Interactive Creative: The Battle Rages On
Creative, media, and account people alike are tasked with raising the interactive creative bar.
Creative, media, and account people alike are tasked with raising the interactive creative bar.
Two weeks ago, I attended the Battle for the Heart Creative Roadshow, a traveling event put on by Joseph Jaffe, a former ClickZ columnist and a great guy. The event highlights some of the best interactive work out there. But it’s also a challenge to creative, media, and account people alike, tasking us all with raising the bar for interactive creative.
This is the Battle’s second year. It coincides with the release of Jaffe’s first book, “Life After the 30-Second Spot.” The book is a wakeup call to anyone who doesn’t recognize, or refuses to acknowledge, advertising’s changing landscape. Technology and consumer dissatisfaction with traditional approaches fuel resistance to advertising. Jaffe tells it like it is and gives some great insight into how brands and agencies can adapt to the new landscape. He covers such things as:
Many of these messages resonate throughout the Battle. At the Dallas stop, which I attended, Jim Ferguson delivered the keynote address. Ferguson is chairman and chief creative officer for TM Advertising. Quite the character, he had this to say about the future of creative:
A lively town hall discussion followed Ferguson’s address. The main point of contention was return on investment (ROI). There were several opinions about how responsible, or not, an agency should be for advertising’s effect on a client’s business. The opinions ranged from “Advertising is just one component of a brand’s success,” to “Approve the idea and then get the *#@! out of the way.”
We’re in the business of getting results for our clients. Recent advances in technology and evolutions in practice enable us to track consumer response to our messages in many different ways. If these technologies can help us engage consumers in a more relevant dialogue with brands, we should embrace them. Creative and accountability are not mutually exclusive. There is a battle raging and those who believe in interactive are poised to win.