Creativity in PR, a Global Study

In association with Co-authored by

CREATIVITY IN PR A GLOBAL STUDY


Introduction Contents
Is the PR industry creative enough?
This was the question the Holmes Report and creativity experts
Now Go Create set out to answer through the ﬁrst in-depth Pg 3.................................... A lack of big ideas
study of creativity within the public relations industry.

The report, sponsored by Ketchum, polled 650 people from Pg 6...................................... Creative quality
more than 35 countries across the world, helping us uncover
some fascinating ﬁndings about the state of creativity in PR. Pg 8................................. Barriers to creativity
Respondents came from agency and in-house, and from a
range of industries and sectors, covering consumer, corporate,
healthcare, technology, digital and public affairs practices. Pg 11...................................................... Clients
They answered a variety of questions during the two months
the study ran during the summer of 2012, focusing on attitudes
towards creativity; tools and skills; opportunities and
Pg 13.............................................. Creativity is
challenges; and suggestions and advice.
Pg 16.................................... Current practices

Arun Sudhaman
Pg 19............................ Leadership & rewards
Managing editor The Holmes Report

Pg 21............................ Training & recruitment
Claire Bridges
Pg 23.................................................. Catalysts
Founder now go create

1 creative.holmesreport.com

COMMENT

KEY FINDINGS
> 1. A lack of big ideas > 4. An ambivalent view of creative
quality in PR, yet respondents
> 2. The gap between aspirations overwhelmingly describe themselves
and working practices as 'creative'

> 3. Resourcing seen as key > 5. Creativity in PR remains difficult
barrier to creativity to define

City
University
Karen Strauss, partner, chief innovation officer Claire Bridges, founder Dr Sara Jones, programme director,
M.A. Creativity & Leadership
“To be more creative, we need to be more “Big ideas come from the sweet spot “The industry will need to address not only
human. Creativity is not tactical or techni- where bravery, time, imagination and the issues around recruitment, training
cal — it's emotional. By pausing to talent meet. The industry needs to up the and incentivisation, but also to look to
develop insights before ideas, creative ante on working practices to consistently new opportunities such as those arising
people in PR can and will deliver more deliver.” from recent developments in technology.”
creative work.”

2 creative.holmesreport.com

Does the PR industry lack big ideas?

If PR people remember nothing The PR industry has been
else from the industry’s woeful
performance at this year’s Cannes
criticised for lacking ‘big ideas’.
Lions festival, they may recall that Do you agree?
some judges criticised the
profession’s ability to come up
with big ideas. 61 percent of all
respondents argued that this was
a fair observation.

Of even more concern, perhaps, a
slightly higher proportion of
in-house executives (66 percent) Yes it’s a fair judgement
accepted this premise.
No it’s unfair
Geographically, North America
demonstrated the most resistance
to this statement, with 44 percent
saying that the statement is unfair.
Latin Americans were least
impressed: a full three-quarters
agreed with the observation.

Respondents from consumer practice areas also pushed back, with 44 percent labelling the state-
ment unfair. Those that identiﬁed themselves as working in creative areas — including innovation,
design and planning — were less forgiving, with 60 percent identifying the observation as a fair one.

3 creativity.holmesreport.com

Respondents were asked to expand on their replies and many did, blaming clients, industry culture, competition from other disci-
plines, and budgets…

“In PR it's harder to see the big idea. It's not as overt because it's often overshadowed by an ad, a display, a website. The idea, in its
consumer-facing form, suddenly is credited to that discipline. PR is a conversation. It's hard to see. It's even harder to sell, so we have to
be EXTRA creative.” Global agency executive, consumer PR.

“It's irrelevant. What "big ideas" does the advertising industry offer? The key challenge for PR is to manage to deliver business value in a
changing environment.” German agency executive, corporate PR.

“I do think the PR industry doesn't have enough big ideas, but upon further examination that criticism was misreported. If you dig deeper,
you'll see that PR firms simply are not entering for awards at Cannes at the same rate as ad agencies. So, it's not surprising PR firms
didn't win (as) much.” Global agency head.

“I always feel that PR people do not get more involved with brand related initiatives from the start. They are bought in after the campaign
idea is frozen and PR is seen as an additional value add than part of the core process.” In-house executive, India.

