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Brands and agencies lack the confidence to convince the chief financial officer to invest in creativity, according to the 2022 .

Despite the report finding that 67% of brand marketers saw creativity as an “extremely valuable competitive advantage in business”, only 12% of brands felt “extremely confident” in convincing the CFO to invest in it. 

In addition, only 8% of agencies felt confident convincing clients to put trust in creativity. Many said they did not have the time to produce an effective idea they could put their full confidence in.

The study was based on a global survey of more than 3,300 marketers, creatives, media owners, tech specialists and creative education bodies from 102 different countries. 

It also included interviews with more than 50 global chief marketing officers, creatives and industry leaders.

The report noted: “The scale of requirements for creativity has enormously increased, but the budgets, time and creative process have not been adapted to accommodate the work.”

Annie Smith, head of content, insight and advisory, at Lions, said this was a large factor contributing to clients’ and agencies’ lack of faith in creativity. 

“There isn't enough time to think of ideas, think strategically about them, and feel like the idea that you're putting forward is strong enough to solve the problem,” Smith said.

One brand marketer in the report acknowledged the pressure on agencies, saying they “hardly get the headspace to work on exceptional ideas”.

In January, IPA and ISBA partnered to create a Pitch Positive Pledge, which highlighted the impact a high volume of pitches can have on the mental wellbeing of agency staff. 

This pressure to produce more ideas at a higher speed can be at detriment to creativity. Smith added that agencies said it was important to learn how to protect staff from burnout and to understand how to create the best working environment to promote creativity and uphold good mental health.

According to Smith, this pressure to devise effective ideas is made worse in a post-pandemic world of economic uncertainty. 

“There’s even more of a need to prove creativity’s value,” she said. “There’s more of a requirement for effectiveness and measurement.”

Smith added that this stretched agencies even further because creative is inherently something that's “distinctive and original” and, in order to stand out, it has to be different to what has been done before. Therefore, it is difficult to identify whether it will be successful for a business.

In last year’s study there were references to the pandemic increasing demand for safer ideas “that wouldn't rock the boat”. 

This year, the research showed that both brands and agencies have “brand building” at the top of their lists. This requires more risk-taking and more "emotionally connecting creative work”. 

People surveyed said there needed to be more spotlighting of success stories and more case studies at hand to demonstrate how a brand has effectively driven growth through creative marketing.

The study used #Wombstories by Essity and AMV BBDO London as an example of a creative success story. It highlighted how “a trusting client-agency relationship that doesn’t fear risk – and builds in time to test new approaches – is crucial in achieving groundbreaking creativity”.

Eighty-six per cent of creative partners believe it is important to upskill talent and creative thinking. Smith said that the key to achieving this was through strategy.

She continued: “Agencies need to be better at communicating how a creative idea is going to solve a business problem. It’s not just about communicating what the idea is and how it's distinctive. How is it going to have an ultimate impact on the numbers for the business?”

The report summarised four key remedies for the lack of creative confidence:

• Have fewer layers in decision making. Agencies said there are “too many stakeholders who aren’t educated in marketing”. Simplifying this process means more time for devising a creative idea to have confidence in.

• Create an open-minded culture. An environment that will “consider all ideas as valid, regardless of the position of their creator” is key.

• Clients must get better at writing creative briefs. Most creative agencies feel that briefs are unclear and uninspiring. They want a “better understanding of the strategic points underlying the creative brief”. 

• Embrace experimentation. Many said that confidence comes with the ability to trial ideas. If you are a leader, consider how you can support your team to embrace a test and adopt a mindset where failure is seen as an opportunity to learn.

Smith concluded: “Despite worries about creative confidence, or challenges around measuring it, there is still a sense that creativity can help things progress, help businesses progress and help develop new solutions for bigger world problems.”