Written by: Vickie Sullivan  |  August 13, 2013

Be Strategically Creative

I’ve been ranting about this for years, and finally there’s analysis to back me up.  According to Harvard Business Review, creative advertising gets attention but not all creativity gets sales.

Yes, this study is about TV advertising on consumer goods.  Look past the details and you’ll find this pearl of wisdom:  different combinations of the elements of creativity have widely different impacts.  The best combination:  originality with elaboration.

It’s important to drill down and get this recipe right.  In this age of attention-is-currency, it is very seductive to use “getting attention” as the major objective.  For thought leaders, attention is not enough.  We need to stimulate interest and enough urgency to influence our buyers to reach out.  Let’s get strategic first, then be creative.  The results could surprise us.