The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness
The view from Mark Ritson
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness2
Source: Mark Ritson
Crisis? What crisis?
Pre 2008 Recent years
Not all creatively awarded campaigns have become less effective
Badcreativepractice
Goodcreativepractice
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness3
Creative awards judges are
picking more and more of
the ‘wrong’ campaigns
So average effectiveness
levels have fallen sharply
The new fashion in creativity: Burger King USA
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness4
Source: Cannes creative effectiveness Lions 2019
Creativity delivers its lowest effectiveness in 24 years
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Avera
ge n
um
ber
of
very
larg
e
busi
ness
eff
ects
report
ed
6 years ending
The declining effectiveness of creatively awarded campaigns
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness5
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 creatively awarded cases
Creativity is misused for short-term goals
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
% c
ase
s sh
ort
term
6 years ending
Creatively awarded
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness6
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 for-profit cases
Creativity has been hijacked for activation
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
% R
eport
ing v
ery
larg
e
acti
vati
on f
x.
6 years ending
Creatively awarded cases
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 for-profit cases
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness7
Sale
s u
plif
t o
ver
bas
e
Time
Why short-termism is so destructive
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness8
Source: Binet & Field 2013
Short term effects dominate ~6 months
Sales activation
Tactical behavioural prompts
Short-term sales uplifts
No enhancement of pricing power
Brand building
Strategic emotional associations
Long-term sales growth
Strengthened pricing power
Creativity has little or no impact Creativity boosts strongly
You need brand and activation
0.8
1.5
2.0
2.4
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
Low Brand, Low Activation Low Brand, High Activation High Brand, Low Activation High Brand, High Activation
Num
ber
of
very
larg
e b
usi
ness
fx
Balance of brand and activation effects
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2016 for-profit cases, based on scale of activation effects and number of brand effects
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness9
Brand is the key to pricing power
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
0 1 2 3+
% R
eport
ing v
ery
larg
e
pri
ce s
ensi
tivit
y r
educti
on
Number of very large brand effects recorded
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2016 for-profit cases
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness10
Warren Buffet on pricing
“The single most important
decision in evaluating a
business is pricing power.”
– Warren Buffet, investor/philanthropist
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness11
Short-termism leads to imbalance & ineffectiveness
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Num
ber
of
very
larg
e b
usi
ness
fx
.
% c
ase
s sh
ort
-term
6 years ending
% short-term
Effectiveness
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 for-profit cases
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness12
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Numberofbusinesseffectsreported
%Budgetallocatedtobrandbuilding
The Sweet Spot for Effectiveness
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2016 for-profit cases
Peak at 62% brand
20% loss of effectiveness
Brand remains strong
56% loss of effectiveness
Brand weakens
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness13
Short-termism is getting more destructive
55 57 6376
45 43 3724
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
98 to 10 00 to 12 02 to 14 04 to 16
Opti
mum
budget
split
%
Period
The sweet spot is shifting to brand
Activation
Brand
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness14
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2016 cases From ‘Effectiveness in Context’, Binet & Field 2018
The creative efficiency vanishing act
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Rati
o o
f aw
ard
ed :
non-a
ward
ed
SO
V E
ffic
iency
12 years ending
The creative efficiency multiplier
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness15
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 for-profit cases
Creative good practice has beenoverwhelmed by creative bad practice - the difference is huge.
The gulf between good and bad creative practice
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness17
Source: IPA Databank, 2008-2018 creatively awarded long-term cases
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
High performers Low performers
Num
ber
of
very
larg
e
busi
ness
eff
ects
report
ed
8x Effectiveness
The gulf between good and bad creative practice
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness18
Source: IPA Databank, 2008-2018 creatively awarded long-term cases
0.0%
0.2%
0.4%
0.6%
0.8%
1.0%
1.2%
1.4%
1.6%
High performers Low performers
Avera
ge r
eport
ed
annual SO
M g
row
th
5x Market share growth
Urgent action on creative practice is a no-brainer
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness19
Source: IPA Databank, 1998-2018 creatively awarded cases
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
High performers Low performers
% r
eport
ing v
ery
larg
e p
ricin
g e
ffects
Pricing power
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
High performers Low performers
% r
eport
ing v
ery
larg
e p
rofi
t gro
wth
Profit impacts
What does good practice for creative effectiveness look like?
It’s not about budget or size
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness21
Source: IPA Databank, 2008-2018 creatively awarded cases
-5%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
ESOV (SOV minus SOM) Average SOM
Avera
ge E
SO
V a
nd S
OM
report
ed
Awarded Cases 2008-18
High performers over-achieve in similar contexts to low performers
High performers Low performers
Bad practice is rooted in short-termism…
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness22
Source: IPA Databank, 2008-2018 creatively awarded cases
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
High performers Low performers
% c
ase
s sh
ort
term
High performers are much less likely to be short-term cases
…and short-term goals
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness23
Source: IPA Databank, 2008-2018 creatively awarded cases
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
High performers Low performers
% R
eport
ing v
ery
larg
e
acti
vati
on e
ffects
Low performers go for short-term sales
…and shifting budget away from brand building
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness24
Source: IPA Databank, 2008-2018 creatively awarded cases
7768
2332
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
High performers Low performers
Actu
al budget
split
%
Low performers divert too much budget to activation
Activation
Brand
Tight targeting is bad creative practice
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness25
Source: IPA Databank, 2016-2018 creatively awarded cases
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Decision makers Everyone
Cam
paig
n t
arg
eti
ng %
Primary targeting
High performers are less likely to employ targeted approaches
High performers Low performers
Underuse of brand building media is bad practice
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness26
Source: IPA Databank, 2008-2018 creatively awarded cases
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Linear TV OOH Online video Online non-video
Share
of
budget
allocate
d t
o m
edia
%
Media
High performers make more use of proven brand building media
High performers Low performers
Creative fashion and Mars UK
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness27
Source: IPA Skittles & Maltesers 2018 case studies, Snickers 2016 case study
Judges love this… They quite like this… And they’ve gone cold on this
Increasing returnsShort Long
We need more long-term creativity: Tide USA
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness28
Source: Cannes creative effectiveness Lions 2019
A plea for sanity
We must stop the slide to creative ineffectiveness
Above all, stop encouraging disposable creativity,
tactical ideas and media usage focussed on
short-term effects
Reward strategic ideas that are in market long enough
to transform brands
We need different classes for short-term and long-term
campaigns: award separate prizes for creativity that
was sustained in market over the long term (6m+)
The Crisis in Creative Effectiveness29
Thank you