Adam Ferrier’s LIA Diary #2: Purpose-Driven Flops vs. Genuine Commercial Creativity That Works
Adam Ferrier, chief thinker and co-founder of Thinkerbell is representing Australia on the LIA Creative Strategy and Transformative Business Impact jury. Ferrier, along with many other New Zealand and Australian jurors, writes exclusively for CB. DAY 2 The best and worst of our industry was on display during days 1 and 2 of judging ‘Creative Strategy’. The worst was all of the purpose scam (purscam?) work on display. It seems that many in the industry have given up applying creativity to genuine commercial issues and instead are picking up on the latest causes to flex their creative muscle. The brands were so crowbarred, and the causes so niche that the creative solutions on display felt hollow, vacuous and largely superfluous. No cause was sacrosanct, everything from club feet, to trans, to autism, to poverty and domestic violence can be solved with a weird creative idea and feckless brand. Personal care trying to solve autism, mental heath issues solved with your next ride share ride. It’s all too much. However, the best of the work we saw solved retail problems IRL and online. Some very big brands were expressed so creatively and on-point in new and inspiring ways. Interestingly, the better work always seemed to come from established brands with clear propositions. The challenge for marketers it appears, is to have that clarity of thought, and discipline of consistency from which to then create something new and fresh. As an aside, I went for a walk to the Trump hotel and bought myself a cap. I also missed Kamala Harris’ rally here on Snday night by going to the wrong venue! That said, it feels like the election is ignored with veracity in this most important swing state.
