Creativity in PR 2017

Creativity in PR
Global Study 2017
In association with Ogilvy
THE
HOLMES
REPORT
#CreativityInPR holmesreport.com/focus/creativity

Contents
#CreativityInPR holmesreport.com/focus/creativity | 2
03
Introduction
05
The War for Ideas
14
Influences &
Barriers
22
Talent

Introduction
Arun Sudhaman
The sixth edition of
the Creativity in PR
study once again helps
reveal how creativity is
transforming the public
relations world.
This year’s study reflects an
industry increasingly at ease
generating the big ideas that result
in genuine business transformation.
This is not just evident from the
campaigns that we see winning
in major award shows across the
globe, but also in the practices and
processes that are ensuring that
creativity is viewed as a central
element in organisational culture,
rather than being viewed solely in
terms of creative output.
A good example of this comes from
one of this year’s headline findings,
that the creative director role —
considered an exotic luxury when
this study launched five years ago
— is now well and truly entrenched
across the PR industry.
That does not mean, however, that
the creative talent challenge has
been solved. Respondents continue
to point to a range of concerns,
particularly when it comes to
competing with other disciplines.
Elsewhere, the client-agency divide
continues to bedevil attitudes
towards whether PR firms can be
entrusted with leading creative
duties.
This Report polled almost 300
people from more than 35 countries
across the world, helping us once
again uncover some fascinating
findings about the state of creativity
in PR. Respondents came from
agency and in-house, and from a
range of industries and sectors.
All respondents answered a variety
of questions during the three
months the study ran during the
summer of 2017, encompassing
attitudes towards creativity;
tools and skills; opportunities
and challenges; and suggestions
and advice. We are very glad to
bring you the fifth edition of this
landmark study, particularly after
the remarkable support the first four
editions have received. As always,
we appreciate your time, thoughts
and feedback.
Arun Sudhaman, CEO and Editor-in-Chief,
The Holmes Report
THE
HOLMES
REPORT

Introduction
Claire Bridges
In our 6th year of
researching and writing
this report what strikes
me is that the results over
that time show that PR
professionals are more
confident about their abilities than
they were when we began. More
resources are devoted to training
and rewarding creative behaviours,
the need for creative leadership
(whether CD or otherwise) is now
well established and creative
confidence is high. There are no
major changes in the year on year
results. However staying still is
not an option when competition is
fiercer than ever with many changes
afoot and the findings do point to
some key issues that the industry
needs to address for those who
work in the PR function to prove
more consistently that they can
devise creative ideas that also
deliver on effectiveness.
This is where the findings are
surprising in relation to evaluation
of creative ideas; still nearly 30%
of agencies don’t see it as a
priority and over 50% of in-house
respondents say it’s an average
or low priority. How can this still
be the case in today’s data-driven
and data-rich environment? How
can any client or stakeholder agree
to ideas without a solid rationale
for them? If effectiveness in terms
of sales, reputation, behaviour
change or other relevant measures
can’t be measured then it won’t
(and arguably shouldn’t be valued)
undermining any credibility in the
idea. Risk-aversion is cited by
agencies as the number one barrier
to getting creative ideas away
(71%) and surely these two issues
must be linked. ‘Does the potential
success of taking the risk outweigh
the present conditions?’ This is
one of the key questions to answer
when managing risk (source:
Neil Patel). Research shows that
companies who innovate have
processes in place to manage risk.
Risk-taking is related to culture,
particularly related to trust, and it
would seem that in house teams
and agencies have to find ways to
approach and manage risk if they
want to innovate and sell ideas
internally and externally. I’d love to
hear from anyone that is addressing
this in practical ways.
As ever thank you for your input into
this year’s study. We’d love to hear
from you as to what you’d like this
report to include and any ideas as
how to continue to make it relevant
and useful to you.
Claire Bridges, founder, Now Go Create

The War for Ideas
Creativity continues to attract a very
high premium when it comes to
agency hiring decisions. Clients rate
it at 8.6 out of 10, with 54% rating it
9 or higher. Interestingly, agencies
see it slightly differently: When
asked how important creativity is
to their clients’ hiring decisions,
they rank it as just 7.21 out of
10, reinforcing the gap that first
emerged last year.
7
0 10
9
How important is creativity when clients decide whether to
hire you or your agency?
How important is creativity in your decision to hire & retain
an agency?

