The Inkstained Mind: Why killing a 'creative' is just plain wrong

31 Dec 2009

Why killing a 'creative' is just plain wrong

For one, 'creative' is not a noun. It's an adjective. A reference to an ingenious or unexpectedly resourceful quality. And it is more suggestive of function than form.

But somewhere along the way, chiefly in Advertising parlance, 'creative' became a noun. A tangible thing. An end in itself. Eventually, the creators of 'creatives' too were labelled 'creative'. It now represented, not an attribute but a designation!

This creative-by-default situation has one potentially self-defeating side-effect. We lose sight of the real yardstick for creativity: The end result.

The onus is back on the Advertising industry to equate 'creative' with originality, imagination, and a productive outcome. Who in their right minds would want to kill that?

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WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

It's often called the world's second oldest profession.

But while the scope of the oldest one has changed little over time, the evolution in the way we communicate has had profound impact on Advertising.

In the ancient and medieval world, Advertising meant word-of-mouth. In the 1500s with the development of printing it became a 'paid public notice', disseminating the message to many. And it had Copy & Art.

Then came radio, TV, computer, cable TV, Internet, mobile phones, Internet on mobile, and it's still not done... Even what we perceive as 'change' is changing. Continuously.

So what is Advertising today?

Honestly, I don't know.

But I do know from a dozen years evolving with the business, that Advertising is most valued when it can make a tangible difference for the advertiser.

That has not changed. And probably won't.

UPDATE: Nothing's changed. But in a way, everything has.

As you see, my focus has shifted - evolved in a way - to a larger canvas. The shift or evolution was gradual, and may be have been discernable to the more observant reader.

While I was delving into the influence of media in society to better understand how perceptions are created, evolved and disseminated, I chanced upon a thread of knowledge that I frankly never knew existed.

My conclusion is that a deep pool of awareness and consciouness exists beyond the shallow narcissistic boundaries created by the convention view of social media and the Internet.

My aim is to send my readers down any path that can lead to this quenching pool.