Against a backdrop of squeezed budgets and pressure to demonstrate short-term results from marketing spend, investment in long-term brand equity and big-hitting creative ideas risks falling by the wayside.

According to The Future of Creativity, a recent Frontify report in association with AdWeek, agencies and their clients agree that creativity is more vital than ever for brands to cut through. And the marketers surveyed understood its value for capturing attention in a memorable, emotionally resonant way.

But the report also reveals widespread disagreement about what that looks like, and how to balance it with effective brand governance and measurable effectiveness. While the overwhelming majority of those surveyed agree that business focus is vital, over half of brands believe it to be the most important factor. For agencies, big creative ideas deserve just as much focus.

So, how can agencies and brands bridge the gap, and forge stronger collaborative relationships to ensure creativity can thrive for everyone’s benefit?

LEAVE PLENTY OF ROOM TO PLAY

In a busy multichannel world, creativity is often what cuts through and differentiates a brand. Two-thirds of the brands and agencies surveyed in The Future of Creativity report believe its importance will grow over the next three to five years.

Overly strict brand governance can stifle that creativity, giving agencies little room to play. But consistency needn’t mean monotony. Eric Ng, executive creative director at DesignStudio New York, gives the example of Nike: “The creative expression of its many campaigns and sub-brands are inconsistent, but its attitude remains,” he explains.

“Having this kind of understanding empowers internal design teams and external agencies to be creative, and not constantly design within a box,” continues Ng. “That said, it requires sophisticated operators and a deeper understanding of brand.”

The consistency is in the approach, not the output.

On a smaller scale, mobile payment service CashApp is another brand that walks the line between consistency and playful creativity. “It has a defined visual universe, particularly regarding colours and materials. But this is a platform to jump off from, not a destination,” explains Hugo Timm, senior creative director at Frontify.

“From their website to their cards to their clothing store to their social channels, a clear sense of exploration unites everything – but no touchpoint is the same,” adds Timm. “The consistency is in the approach, not the output.”

SET RULES IN THE RIGHT PLACES

Great work can result from a looser approach to brand governance, and big creative ideas can thrive with space to grow. But too much freedom can have the opposite effect, and it’s just as critical for agencies to support their clients’ need for control.

“Distinctiveness often comes through consistency and repetition,” points out Sean Thomas, executive creative director at JKR. “Creatives love to make their mark and put their own stamp on something, but it’s important to allow brands time to bed in.”

Thomas believes that brand guidelines provide essential rules to stop creativity getting out of hand. “I try to leave guidelines fixed enough to be simple, but with a degree of flexibility,” continues Thomas. “There are always circumstances where templates and rigid rules hinder the creative. You must be smart and use a bit of common sense.”

FIND THE SWEET SPOT FOR EVERY BRAND

Ultimately, best-practice brand guidance depends on the type of brand, and the goals of the business. “We work in the startup and charity sector a fair bit. Those clients need something incredibly simple,” says Thomas. “Perhaps just a colour and type combination you can rubber-stamp and roll out easily.

“But when you work on complex, multi-layered global brands that span all types of media, that approach doesn’t tend to work in quite the same way,” he continues. “Most brand guidelines that are not implemented well are vast, complex systems. Make the barriers to execution as small as possible.”

JKR runs weekly surgeries with clients and agency partners once a rebrand begins to roll out. “We adjust as we adapt and learn,” he adds. “No brand guideline is ever, truly, finished – it’s just what’s needed at that point in time. Then the challenge becomes: how do you allow people to embrace and utilise it, rather than feel limited by it?”

SEE THE WOOD FOR THE TREES

Managing a brand across the sheer volume of available channels can be overwhelming, and The Future of Creativity report reveals some telling statistics: across a dozen marketing activities, most respondents agree ‘short-term performance’ is the only area in which most brands are currently thriving. The vast majority believe they struggle with critical objectives such as standing out in the market and measuring their creative impact.

While agencies and brands seem aligned on how creativity can achieve market stand-out and build brand equity, the pressure for quick-win, provably effective tactics is always there, with over 40% of brands stating it as their primary focus. And the report reveals growing friction as those seemingly competing goals vie for attention.

No brand guideline is ever, truly, finished – it’s just what’s needed at that point in time.

Brand management tools such as Frontify help brands see the bigger picture and work more efficiently by consolidating guidelines, digital asset management and creative collaboration between agencies and brands in one place. “Modern design systems are nothing but an evolution of the way we manage replicable components,” says Timm.

“In the past, guidelines were tools for reproduction. Today they’re more important for evangelisation,” he continues. “The pressure in dictating the correct size, colour and scale of applications is much lower, but the need to contextualise is much greater.”

THINK MORE COLLABORATIVELY

There’s still work to be done to build understanding between agencies and their clients: words such as ‘complicated’ and ‘transactional’ were used by both sides in the survey to describe their relationship, and agencies felt there often wasn’t enough time to generate big-hitting creative ideas. So, how can people on both sides help break down barriers to forge stronger, more transparent relationships?

For JKR’s Sean Thomas, it comes down to open, honest conversations and mutual respect. “Most projects go wrong because one party hasn’t taken the time to understand the other and align on mutual goals,” he says. “WhatsApp back and forth, openly discuss raw ideas and sketches, leave each other for a week to think. All the best work comes when you find your groove and understand how to respect one another.”

This also requires a deeper appreciation of clients’ performance metrics, drawing on data-driven intelligence as well as creative skills. “We make design, not art,” reasons DesignStudio’s Eric Ng. “Great design ideas are only successful because they fulfil function. In the world we work in, that’s almost always connected to business goals and long-term value generation. After all, nothing worth building is done overnight.”

Read The Future of Creativity report in full here.