“The industry doesn't lack the big ideas, it sometimes just lacks the budget or resources to execute them.” US agency executive.

“If the norm is creativity for creativity's sake, it's unfair. PR industry is much better at linking strategy to creativity.” Agency executive,
Belgium.

“Other disciplines are eating PR's lunch. PR needs to change, not the ideas it generates. It needs data to support the ideas it presents in
order to gain better recognition.” European agency executive.

“I do feel we are not taking ownership of the fact that we have always been an "ideas" industry -- and are absolutely capable of break-
through creative thinking. Too many people in the field seem to be silo-ed in terms of what they feel they are allowed to do -- versus adver-
tising agencies that seem to approach their business as if they can take ownership of anything, and any discipline, they want.” US agency
executive.


“Any lack of creativity is not the agency's or industry's fault, but rather the fault of companies not willing to invest appropriately in creative

ideas. Many say they want it, few say they will pay for it and therein lies the problem.” European agency executive.

“PR people are fearful pleasers and wimps. If this were high school we would definitely be bullied. Until we learn to fight for bigger budg-
ets and more daring concepts, we will lose. There are always agencies willing to hand ideas away for free, undercharge, and let procure-
ment make us their bitch. Instead of fighting, we whine. It's easier.” US agency executive.

“Unfortunately, it feels like there are no new ideas - they are far and few between. It's tough with less attention from our audiences. There
are so many distractions.” UK in-house executive.

“You pay peanuts you get monkeys. Secondly there is a lot of self censorship about what the immediate client is likely to approve. Enve-
lopes aren't there to be pushed. Obsequiousness and a victim culture are excused away as client service.” UK agency executive, digital.

“Some innovative thinking IS taking place, though the world is changing around us. Quickly. Hard to judge new work by old standards.” US
in-house executive.

“Ideas in themselves can always be creative but the art is to build creative ideas that are strategic and add value to the business.” UK
agency executive.

“We have all the big ideas. It's just nobody will pay for them.” UK agency executive, digital.

“The industry just does cookie cutter work and is afraid to embrace different processes and ways of thinking.” US agency head.

“Agencies work on behalf of their clients - if they don't ask us for big ideas why should we develop them? It's a business not a philoso-
phy.” German agency head.

“PR lacks the big budget for the biggest ideas” UK in-house executive.

“It's easy to say there are no big ideas, but there are - you may just not like them.” US in-house executive.

“PR reacts to briefs, rather than sells ideas. Clients don't buy big ideas, they are sold them.” Global agency head, digital.


An ambivalent view of creative quality

Inspirational

Good

Ordinary
North America
Unsatisfactory

Poor

Non-Existent

Asia Pacific
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
%
The results are nothing if not instructive, starting with the head- quality of creativity as ‘unsatisfactory’ or worse, and less than
line finding: more than half of all respondents describe the 40 percent believe it is ‘good’ or ‘inspirational’.
quality of creativity within the PR industry as ‘ordinary’ or worse.
40 percent said it was ‘good’; just six percent labelled it ‘inspira- Geographically, those based in North America are most bullish
tional’. One in 10 described creativity as ‘unsatisfactory’, while about the industry’s creative quality. 51 percent of respondents
six percent said it was ‘poor’ or ‘non-existent’. from North America opt for ‘inspirational’ or ‘good’, and just 11
percent think it is ‘unsatisfactory’ or worse. Asia-Pacific, mean-
Surprisingly, perhaps, negative attitudes towards creative stand- while, emerges as the least impressive region — 37 percent see
ards are more prominent among smaller companies (those with creativity as ‘good’ or ‘inspirational’, and 20 percent think it is
50 people or less). In this group, almost 20 percent see the ‘unsatisfactory’ or worse.


Numerous responses pointed to an overall inconsistency regarding the quality of creativity in the PR industry.

“At times it can be inspirational. It completely depends on the brief and the client's appetite to excite.” UK agency executive.

“The whole range. Sometimes inspirational, sometimes non-existing. The overall level could be much higher…” German agency executive.

“So difﬁcult to say - I think there are pockets of hugely creative people but then a huge volume of non-creatives” UK in-house executive.

