While the world keeps turning, it feels like the pace has turbocharged recently. The impact of this is making the creative process become dizzyingly frantic.
The ability to adapt and react to seismic, head-flipping changes is now one of the most valuable skills in a creative’s toolkit.
Global 24/7 breaking news, 24/7 social media (with all the blink-and-you-miss-them trends), and 24/7 brand activity are all feeding the zeitgeist a rich diet of round-the-clock curveballs.
Which means as creatives whose job it is to build brands and influence people’s buying decisions for our clients, there’s 24/7 pressure to be relevant – and now! That’s because being relevant is unswervingly fundamental to being effective.
A few things creatives can do to help brands keep up:
Pre-empt the need
How many creatives present their clients with ideas that weren’t asked for? Responses to briefs that weren’t set, but fit perfectly into the brand’s big picture? The answer is very few. And yet it’s the perfect opportunity to wow them by protecting their interests, pushing them forward and making them look good. I know… we’re all busy fulfilling the briefs we have been set, but it can only strengthen the client-agency relationship.
React like lightning
When you can’t be ahead of the curve, at the very least be on the curve, not behind it. The best reactive marketing is instant. It comes so soon after the initial activity that it almost feels part of it. That’s why social media is the space for being reactive. Even if the response isn’t created there, it’s still the fastest way to get it in front of the audience.
Be all ears
Social media listening has made being reactive achievable for every creative. So much so, it’s practically a hygiene factor in a creative agency’s offering. It’s important because only if you know what’s being said, can you be part of the conversation. And only then can you adapt and influence the narrative so it runs in your client’s favour.
And here’s the elephant in the room… embrace AI.
There’s a million and one blogs weighing up the merits and the pitfalls of using AI, so we won’t go over it again here. What has become clear is that we as creatives are the ones who should steer how AI sails into our world.
AI is not going away
In fact, it’s barely off the starting line. So, now’s a good time to drop in an essential quote attributed to Joanna Maciejewska:
“I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes.”
Bear this quote in mind before you reach for the abundance of AI tools at your disposal. AI is perfect for quick research, finding jumping-off points for creative thinking and creating references for the ‘thing’ you want to create. That’s how AI can augment the creative process – by allowing you to react quicker and steal the advantage – not to replace you in doing the bits you enjoy, and the craft you’ve worked so hard to perfect.
These suggestions will help you adopt an adaptive mindset. And as creatives, clambering to ride the incoming tidal wave of demands in the advertising world, an adaptive mindset will lead us smoothly to better results all round.
