The Annual: 'If we are not truly creative then it's hard to be memorable'

Bonds head of marketing Emily Small
By Bonds head of marketing Emily Small | 15 February 2019
 

This first appeared in the AdNews Annual 2018. Buy the special issue here or support AdNews by subscribing here.

As part of the AdNews Annual 2018, celebrating 90 years of AdNews, we asked a range of brands, leaders and top marketers to share what creativity means to them and how important it is. We also asked some to throw in a future–gazing thought or two on how advertising could shape out in the next 90 years.

Bonds was founded in 1915, making it 103 years old. We hear from Bonds head of marketing Emily Small.

Creativity is the Holy Grail for us; when we get it right the response from our customers and our staff is overwhelming. We do get it wrong too and yes we do hear about it …. a lot.

When working with a brand that is so close to the skin there is an intimate relationship customers have with our creative. It needs to be simple, confident and preferably 'skin tingly'; it is not always about the product, but how that product makes you feel. A challenge that not every creative can crack.

 and you can end up being a little homogenous. Engaging the customer is tough and it is getting tougher. Yes, we are all time poor so great creative needs to be relevant and it needs to be engaging.

Bonds essay

This first appeared in AdNews in-print

Over the years I have been working in marketing, the term ‘cut–through’ is so often thrown around. While it's a pet dislike of mine, as a term it does have a point to it. The challenge is that is can often be confused with creating something that is just plain loud. We always hear the loudest person in the room, but do we really listen, care, or remember what it was they said? It is not enough just to grab the attention of the audience; great creative needs to appeal to their minds and, above all, their hearts. When we see or hear creative we want to be entertained, laugh, cry, or sing along to it; there is nothing like that play–it–again feeling when you watch a magnificent piece of advertising. Money doesn’t always buy great creative, sometimes creative developed on a shoestring can be the best kind.

The future of creative in advertising lies heavily in the hands of the customer. We are all faced with so much choice now — younger generations are receiving more information in a week than I did in a year growing up — so the battle of the future lies in relevance. This means personalising and localising content. Give me something just for me at a moment in time that I want it and can act on it. Using data to form a compelling and engaging brief for consumers to respond to so they become the creative generators is what we will start to see more of.

While data will undoubtedly drive the future, tugging at emotions with truly brilliant creative will always win a place in our hearts.

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The Classics collection.

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outdoor 'Boobs' ad created by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne in 2014.

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Original Bonds girl Miranda Kerr

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From Vegemite, Bonds and Stan to Uber, Telstra, Aeroplane Jelly and Tourism Australia, to see all Perspectives from The Annual, get your in-print copy of the Annual here and keep an eye on AdNews for the whole collection.

See more Annual Perspectives from these people below:

Vegemite marketing manager Matt Gray

Victoria Bitter senior marketing and sponsorship manager Hugh Jellie

Telstra marketing executive and chief brand officer Jeremy Nicholas

Stan head of brand Diana Ilinkovski

McCormick Foods Australia (Aeroplane Jelly parent company) managing director of commercial Paris Golden.

Tourism Australia CMO Lisa Ronson

Big Red Group co-founder and CMO Naomi Simson

Clemenger executive chairman Rob Morgan

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