1. If someone came up with it without fully understanding the real problem that the communication needs to address.
2. If it’s just clever. Rule of opposing thumbs. Intelligent: yes. Smart-ass: no.
3. If it’s a Santa-Banta joke (or any other ha-ha-ism) that somehow integrates the product, chances are it will be funny. What it won’t be is creative.
4. If the brief has to be changed to make it fit the idea, it isn’t creative.
5. If all you can say in its defence is ‘It has great cut-through’, it’s not creative. The first job of any piece of communication is to stand out. If you don’t get noticed, nobody will engage with you. The question is, what happens after the consumer starts paying attention? Is what you are talking relevant to her? Is it moving? Motivating? Does it solve some conflict in her life? Does it share a point of view on something that can change or shape her opinions? If you are not doing some or all of that, you are not doing much at all.
6. It won’t work very hard if everyone exclaims ‘Now that’s a hard working idea’. If the idea is not ‘engaging’ it might still work, but you will need to put lots of media weight behind it. Building a brand is like cutting a slab of meat. A sharper knife gets the job done faster, neater and with less effort.
7. It’s not creative if the brief isn’t. The strategy is the womb that nurtures every idea. If you don’t have one that is inspiring then the work will be still-born.
8. It’s not creative if you are done listening to the TV script and then you start wondering how it works in print, let alone online or on the ground.
9. If the solution providers were given a day or three to come up with something, the odds are against it being creative. Creativity is not a thing, it is a process of exploration and elimination. The more roads you travel, the greater is the likelihood of encountering a fresh and interesting thought. And the more you experiment with that thought, the greater your chances of expressing it in a unique and arresting manner. It’s not just how you say what you say. What’s more important is how not to. I know that’s a lot of mores in one paragraph, but then I’ve always had trouble reining in my generosity.
10. Finally, if the campaign runs for a while and does nothing for the brand. Zip. Nada. Kuch nahi. Ille po. It’s not frickin creative. Ok?
(The author is the Chief Creative Officer of the Mudra Group)
