The importance of being creative.
At Nucco, we often meet with organisations and brands that are under pressure to perform better. Organisations that must ensure every single pound, dollar or euro they possess drives greater effectiveness and efficiency.
We understand that because of this pressure, some companies or institutions find it easier to create communications, internal messaging or learning based materials that are simple, familiar to the target audience, and safe. However, we believe in the power of creativity and telling stories. We believe there is overwhelming evidence for breaking new creative ground in often overlooked industries and entertaining audiences, no matter how complex the message.
Our belief is that creativity can not only help organisations stand out, but turn them into powerhouses of enterprise and set them far beyond their competition. Below are our thoughts on the importance of creativity in every organisation.
Creativity Makes You Memorable
We exist in a fast moving world. One in which we are constantly battered with messages asking for our attention. Recent studies believe US audiences see between 4000 and 10,000 ads a day. While UK and European populations may not be as bombarded, it is unlikely audiences in these regions are far behind.
Research company stalwart, Millward Brown identified the ten biggest reasons why ads are widely shared and the greatest one was simple – they are creative and engaging. So the best way to be noticed above the “noise” is to be compelling. And the most compelling messages are creative ones. Simply put, creative messages demand and maintain your audience’s attention more than less creative materials.
When Rebel Girls came to us, they had great source material – the story of Margaret Hamilton, one of the women instrumental in the moon landing. We adapted their story into a short film, using beautifully stylised frame-by-frame animation. The result? We made their meaningful story more engaging and interesting by adding a little creativity.
Creativity Boosts Effectiveness
Communications or learning materials of any kind obviously need to be memorable. But being remembered is only of use if target audiences act upon the message. As such, it is vital that creativity proves itself to be effective.
Fortunately, many researchers over the years have proven exactly that. From the Harvard Business Review (HBR) through many other respected publications and individuals, creativity has been proven a winner in creating positive ROI. The HBR has in fact stated: “A euro invested in a highly creative ad campaign, on average, has nearly double the sales impact of a euro spent on a non-creative campaign.” While author James Hurman, via his own research, has predicted that creative messaging provides up to 11 times the ROI versus non-creative messaging. While many of these studies have undoubtedly focused on advertising, the argument for creativity remains whether the materials are for internal or educational purposes. Creativity entertains us, and from there educates. Ultimately, driving audience behaviour.
For us, ROI is a non-negotiable. Our work is dialled in to clients’ specific KPIs, so they’re able to see where we’ve delivered. It means they get measurable results they can take back to their stakeholders. For example, working with Innovate UK, their primary goal was to improve their YouTube performance. On the back of our rebrand mixing live action with animation, we delivered a 650% increase in YouTube subscriptions, an 850% increase in views and over 125 media placements.
Creativity Builds Advocacy
While memorability and effectiveness are clearly vital, it is also worth taking a moment to consider what creativity can do for organisational reputation and developing target audience advocacy. After all, we are all affected by the messages and experiences we consume, and from those observations we build internal perceptions of what an organisation stands for. As such, high quality creative messaging or learning experiences can in fact create advocacy from consumers who appreciate the effort you have gone to deliver something that resonates and makes them feel something.
This was one of the core factors we kept in mind when developing the WaterAid – Brides of the Well project. Aimed at raising awareness of social challenges in rural India, our project had to communicate with the audience on an emotional level. And it seemed to work – the project picked up the Issues and Crisis Management award at the 2019 Brand Film Festival.
A study by Micael Dahlen, Sara Rosengren and Fredrik Torn, published in the Journal of Advertising Research, in fact found that a highly-creative message is more likely to make its mark with consumers. Many people believe that an organisation is high-quality and worth their attention, simply because they’re impressed by the effort that went into producing such material.
Bringing It All Together
So it’s clear that creativity is an essential part of businesses and institutions messaging and training needs. A creative execution – be it communications, internal messaging or educational – has the power to be more memorable, effective and create advocacy.
At Nucco, we work with our clients everyday to bring those benefits to life, so whether you are looking for a strategic new corporate campaign, exciting ways to engage an internal audience, or even a new technological learning experience, get in touch and we’ll help you deliver on the promise of your organisation.