Is creativity in crisis?

By Tony Spong Chair of the DMA Creative Committee

The column inches seem to be racking up of late claiming that we are in a creativity crisis of our own making. One where it has been marginalised to the sprinkling of fairy dust rather than as the driving force to solving problems, not to mention our urgent need to address issues of DE&I.

For all the good the digital revolution has provided we do seem to have become slaves to the ‘greed of optimisation’ over the ‘spark of curiosity’. As one creative put it beautifully, ‘are we optimising our way out of interesting?’

At the DMA, we understand the power of data to both inspire ideas and drive effectiveness. Disturbingly, not only do many feel we have reached a point where all the algorithms have led to the blandest of level playing fields, but also many are discriminatory in how they perform. Is this the moment when creativity is needed in its widest sense; is the ‘tech stack showing just a bit too much’ in how we go about marketing today?

We probably have more questions than answers and that’s why the DMA Creative Committee are reaching out to brands, agencies, the grey hairs and the spotty youth of our industry to discuss these themes, share our thinking and create an agenda for the DMA Creative Committee to move the key priorities forward on your behalf.

If you’d like to get involved, please drop me a line. ■

INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES.