Creative work is effective work

Pattaya - Creative award shows cop their fare share of flack for being self-indulgent and at times removed from the marketing world, but senior DDB Worldwide creatives today said clients should sit up and take notice of good creative that award shows celebrate.

At a press conference in the lead up to tonight's Young Lotus Award, Neil Dawson (pictured), global creative director of the Philips account at DDB Worldwide, said finding creativity that generates "talk value" is critical as marketers battle for share in a increasingly challenging market.

"I think it's really important that clients take awards ceremonies and awards seriously, because, as the Gunn Report will tell you, creative work is effective work. I think it's important, because the work that is reflected in these ceremonies is work of a stature that has talk value by its very nature."

Steve Jackson, senior vice president of DDB Chicago who oversees the hugely successful Budweiser account, said creativity - and a client relationship built on trust - is key.

"Creativity is the most powerful force in business. The more interesting path is the one that zigzags, but it's not being different for the sake of being different, the idea has to move product and it has to be entertaining," Jackson said.

"It's no longer about trying to stay ahead of competition in your category, it's staying ahead of the media.

"With millions of videos coming to you via email and through YouTube, clutter today is exponentially larger and it's harder for a lot of our clients to get through that clutter and make connections with their customers," Jackson added.