Charting the creative director: at the heart of a great ad agency

"Every business has an innovator, a visionary or even a new business development owner. The roles of these people are to step outside of the current economic environment, look to the future and find those competitive edges, which are not currently in the marketplace. An advertising agency's creative director (CD) plays very much the same role for the agency and for its clients," he says.

"However, the economic environment has changed - requiring an equal change in the manner in which a company's innovators and creative owners operate. Before, the primary focus of the creative team was to come up with ideas that worked in the marketplace. Now, the team is required to come up with ideas that virtually guarantee measurable results for the client's business; in effect, ideas for advertising must 'connect and collect' - connect with the client's target audience, and collect by encouraging them to action," he explains.

This in turn has had a large impact on the way in which creative teams function. Today's creative director is expected to walk the tightrope dividing creative initiatives and business reality, acting as a catalyst for the generation of great ideas and yet maintaining a firm foothold in business feasibility.

"For this reason, many companies are adding pressure to their creative teams to think, act and produce like business managers, only to be disappointed at the results," says Broude.

"Sure, the deliverables have changed - and correctly so - but the process still needs to encourage the creative process," he explains.

It is on the back of this, that Broude says that the most essential ingredient for an effective creative director is the ability to foster an environment where the team is confident of expressing itself. Broude notes that openness, especially when it comes to creative ideas, is critical for successful output. "The team members should not keep ideas to themselves due to fear of embarrassment."

While many people admire the creative process, not many can admit to understanding it. Quite often, several team members bounce ideas off each other. During these sessions many 'off the wall' ideas are generated, later leading to some great advertising being produced.

"The optimal creative environment is one where anyone can say anything without ridicule - after all sometimes the silliest things lead to the greatest ideas," he laughs.

Broude is enjoying the creative environment within a smaller agency. "While many believe that only the bigger agencies can be innovative, I believe that smaller environments actually offer more to their clients in terms of effort, value and focused solutions customised for each particular client... If one looks at some of our most creative agencies today, they all started as such smaller entities," he concludes.