"I'm not a very creative person"
This is something I said time and time again when I worked in brand management. I was great at being organised, leading projects and crunching performance data, but creativity? Nah!
Then I took a career break. My brain found the space to rest and to think and I started writing. And when I wrote, I created emotion and drove action with my words.
I was creating something.
I was being creative.
Turns out I had always been creative - it was just that my creativity had never had any space to emerge, to develop, to wander down avenues, retrace its steps and find new paths.
Bringing creativity in-house
Increasingly brands are bringing their creative work in-house. Sometimes this is a really positive move borne out of a desire to trust those most passionate about the brand, and to grow expertise and skills. These are often the companies that invest in the recruitment of specific creative teams, in-house studios and communications managers.
But often the thing that really drives this decision is cost-saving and the work is added to the remit of an already stretched brand team. While I don't doubt that many brand managers are naturally very creative, invariably their role is so multi-faceted that it simply can't afford the time needed to generate consistent, quality creative work. Writing a script for an advert in a half hour break between operational meetings or crafting pack copy while travelling home exhausted from an all-day meeting in London can't possibly generate the quality of work that's needed, and more importantly it's a recipe for employee burnout.
Using agencies
Even when creative agencies are still being used it is so common for timelines to be squeezed in order to meet urgent delivery dates. I was guilty of this myself when I was the client. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge advocate for agencies and freelancers respecting their clients' budgets and deadlines, but I do think businesses need to reciprocate with more respect for the creative process. Agencies and freelancers exist for a reason - not just for their expertise but also their ability to dedicate time to their craft.
Running your own business
The same principle is true for smaller businesses that don't have a marketing function, or sole traders who are literally doing everything themselves. Finding the time to create marketing plans, content and powerful copy that will make a tangible difference to sales can be stressful and damaging to the other priorities of the business that need focus.
So what's the solution?
Creative thinking doesn't have to mean handing your brand or business over to an over-priced London agency, nor should it mean expecting miracles from an over-worked brand team or yourself as a business owner. It doesn't have to be expensive, but it does need dedicated time. That might mean developing a creative team in-house, giving your marketing teams (or yourself) the mental space to let creative juices flow, or if that time can't be diverted from other business-critical jobs, maybe it's time to outsource.
If outsourcing your creative writing is something that you'd like to explore, no matter what size of project you're thinking about, then get in touch and I will help. Drop me an email at tess@torjussencc.com