John Drake

The Relationship Between Creativity and Business Performance

McKinsey had the opening keynote at Cannes this year. They presented a study from 16 years of award data @ Cannes and created the Award Creativity Score. This score was based on three things for a company: number of Lions won, breadth of winning categories, and year-over-year consistency. What they found was that companies with a higher Award Creativity Score also had higher total return to share holders, higher economic value, and higher organic growth.

There are other good things happening too, as McKinsey further explains... Higher ACS scoring companies have more ways of finding consumer insights and their unmet needs, use more advanced insights and analytics, use ethnography, consider themselves 'fast decision makers', have more iterative approaches to creative development, etc. Or, bottom line: they just care more. About creativity, insights and customer knowledge.

 

Leaving Gaps By Apple Earth

 

Did you see the new Apple ad, "Earth"? It's voiced by Carl Sagan with an excerpt from Pale Blue Dot and made of images from iPhones. The move was reportedly in part to the US pulling out of the Paris agreement. What's great about the spot is the subtlety. They also took their time and rolled it out during the NBA finals (which are reporting good ratings.) 

There are probably tons of viewers who didn't attach Apple's message to the Paris decision... You don't have to, but if you do, it really connects. Which is what Rich Silverstein of Goodby once said about great advertising--it leaves a few gaps that the audience fills in, which makes them feel a closer connection to the work. This can go too far, of course. But treated with the right dosage for selling stuff it's a wonderful way to think.