Why Creativity Matters More Now Than Ever Before

By Mat O'Brien on

Creativity matters more NOW? Surely there’s bigger issues to consider?
That’s one way I looked at this title when I wrote it.
The other being; that creativity has always mattered hasn’t it?

To us as brand communicators it has anyway. Especially to me as a Creative Director.
It has to. It’s in my title.

So why NOW? Can I prove it? Isn’t it obvious? Is It worth exploring at all?
And, if so, how could I make these webinars matter?

Since the pandemic hit I saw the same news reporters saying the same bad news
the same way. They have an excuse. The times may have changed but that bad news hasn’t.
We’re all scared and worried. Then I then noticed many brands were stuck on repeat.
Saying and doing the same things the same way.
Or worse, do nothing at all. I became concerned.

Brands, like most of us, are in Groundhog Day. Like Bill Murray’s character Phil Connors, we’re all adjusting to new cycles of how we think and behave. If you remember the film, he starts out fearing his situation. He then tries to abuse it. He then becomes depressed and suicidal. But after a while, something magical happens.
He finds a way to make creativity thrive. He masters French poetry, becomes an expert ice sculptor and a grade 8, world-class pianist.

He also fixed things and saved lives.

Like Phil’s journey, I began to see creative thinking from brands, charities and communities that were breaking free of the repetition and ending the creative lockdown. I saw actions and campaigns with purpose. We saw old propositions gain new meaning and some change completely. We saw reinvention, reassurance and new reasons to believe things will be better again.

I saw a new role for creative thinking and my concern became excitement.

This is our opportunity to help our clients and their brands navigate the crisis and chaos and re-chart a path into the new normal. We have new insights to work with and new problems to solve meaning, there are new opportunities. Something Phil realised and embraced in the film.

We are at a period of great change and with this change, the impact of creative thinking can also be great. So, I hope you are ready to help your clients embrace change and these webinars help you do that. To be honest, they were like therapy to me. A way to explore, interrogate and deal with the situation myself. A way to take what I saw working and work out why. So, I could personally change the way I approached the work I did for my clients. Which is why I wanted to share them, in hope they helped others change things for the better.

I’ll finish with my favourite quote from Edward De Bono, the man I used to begin each of my webinars:
“If you never change your mind, why have one?”

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