Measuring the magic: Why brands need to refocus on the effectiveness of creativity
With the increased attention put on determining the impact of media, creativity has seemed to be in decline but new methods and a renewed focus could reignite the spark.
By Sarah Vizard
Measuring creativity might sound like an oxymoron. That ability to perceive the world in a different way and make connections others might not is seen as unquantifiable. Yet time and again it has been shown that more creative brands deliver better business results.
McKinsey’s Award Creativity Score, for example, which measures number of Cannes Lions awards won, breadth of categories and consistency over time, finds 67% of companies that score in the top quartile have above-average organic revenue growth. It also shows 70% have above-average total return to shareholders and 74% above-average net enterprise value.
Meanwhile, in his book The Case for Creativity, James Hermann found the Cannes Advertiser of the Year from 1999 to 2015 outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of 3.5. And data from Nielsen, which analysed 500 FMCG campaigns in 2016 and 2017, shows creative is responsible for 47% of the sales uplift, ahead of reach (22%), brand (15%) and targeting (9%).
As Cheryl Calverley, CMO at mattress brand Eve, puts it: “My job is to take creativity and turn it into pounds and pence. Monetising the creative is what we do as marketers.”