The War for Ideas
Once again, we ask the question
on everybody’s lips — are PR
firms actually leading creative on
behalf of their clients, ahead of
advertising or digital agencies?
At best, the results remain mixed.
48% of agency respondents said
that their PR agency has been
designated as lead creative agency,
while a further 21% added that it
had been considered. On the client
side, however, only 9% had turned
to their PR firm as lead creative
agency. Discouragingly, only 53%
of clients would consider their PR
firm for this role, down from 74%
last year.
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
No, but it has been considered
No, but I would consider
No, it has not been considered for this role
No, I would not consider them for this role
48%
9%
21%
53%
31%
38%
Yes
Has your PR agency ever been designated as lead creative
agency?

The War for Ideas
When asked why PR firms are not
being entrusted with lead creative
duties, each side appears happy to
blame the other. Clients point to a
lack of strategic agency capabilities
as the key stumbling block, while
agencies think in-house structures
are responsible. Clients also
have concerns about PR agency
creative quality. To be fair, so do PR
agencies.
‘PR agencies are the red-headed step children
of the communications business and don’t get
access to C-Suite decision-makers.’
‘Client perceptions about PR creativity
and additional budget to drive integrated
campaigns.’
‘Clients need to be open to new roles for PR
agencies.’
‘PR agencies are wasting time trying to redefine
PR instead of just adapting and doing the work.
Less talk, more doing.’
5%
52%
27%
42%
37%
14%
9%
25%
28%
31%
34%
28%
None, they already are
Client structure
Budget
PR agency creative quality
Lack of strategic agency capabilities
Lack of understanding of client business
AGENCY
IN-HOUSE
What do you think are the barriers to PR agencies becoming
the lead creative agency?

The War for Ideas
More than two-thirds (68%) of
clients are more likely to approach
their agency for big creative ideas
than they were 12 months ago,
solidifying a positive trend that first
became clear two years ago.
‘Clients want great ideas and don’t care who
provides them.’
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
Much more likely
Slightly more likely
There has been no change
Slightly less likely
Much less likely
15%
53%
30%
3%
0%
19%
29%
29%
10%
10%
Compared with 12 months ago, are clients more or less
likely to approach their PR agency for big creative ideas?

The War for Ideas
How happy are clients with the
creative capabilities of their
agencies? 46% are described
by their agencies as consistently
happy, up from 44% last year.
Meanwhile when clients are asked
to rate the level of creativity at their
PR agency, 58% opted for ‘Good’
while 41% saw it as ordinary or
worse.
2017 2016
Yes, consistently
Yes, sporadically
No, it's a constant challenge
NOt at all
46%
45%
8%
2%
44%
50%
7%
In general, are clients happy with the creative capabilities of
your agency?
Inspirational 0%
Good 58%
Ordinary 26%
Unsatisfactory 5%
poor 5%
non-existent 5%
How would you describe the level of creativity at your PR
agency?

