communications.

A journalist reacts positively straight up or a consumer says I get it - it should change behaviour,change attitudes or lead to increased aware-ness

An original means to a meaningful end.

Ideas generated from a genuine insight that create emotional charge and change behaviour.

It is a paradox, so it is the road where ideas that aren't typically allowed into PR space intersect with the tradition-al's acceptance. What it should be: bold collaboration between depart-ments and client/agency relationships where budgets are shelved for the conversation.

Execution of random ideas, particu-larly those born of an ad-hoc brain-storming process. Notably unteth-ered to business objectives.

An idea that will retain the audience attention and is applicable regardless of the media.

Creativity isn't necessarily the same in PR -- it could be an out of the box strategy that successfully evaded a crisis -- but in any instance, creativity in PR is the kind of idea that is so clever and effective that it couldn't be sold in an advertisement if they tried.

Bringing the "wow" factor of advertis-ing to the editorial agenda.

Ideas that build the brand or product reputation without being seen as obvious PR.

The "context of PR" limits creativity. Instead of thinking outside the box, creativity needs to expand the box, bringing in innovative thinking from a wide range of disciplines. Also, inherent to creativity is to create. Too often, PR thinks up creative ideas only to have them outsourced to other fields which dilutes the idea. PR needs to be able to create and execute against creativity.

Powerful ideas that create palpable and lasting influence among key stakeholders.

Unique Convergence. Relating the uniqueness or credibility of a brand by showing its connectivity to popular

societal issues or current events that are not obvious, via multiple commu-nication and integrated entertainment methods/media.

Disruption. Getting the right attention quickly and effectively and translating that straight to business objectives.

The magic by which a rational insight is brought to life in an engaging and emotional way to bring about a change in behaviour.

Good ideas that work for the client business objectives. Too many PR ideas are just stunts for the sake of it

Making the complex compelling ... and simple. Teaching clients how to perpetually seize creative opportuni-ties.

The striking and entertaining dramati-zation of a relevant information.

Truly moving idea that unlike ads compels media or consumers to share it/ act on it.

Our products and programs should engage, inspire and incite audiences to do something - there has to be a call to action to what we do!

Something that makes me think 'why the f* didn't we think of that' .. That gives me goosebumps and that can be integrated across the mix ... and has longevity.

Big ideas to change perceptions, to wake minds, to inspire stories that

appeals people and to get changes in society.

Capturing the attention of heavily attention deficit audiences with a compelling story that connects emo-tionally with them.

What's that interesting angle you use? That makes people sit up and listen? How do you connect the dots?

Sharp sound bite; adventurous tag-line

Depends on the client and industry. Within healthcare, its more about innovation within regulations than true creativity

Storytelling that kickstarts organic branded conversations, bringing the consumer / business into the thinking in a natural and unforced manner.

Something engaging and distinct from advertising

Thinking outside the square to achieve a corporate/strategic objec-tive - not just in traditional creative sense, but importantly in creative thinking to achieve real corporate objectives.

Creative content acts as a catalyst for conversation about the issue not the creative (e.g., Dumb Ways to Die vs. the Volkswagon Super Bowl Star Wars ad).

Bending pop culture in favor of our

clients' brands.

provocative ideas + surgical execu-tion

Presenting the message in a way that captures attention, but doesn't stray too far away from the company branding

Ideas that stand out, can travel under their own steam, and link clearly to a business objective

The 'hook' that grabs the consumer's imagination.

Creating a seamless environmental experience/engagement that con-sumers and customers BEG to be part of.

Creativity is universal. It is the judg-ment of creativity that is uncomforta-ble and requires confidence, even bravery, to triumph. This is the para-dox of creativity in the PR environ-ment. The masters of reputation management have a bit of a confi-dence problem when it comes to owning their creativity.


Ability to experiment with the instru-ments, rather than stick with the same kit

Change is the only thing which is constant

Making big yet simple ideas that, when well told, attract people's minds & hearts.

Innovation that makes people take notice, take the desired action, and do it more fulsomely and faster

Big idea but also authenticity

An incredible idea that not only gets media talking but can be transcended across all platforms, that creates masses of shareable content and that sparks ripples after it has happened

Big, campainable ideas - ones that are independent of one particular discipline (PR, advertising, market-ing). Great, creative ideas can serve as the foundation for truly integrated campaign work.

Content that on it's surface doesn't immediately appear to be a PR point.

Convincing teams and clients that being edgy won't hurt their brands, if it's done right.

Clever presentation of messaging that make it more appealing to and less canned for businesses and consumers.

More PRativitty, please.


Something that's so immediately obvious that anyone could have thought of it - except that no one else had

That, which is innovative enough to grab the consumer's attention, leads to conversion/ engagement in some form and gives the consumer and the marketer maximum benefit from such engagement.

The ability to craft a clever idea which has messages of the client deeply embedded within it, and an idea which has the ability to be 'PR'd' itself. Marry that with tracking back to the business objectives of the client. Fresh, compelling, new and yet makes absolute sense to the client's needs and objectives.