…but everyone thinks they are creative

Do you think being creative is a I am creative
key skill for PR professionals?

Yes

No

Don’t Know

Despite the ambivalence towards creative quality, the vast majority of respondents see themselves as being creative, suggesting a
disconnect between perception and reality. 89 percent described themselves as creative.

95 percent, meanwhile, said that creativity is a key skill for PR professionals, a result that delivered similarly strong backing irrespective of
region and practice area.


Barriers to creativity

What stops you or your company from being creative?
Lack of clear
creative objectives

Lack of time

Lack of budget

Regulatory environment

Difference in opinion about
what it is...
Lack of understanding
between agency & client

Staff overworked

We’re stuck in a rut

Leadership do not
view it as important

We’re risk averse

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
If there is an ambivalence about creative quality, and a view that the industry lacks big ideas, it is worth ﬁguring out why. We asked what
stops you or your company from being creative. Overwhelmingly lack of time was cited as the biggest barrier, at 65 percent overall with
little difference between in-house and agency.

Other major barriers include lack of budget (48 percent), overworked staff (37 percent), and a lack of clear creative objectives (33 percent).
A quarter also blamed a lack of understanding between agency and client.


The findings chime with a recent creativity study by Adobe where respondents said they felt increasing pressure to be productive at work
rather than creative.

We also received a huge amount of anecdotal feedback in response to this question:

“The PR industry is creatively trapped by its reliance on time billing. Ad agencies don't have this and they hire creatives whose sole job it
is to come up with ideas. We're not structured this way and until we change creativity will merely be part of what we do.”

“Pharmaceutical/healthcare industry PR professionals must take on an added responsibility of pushing boundaries when it comes to
creativity - it's so easy to get caught up in medical, regulatory and legal guidelines that colleagues often resort to what's tried and true.
On the other hand, when colleagues in this field do demonstrate creativity or make new strides in campaigns and day-to-day work, it
often goes unnoticed by others since the work may have been done in other fields with fewer regulations before or since others just do
not realize that working in pharma/healthcare requires EXTRA creativity and skills in order to break through while minding regulations.”
Healthcare agency, US

“Not having enough conceptual thinkers and not giving the few we do have enough time.” Global agency head (Richard Edelman)

“Everyone talks about taking a creative risk, but there are very few examples of failed attempts or proof points that the agency will tolerate
a mistake. How do you tell a client that the idea just might fail? I think it all sounds great in theory, but it's not practical. Also, the tradi-
tional PR practitioner (and certainly this is true in our office) is usually great at media relations (developing interesting angles), account
management, or client service. None of these really requires creativity as it is now defined (more in line with ad agencies). While our
agency is doing its best to provide training, we need to ensure there is an incentive for staff to be pushing creativity and an incentive for
the leadership teams to be reinforcing the message.” Agency, Canada.


Importance

20

vs involvement
Asked to rate the importance of creativ-
15
ity in their day-to-day work out of 10,
almost a third of respondents opted for What percentage of
full marks, and around two-thirds said 8 your day-to-day work
or higher. 10
requires creativity?
Almost 40 percent, meanwhile, said
that more than 70 percent of their
day-to-day work involves creativity. 5
However, almost half of all respondents
replied that creativity is only involved in
half of their day-to-day work or less - a
finding which perhaps helps to explain 0
the gap between the perception of 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
creativity, and the reality of its day-to- % of work involving creativity
day impact on the profession.

important 1

2
How important is creativity
3
to your day to day work?
Score out of 10 with 10 being
4

fundamental
5
“It's fashionable to say that creativity is
important, but far harder to actually 6
perform creatively. We need to ﬁnd
ways to remove mindless, routinized 7
tasks from our days so we're all spend-
8
ing more hours gaining the creative
inspiration to conceive novel ideas and 9
do break through work.”
fundamental 10
Karen Strauss, chief innovation ofﬁcer

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
10 creativity.holmesreport.com % of respondents

Clients…

Are you happy with the creative capabilities
In-house respondents were asked of your agency?
to score the importance of creativ-
ity in their hiring decisions out of
Yes, consistently
10. Over three-quarters scored 7
or above, and two-thirds opted for
8 or higher. For clients, then, it Yes, sporadically
seems clear that creativity is a
critical element in the decision to
hire and retain agencies. Yes, but they
could do better

However, 40 percent of clients said
that their agencies could do better No

when it came to their creative
capabilities. Just 16 percent were No it’s a constant
consistently happy with these challenge
capabilities, while 23 percent said
they were not happy with their Not at all
ﬁrm’s creative capabilities.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
%


Assessment Do clients assess your creative effort?
Agency creativity is most often
assessed as part of client satis-
faction reviews (42 percent).
37 percent said that clients Yes
assess creative efforts sometimes
or not at all.

