Creative Director or Creative Curator?
As an industry neophyte, the first mental image you instinctively associate a creative director with is Don Draper from Mad Men. Sophisticated, charismatic, with the ideas and the words to match, bundled with that combination of charm and sales wit that (almost every time) successfully closes the presentation to the client.
Like this:
Don Draper is a construct of the Creative Director from the Golden Age of Advertising. More accurately, for those familiar with Mad Men and who have binge-watched all 7 seasons, it’s a deconstruction of advertising as seen through the nostalgic filter of pop culture from the 70s onwards.
Does Don Draper’s fantasy apply to Romanian advertising and the usual creative director? Somewhat. In retrospect, there was a time when the creative director was significantly close to the typology described in Mad Men: the industry’s pioneering era of the 1990s-2000s. It was a period of trial and error in which we learnt a lot from global agencies and adapted just as much to the domestic reality – more on the caterwaul, more on the balkanisms, more on the fun. In my humble opinion, it remains the most creative period in the history of Romanian advertising. I leave a few examples of memorable campaigns, a kind of early memes, from the period when TV was absolute king, which managed to generate a few phrases that have entered the collective memory (yes, I know, I’m not exactly politically correct, but neither was the period):
Since about 2008, slowly but surely, the industry has been moving towards a more strategic, results-oriented area. The importance of tactical campaigns, NCPs, online and Social Media have become relevant channels for consumers. Creative directors started to listen to the numbers and include strategic input more frequently in their proposals.
Some believe that this has led to a dilution of creativity and the loss of that je ne sais quoi particular to the early days of the industry.
Others say that you can still get creative in 2023, as long as you know how to sell the need for it. Like so:
Advertising, like any healthy industry, is constantly changing. The factors have been the same since the advent of print media: the evolution of technology and the intergenerational value shift. The change is causal: technology generates new channels, channels change the ways in which advertising is consumed, and this affects agency roles.
Social Media Advertising
Let’s talk a bit about channels. YouTube has been the new TV for some time. Its specific format is long video content, from gaming to vlogs and podcasts, YouTube is slowly but surely replacing the traditional TV stations’ programme schedules. Facebook, an already venerable platform, has become a conversational channel with relatives and acquaintances (especially older ones). And Instagram, and especially TikTok, are platforms for short, snackable content, only good for consuming on the run.
How channel evolution impacts advertising consumption among GenZ has been covered in detail here. GenZ is consuming less branded campaigns, and more native content that feels authentic.
In this Zeitgeist defined by realism and authenticity, agencies have a clear direction to follow: create content, not ads. What is the effect on agency creativity? There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. We didn’t choose the examples of the above campaigns randomly. Regardless of the era in which they were created, whether we’re talking about the roaring ’90s or 2023, they have a few elements in common: entertainment, humour and memorability.
If it sounds familiar, that’s because these are the same essential elements in content creation.
Returning to Don Draper, what is his role in this new context? Is this creative director on the way out? Of course not. Creative input is just as essential to a content campaign on TikTok. It’s just that the process itself will become more collaborative, less monolithic, especially when colleagues are predominantly GenZ. It will be more about selecting and curating ideas and less about guiding the specific Creative Director role so far.
Is there a creative director at Maker?
In the Maker Studio ideation process, we put curation at the forefront. Content ideas to be executed in the campaign are reviewed and filtered by Creative Curators. They are the equivalent of a Creative Director, people with agency experience from different backgrounds (Creative, Social Media, Influencer Management, Strategy, Account). How is the process actually different? Firstly, it involves co-creation. The ratio of Idea Generator Makers to Curators is equal, we don’t have a Senior – Junior relationship. In addition, decision-making is decentralised and participatory. Each Curator comes with personal experience in as much an eclectic mix of perspectives as possible, which ensures a very precise and unbiased selection of ideas.
