Creativity is not a commodity

I’ve spent my life watching Silver Oaks grow. And through it all, every decade, our organization offers value beyond what is expected and creativity that I don’t believe you can find anywhere else.

It’s interesting working in a creative agency. Some days you’re trying to figure out how to make everyday items interesting and eye-catching and some days you’re reviewing WWII history books about Iwo Jima. Being able to switch your brain from one project to the other requires serious focus and serious skill. Creativity may be more inherent to some individuals than others and it’s certainly not a commodity and it’s hard to quantify.

Sure, it may be one video. But to produce that video, three people worked to develop a script and a shot list to best tell your story. Clicks and views and watch times of that video are measurable. But how that video makes a viewer feel is intangible, not at all measurable, and depends on the creativity of the producers.

Being creative isn’t easy. If it were, every organization would produce commercials as captivating as Apple, logos are recognizable as the Golden Arches, and ‘like a good neighbor’ everyone would have a tagline that’s synonymous with their brands.

Being creative, to me and to Silver Oaks, is collaborating with our partners and really listening to their desires. We work with people who are passionate about their jobs and their missions and they count on us to convey that to everyone else. Sometimes that means immersing ourselves in history for days at a time and sometimes that means suspending our cynical adult brains to play like a kid for a while.

There’s no formula for creativity. And creativity executed perfectly is priceless.