Yes, part of client
satisfaction

Sometimes

“Judging effectiveness is an objective No
exercise, but judging creativity is
completely subjective — based on risk
tolerance, country culture, industry
sector, and personal expectations. Don’t know
Creativity depends on novelty, so what
seems novel in one region or industry
may seem familiar or usual in another.”
Karen Strauss, chief innovation ofﬁcer 0 10 20 30 40 50
%


Creativity is...

Creativity means different things to In your opinion, what are the factors that drive
different people. In a public relations
context, the definition of creativity great creative PR campaigns?
can appear elusive, so we asked
respondents for their suggestions,
and received around 550 of them.
They appear in the appendix to this Great storytelling
report, and suggest a fundamental
Audience insight
question: amid so many different
definitions of creativity, does the PR Content creation
industry require a settled, uniform
view? Purpose

When asked which factors drive Results
great creative PR campaigns, ‘great
Humour
storytelling’ attracted most support
(71 percent), followed by ‘audience Viral execution
insight’ (63 percent); ‘content crea-
tion’ (52 percent). Technological innovation

Interestingly, ‘purpose’ came fourth Third party endorsement
with 41 percent. The Holmes
Crowdsourcing
Report’s recent Creative Index,
which attempted to rank the most Stunts
award-winning campaigns over the
past year, found that ‘purpose’ was
a significant component in several 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
cutting-edge programmes, including
Electrolux’s Vac from the Sea, IBM
at 100, Unilever’s Lifebuoy Hand-
washing campaign, and Goodyear
China’s Lifetime Commitment to
Safety.

Which factors did our respondents
ﬁnd less important? Stunts ranked
last with six percent, behind crowd-
sourcing and third-party endorse- Do you think creativity should be separated from
ment. Of note, humour only gar-
nered 29 percent. effectiveness/results when evaluating PR campaigns?

Versus effectiveness
A nascent debate in the industry
relates to whether PR campaigns
should be judged solely on creativ-
ity, like many ad campaigns, No
irrespective of results. The industry
appears to disagree with this notion,
with almost three-quarters saying Yes
that creativity should not be sepa-
rated from effectiveness/results
when evaluating PR campaigns. Don’t know

“It's hard to believe anyone believes that
creativity should operate independent of
ROI. Creativity should causally lead to
effective results. Gratuitous creativity
has no place in the business world.”


Favourite campaigns
We asked those polled to name their best
example of a creative PR campaign that
drove business results over the past 18
months. Here are those that polled multi-
ple mentions, in decreasing order of
popularity.

P&G Moms

BA Olympics

Old Spice

Head & Shoulders with Troy Polamalu

Tourism Queensland Best Job in the World

Ariel Fashion Shoot

Jay-Z Decoded

T-Mobile Angry Birds

Dove Real Beauty

Depend Great American Try On

Chengdu Pambassadors

IBM at 100/Watson

Perhaps the key ﬁnding here is how many
of these campaigns exhibit a compelling
level of integration.


Current practices

We explored what processes and
practices are in place to deliver the ideas
Do you have a creative process in your business?
that drive outstanding campaigns, inﬂu-
ence behaviour, generate content and
grab media headlines. Process No

71 percent say they have a creative
What’s in the toolkit? process in their business. Research Don’t know

shows this is an important factor in
consistently delivering ideas. Yes
When it comes to idea generation, group
brainstorming is the default — at
86 percent it’s by far the most popular
method of generating ideas.
Do you use any of the following Edward De Bono’s
Whilst anecdotally agencies referred to 6 Thinking Hats
their own internal processes, there is a techniques to generate ideas?
Group brainstorming
heavy reliance on old-school techniques,
and technology is notable in its absence. Insight

