The creative instinct

During such a fragmented time in the industry I imagine clients must find it difficult to know who to trust and who they can rely on. With a fleet of new agencies year on year and traditional agency talent moving faster than they change their underwear, it’s no wonder brand managers are longing for a bit of certainty from their “partners.”

Whilst we wait another month, or perhaps years for the dust to settle, there is one guiding force I truly believe in – as a creative lead I trust in myself and team, this is the power of creative instinct. With young minds bridging the gap between human desire and business, huge sparks must be made. Sparks using the best creative intelligence – which incidentally no AI or machine has mastered (yet). 

The incredible thing about pure creatives is they wake up thinking about the brief, they think about that brief during meetings in the day, in the evening and on the weekend at no extra cost. When you’re trained in creative problem solving you’re not thinking about the money, the client or anything else but cracking that bloody brief! You want to impress your peers, your agency your tinder date, your family with a brilliant idea that works. A well written creative problem becomes an addiction and your creative brain goes into auto pilot.  

Furthermore – the most exciting briefs you end up focussed on even LONGER, you literally can’t help yourself, you wake up in the middle of the night making notes, you bring it up in conversation at the pub, you make notes on dinner napkins, you research and read everything there is to know about the problem and you even hold out going to the loo so you can get all your thoughts down on paper.

You know in your gut when the right solution falls in your lap because you’ve been so focussed leading up to your moment of creative instinct.

This is why pure creatives feel so confident about –

'Follow the gut, it's far superior to the brain!'

The lightbulb moment has been fuelled by hours, days, weeks, sometimes months of thinking on the same problem, playing with it in their mind till the right emotional thought comes into place and creates that perfect match with the brand.

So, when a suite of agency people next bop to your offices full of joyful certainty, and it may feel like a flash in the pan thought from the creative – have a moment to reflect on the journey they’ve taken.

Feel assured that it’s not off the chuff thinking, believe that this team of people genuinely want to make your brand stronger using their creativity.

I sympathise with clients knowing agency models aren’t as transparent as they should be. But feel assured by one thing, creatives aren’t looking at the retainer they’re on or aware of their allocated projects by quarter.

They are literally born with a love for creativity and during the heat of a project they are running off their creative instincts to make the best work happen.

By Jade Tomlin, Creative Adventurer. Follow her @Jade_pingping

Photo credit: Ceri Davies | www.picfair.com