The role of the creative hasn’t changed much since the heyday of advertising. Our industry clings on to a notion that our job is to create visual and verbal messages to influence consumer behaviour. With the advent of digital, there are more nuances to this premise, but all you have to do is look at prominent awards to see that our existence is largely defined by our ability to tell compelling stories. Even in categories where utility is paramount, such as design and branding, often the work with a messaging ‘idea’ bags the top prizes.

I can see why we want to hold on to that. It is familiar territory that we’ve been perfecting for ages. We can rely on ourselves to come up with the solutions and retain control of the process. Plus, there’s lots of room for creativity.

At the same time, it has never been easier for consumers to switch off. They have more power than ever to choose which brands they interact with. Ultimately, consumers choose to reward brands that solve problems in their lives, and brands have to adapt to this new reality. They need to produce products, services and experiences that meet consumers’ functional and emotional needs.

In this context, the role of the creative as we know it is becoming less relevant by the minute.

Bringing business to awards

The awards industry and the creative sector have attempted to respond to this shift by focusing on purpose-driven work. The logic is simple: if what we do is less relevant, the obvious thing to do is to look for areas where our skills are needed. Worthy causes have benefited from this, but that doesn’t solve the problem. As an industry, we need to find growth and focusing on niches, no matter how important, will not deliver that.

The second response from the industry is more interesting: the proliferation of business effectiveness and transformation categories alongside an added focus on results across the board. While these categories are nascent and still finding their feet, they recognise that creativity has a wider role to play.

The problem is that there is often a significant gap in the quality of the winning work in these categories compared to the more traditional ones. It’s like we entered the business conversation but in an effort to fit in, left the very core of our existence, the creative talent that makes us stand out, behind. Our craft, creativity and ability to deeply connect with audiences on an emotional level, honed over so many years, is simply lacking. What happened?

We have to push ourselves to participate in the business conversation and join the innovation process. Simply being there is not enough – we need to believe that our skills bring value to the table and develop our ability to demonstrate it.

Finding the right fit

The first step is to get out of our comfort zone and learn to speak about creativity in a way other domains, such as business, strategy and tech understand. We also need to learn to collaborate better because innovation is a team sport. It can be uncomfortable, but the natural empathy and ability to communicate with different audiences we’ve developed by trade often ends up being the glue binding it all together. What we bring to the table is invaluable, and we shouldn’t forget it – we want to work with these domains, but we don’t want to become them.

It’s clear that the innovation process desperately needs creatives to be more involved, but where do we fit in? It helps to break the process into two parts. First, what there is - broadly speaking, insights. And second - what needs to be. The second part may seem like the natural space for creatives to step in, but the biggest value we bring is in the in-between. In my experience, it is the ability to take the leap from the known to the new that is often lacking. Transforming insights into ideas, combining data, strategy and gut to make magic is something we’ve been doing for a long time, so it’s a natural fit.

We are makers by nature, so our ability to create tangible outputs is incredibly valuable. It helps drive the process forward and wins hearts and minds. Our gift for telling compelling stories can be used to bring stakeholders on a journey and pave the way for new products, services and experiences. A well-articulated idea gets even better when we bring it to life through compelling visualisation. That’s where designers can make a difference.

Showing our value

There is an urgent demand for creativity; we’ve never had more pressing human problems to solve than now. Brands are realising this is the new frontier. They need to provide fresh, relevant and beautiful experiences that solve problems and add value to everyday life. If creatives want to stay relevant, they need to evolve their role and how they participate in the process that gives origin to these solutions.

The awards industry is creativity’s north star. By showcasing and recognising the right type of work, it can be a vital catalyst to this transformation. But as we embrace the opportunities the business conversations offer, we can’t forget what brought us here. Our craft should continue to be front and centre, as the world needs it more than ever.