Matching creative agencies with results-driven marketers: Do clients really need highly creative advertising?

Authors

Sheila L. Sasser, Eastern Michigan UniversityFollow
Scott Koslow, Macquarie University
Mark Kilgour, University of Waikato, New Zealand

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Department

Marketing

Abstract

Creativity in advertising is a balancing act. Marketers say they want greater creativity, yet their agencies feel that these clients reject cutting-edge work and fail to adopt risky campaigns. So, when is highly creative advertising really needed, and when is it most appropriate? Why are clients "risk averse" as they avoid taking chances when times are good and should "breakthrough" advertising air during good and bad times? Copy testing and the impact of organizational politics on creative campaigns are key factors. The client's openness to new ideas was examined as a conditional variable across 1,125 advertising campaigns reported by 408 advertising agency subjects. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

DOI

10.2501/JAR-53-3-297-312

Citation

Sasser, S. L., Koslow, S., & Kilgour, M. (2013). Matching creative agencies with results-driven marketers: Do clients really need highly creative advertising? Journal of Advertising Research, 53(3), 297–312. doi:10.2501/JAR-53-3-297-312