On the subject of techniques: Random stimuli

Related worlds
“I have yet to see anything work with PR Reverse brainstorming
people. We're missing the secret sauce.”
What would x do?
Agency head, full service, US SCAMPER

“IMHO most of these are brainstorming Lotus Blossom
tactics, not means of truly getting to Morphological matrix
breakthrough creative ideas. That simply
takes time, talent and persistence.” We don’t use any
techniques

Richard Edelman
0 20 40 60 80 100
%

What is done to support creativity in your organization?
After brainstorming, using case studies, mentoring and insight are the top three initiatives cited to support creativity. 11 percent say
nothing is done, it’s just part of the job.
%

10

20

30

40

50

60
0
Brainstorming
activities

Mentoring

Facilitation training

Training in creative
techniques

Using case studies

Job rotation/
secondment

Audience insight
& planning

Nothing, it’s just part
of the job


How do you assess your own or your agency's creative ideas?

Many of the methods used are subjective. Evaluating the value of PR has been a critical issue for years and based on our ﬁndings, improv-
ing metrics to better assess ideas is an area where the industry could improve. This can only serve to support selling ideas and overcoming
objections.

SWOT

Risk assessment

Personal Experience

6 Thinking Hats

Comparison Analysis

Creative Director’s
decision

Work as part of integrated
agency team who give input

Voting

We don’t use any
particular proccess

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
%

Leadership & rewards

In answer to the question – does your
business have clear creative objectives – How do you reward creativity?
the responses were almost equally split:

40
44% no
46% yes
10% not sure
30

As with delivering against any other key
business objective, leadership is often
considered crucial to the development of
a creative business. This would seem to
20
be an area where companies can dra-
matically improve the likelihood of suc-
cess.

PWC Global CEO Survey 2011 is clear in
this area:
10

“Responsibility for innovation can’t be
delegated. The drive to innovate begins at
the top. If the CEO doesn’t reward inno-
vation, protect the process or change
internal relationships to foster innovation,
0
Internal awards Promotion opportunities
the effort will fail.”
Financial incentives We don’t


Training & recruitment

Creative Director

Should PR firms or departments Do you have a creative director?
have a creative director? Our
respondents tend to think not, with
the majority noting that the position
is not necessary, as it is part of
everyone’s job. Just under a third of
our respondents already have this
role in place, with another 13 per-
cent considering it. We’d like to, but we
cannot afford it
“Culture change is crucial to driving
creativity. Creativity drive must per- Yes
meate the organisation from hiring,
No, but we are
leadership, training, rewards, show- considering it
casing etc. It's not one person's job
- a creative director is not the No, not necessary, it’s
answer to educating 1000 staff on part of everyone’s job
creativity.”

Global agency

“It’s typically a non-billable position
for the most part. Very difficult to
add a position like this in a smaller
firm.”


Recruitment
How do you recruit for creativity?

Specific interview questions

Specific interview test

Use interviewer’s
judgement

Assess interviewee’s
previous work

Recommendation

We don’t use any specific methods

0 10 20 30 40 50

“Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learnt. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which
improves teamwork, productivity and, where appropriate, profits.” Edward De Bono

“Talent is the biggest obstacle: where are the creative people?” Agency Head, full service agency, US.


Catalysts

Does your company…?

These factors identiﬁed by Ekvall &
Support ideas
Arvonen and many other exponents
of creativity highlight the elements
that can make the difference Give employees freedom
between a productive and stagnant
creative climate. The responses are
a positive result for the industry, Encourage debate
demonstrating deliberate efforts to
drive creativity. Foster trust and openness

“Creativity ﬂourishes in environ-
ments where risk-taking is Devote time to ideas
celebrated and rewarded. It stag-
nates in environments that are
Allow for playfulness
fear-based. In other words, senior
leadership bear the responsibility
for creating a culture of creativity in Support risk-taking
which mistakes are forgiven, even
celebrated, in service of better
creative thinking.”
0 20 40 60 80
Global agency head, technology

%


If you could do one thing to improve creative
capabilities what would it be?

We asked respondents to identify More time
one thing that would improve
More knowledge of creative tools
creativity at their organisations.
Unsurprisingly, more time came out Ability to take more risks
on top, along with better knowl-
edge of tools and an ability to take Educate clients
more risks. But there were many
more factors cited, suggesting that More budget
a multifaceted approach is required
Improve use of insight
to tackle the issue.
More external stimulus

More rewards for being creative

Hire creative director

Clearer client briefs

More training

“More time! Creative ideas take time to More diverse workforce
be birthed — time that PR has never
allotted for in the way advertising has.
Rather than rush to tactics, our industry
must insist upon insight development,
followed by rounds of ideation, so we
stop settling on expedient ideas.”
0 3 6 9 12
% of respondents


Appendix -
‘Big ideas that generate buzz or disruption, that have legs for longevity or opportunity to build - rooted in strong consumer insights.’

‘Finding new ways to differentiate our clients and connect in memorable ways with their target audiences, both directly and indirectly’

‘Unique campaigns that resolve the issues and impact stakeholders’

‘Unique, beautifully disruptive articulation of a concept that helps to fuel dialogue and accelerate a desired action with a target audience.’

‘A concept that raises my adrenaline levels because I immediately understand how it came from an insight and can be implemented into a program that will move
consumers to action’

‘The ability to create not a tactic but a vision...an experience for the end user that will make them want to live in the world you've created for them.’

‘Challenging the way things have been done. Bringing the outside in. Considering the unexpected. Creating something that makes you stop and think.’

‘The ability to create new and fruitful links between a company and its publics’

‘Making the complex accessible an interesting. Adding color to a monotone situation. Bringing out the perspective that others don't see’

‘Insight-driven clever ideas.’

‘Finding appropriate solutions that help contribute to the client's business success. I don't think "creativity" is a value of it's own. Unbiased thinking, new
approaches, but also merging bits and pieces that have proven successful before are all creative elements.’

‘The use of unusual and impactful communications ideas, strategies and tactics to gain awareness, help form opinions and attain desired results.’

‘That something extra that makes a good campaign great.’

‘To generate ideas that will tell a story to the people who need to hear it in an interesting, engaging and beautiful way.’

‘Creativity is not being careful with crazy ideas’

‘New thinking. New ways of presenting old thinking. Fresh language. Clever story ideas.’

‘Coming up with ideas that can make things happen, and innovative ways to communicate complex stories’

24 www.creativity.holmesreport.com

‘Anticipating the next step before your peers.’

‘Generating new ways to communicate that capture imagination and transfer emotional voltage as well as an appeal to intellect.’

‘Providing the clients innovative methods of dealing with mediocre events and stuff’

‘Original, imaginative thinking that leads to powerful interaction between audiences’

‘Advising a client to 'do nothing' is frequently a demonstration of creativity at its best.’

‘Daring to develop new ideas, new approaches and challenging others to also think differently’

‘Ideas that change behavior and attitudes.’

‘Creativity is not only understanding how to stand out in the mind of your audience but inspire them on an emotional level.’

‘A simple idea based on a consumer or market insight’

mofos out there’

‘That spark of insight that generates an idea for a client.’

‘To provide new solutions that enhance your client's reach to existing and potential customers and/or stakeholders.’

‘Drive understanding between people.’

‘Creating stunts that are talked about positively.’

‘Thoughtful ideas that build big brands with great reputations. Creativity is woven into all aspects of PR. It's not about just one 'big' idea, but rather a stream of
them used to inspire consistent conversation.’

‘Trying to do the same thing for every client but in a different voice’

‘Doing things differently so that the work makes people at least stop and think.’

‘Being able to identify the key insights for your client and then marry them to big ideas to make an impact for your client's target audiences, and to meet their
business goals.’

‘The ability to think differently and approach a problem or challenge in a new, commercially relevant way’

25 www.creativity.holmesreport.com

Arun Sudhaman Claire Bridges Karen Strauss
Managing editor Founder Partner, chief innovation ofﬁcer
The Holmes Report NowGoCreate Ketchum
arun@holmesreport.com claire@nowgocreate.co.uk karen.strauss@ketchum.com

Copyright © Holmes Report & Now Go Create 2012
www.holmesreport.com

Creativity in PR, a Global Study

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