An idea that is refreshingly new but still relevant and, as a result, highly engaging.

The challenge is to make brands tell a genuine story, one that is true to its values and also relevant to the public - and do this in a creative, engaging way.

Ability to generate ideas, which, filtered, produce practical results.

Handling adversity well. It's now part of the connected world. And inte-grating/thinking more in terms of business process and opportunity loss.

Finding and listening to the thoughts and opinions of stakeholders/publics

you didn't even know you had.

Forming conversations that would otherwise not exist.

Fresh combination of insight and ideas to create work so fresh you don't notice its PR, and that results in behaviour change

Forget what was - concentrate on what is and what will be.

PR lies at the heart of brand commu-nication. It needs to grasp the nettle and take control of comms across all channels. By positioning PR as the brand's "editor", the discipline will work with all channels to deliver cohesive communications.

A journalist reacts positively straight up or a consumer says I get it - it should change behaviour,change attitudes or lead to increased aware-ness

An original means to a meaningful end.

Ideas generated from a genuine insight that create emotional charge and change behaviour.

It is a paradox, so it is the road where ideas that aren't typically allowed into PR space intersect with the tradition-al's acceptance. What it should be: bold collaboration between depart-ments and client/agency relationships where budgets are shelved for the conversation.

Execution of random ideas, particu-larly those born of an ad-hoc brain-storming process. Notably unteth-ered to business objectives.

An idea that will retain the audience attention and is applicable regardless of the media.

Creativity isn't necessarily the same in PR -- it could be an out of the box strategy that successfully evaded a crisis -- but in any instance, creativity in PR is the kind of idea that is so clever and effective that it couldn't be sold in an advertisement if they tried.

Bringing the "wow" factor of advertis-ing to the editorial agenda.

Ideas that build the brand or product reputation without being seen as obvious PR.

The "context of PR" limits creativity. Instead of thinking outside the box, creativity needs to expand the box, bringing in innovative thinking from a wide range of disciplines. Also, inherent to creativity is to create. Too often, PR thinks up creative ideas only to have them outsourced to other fields which dilutes the idea. PR needs to be able to create and execute against creativity.

Powerful ideas that create palpable and lasting influence among key stakeholders.

Unique Convergence. Relating the uniqueness or credibility of a brand by showing its connectivity to popular

societal issues or current events that are not obvious, via multiple commu-nication and integrated entertainment methods/media.

Disruption. Getting the right attention quickly and effectively and translating that straight to business objectives.

The magic by which a rational insight is brought to life in an engaging and emotional way to bring about a change in behaviour.

Good ideas that work for the client business objectives. Too many PR ideas are just stunts for the sake of it

Making the complex compelling ... and simple. Teaching clients how to perpetually seize creative opportuni-ties.

The striking and entertaining dramati-zation of a relevant information.

Truly moving idea that unlike ads compels media or consumers to share it/ act on it.

Our products and programs should engage, inspire and incite audiences to do something - there has to be a call to action to what we do!

Something that makes me think 'why the f* didn't we think of that' .. That gives me goosebumps and that can be integrated across the mix ... and has longevity.

Big ideas to change perceptions, to wake minds, to inspire stories that

appeals people and to get changes in society.

Capturing the attention of heavily attention deficit audiences with a compelling story that connects emo-tionally with them.

What's that interesting angle you use? That makes people sit up and listen? How do you connect the dots?

Sharp sound bite; adventurous tag-line

Depends on the client and industry. Within healthcare, its more about innovation within regulations than true creativity

Storytelling that kickstarts organic branded conversations, bringing the consumer / business into the thinking in a natural and unforced manner.

Something engaging and distinct from advertising

Thinking outside the square to achieve a corporate/strategic objec-tive - not just in traditional creative sense, but importantly in creative thinking to achieve real corporate objectives.

Creative content acts as a catalyst for conversation about the issue not the creative (e.g., Dumb Ways to Die vs. the Volkswagon Super Bowl Star Wars ad).

Bending pop culture in favor of our

clients' brands.

provocative ideas + surgical execu-tion

Presenting the message in a way that captures attention, but doesn't stray too far away from the company branding

Ideas that stand out, can travel under their own steam, and link clearly to a business objective

The 'hook' that grabs the consumer's imagination.

Creating a seamless environmental experience/engagement that con-sumers and customers BEG to be part of.

Creativity is universal. It is the judg-ment of creativity that is uncomforta-ble and requires confidence, even bravery, to triumph. This is the para-dox of creativity in the PR environ-ment. The masters of reputation management have a bit of a confi-dence problem when it comes to owning their creativity.

Appendix

ArunSudhaman

Editor | Holmes [email protected]

ClaireBridges

Founder | Now Go Create

[email protected]

KarenStrauss

Chief Strategy & Creativity Director | [email protected]





www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com

www.ketchum.com




www.holmesreport.comwww.holmesreport.com


Creativity in PR, a Global Study 2013

Business

Transcript of Creativity in PR, a Global Study 2013