The War for Ideas
PR vs the world
Surprisingly, management
consultancies emerge as the
agencies considered most creative
by both agency and in-house
respondents. PR agencies also
fare remarkably well, with clients
placing them ahead of advertising
and digital shops, but behind
experiential and media agencies.
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
PR Advertising Digital
agency type
Media Experiential Content Management
consultancy
Other
3.72
2.82
3.93
5.17
3.75
4.27
5.50
6.02
4.48
3.87
4.00
4.53
4.82
4.00
5.38
4.45
Please rank the creative quality of the following agencies.
(8 is highest and 1 is lowest)

The War for Ideas
Rising demands
23% of agency respondents
note that clients are demanding
‘fundamentally’ greater levels of
creativity from them, up from 17%
in 2016. Overall, though, the needle
has barely moved, with creative
demands ranked 3.45 on a scale of
5, compared to 3.43 one year ago.
No, not at all Yes, fundamentally higher
9% 12% 26% 30% 23% 2017
6% 13% 30% 35% 17% 2016
Agencies: Are clients demanding greater levels of creativity
from you?

The War for Ideas
The client/agency divide extends
to how receptive in-house teams
are viewed as being when it comes
to creative ideas. Notably, more
than 40% of agencies describe
this as ‘ordinary’ or worse. Clients
themselves are considerably more
bullish.
Inspirational
Good
Ordinary
Unsatisfactory
poor
non-existent
3%
55%
28%
11%
3%
0%
9%
75%
13%
0%
0%
3%
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
In general, how would you describe the receptiveness of
clients to creative ideas?

The War for Ideas
Getting paid
This year’s survey again addresses
one of the fundamental issues
that affects creativity. How exactly
should agencies be reimbursed for
their ideas? This question was put
to both clients and agency people.
Interestingly, both agencies and
clients select ‘set fees for ideas’
as their top choice, suggesting
that a more innovative approach to
funding would help encourage idea
development and overall creativity.
Agencies, however, continue to
favour billable hours (34%) far more
than clients (21%). Only 18% of
agencies, meanwhile, want their
remuneration tied to sales results,
compared to 36% of clients.
34%
21%
49%
39%
23%
25%
18%
36%
AGENCY IN-HOUSE 2016 AVERAGE
Billable hours
Set fees for ideas
Intellectual property & licensing of ideas
Sales results tied to ideas
In terms of developing ideas would you prefer to pay / be
paid according to:

Influences & Barriers
Quality
The survey finds a marginal
decrease in terms of the industry’s
creative quality. Around 48%
of agencies describe it as
‘inspirational’ or ‘good’, compared
to 60% of in-house respondents.
Inspirational
Good
Ordinary
Unsatisfactory
poor
Non-existent
6%
42%
38%
8%
4%
2%
12%
49%
27%
9%
3%
0%
9%
45%
33%
9%
4%
0%
How would you describe the quality of creativity in the PR
industry?

There is some evidence that
the PR industry is moving in the
right direction where creativity
is concerned. Almost 60% of
agencies think that the quality
of creativity in PR campaigns
has improved over the past year.
However, clients are less likely to
agree — 45% see no change.
24% of in-house staff say that
creativity is overated versus just
1.5% of agency staff. The fact that
nearly a quarter of in-house staff
say that creativity is overrated
seems contradictory given that
when it comes to agency hiring
decisions 54% of clients rate it 9 or
higher.
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
4%
39%
38%
17%
2%
6%
45%
39%
9%
0%
worse
same as usual
slightly better
much better
dramatic improvement
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
Over the past 12 months, how do you rate any improvement
in the quality of creativity in PR campaigns?
Overrated
1%
24%
70%
45%
25% 24%
3%
6%
Properly rated Underrated Not rated at all
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
How is creativity rated at your current business?

Top priority
These figures have not changed
markedly year on year – with 50%
of agency staff saying that creativity
is a fundamental priority in their
business. However it’s down slightly
for in-house practitioners at 29% vs
24% in 2016, with a 20% difference
between agency and in-house. This
is unsurprising given that creativity
is the lifeblood for many agencies
whilst in-house teams operate as
part of wider marketing efforts.
There are some other considerable
differences between the two groups
– still 30% of in-house practitioners
say that it is an average or low
priority compared to 18% of agency
staff.
Fundamental
High
Average
Low
Non-existent
50%
33%
15%
1%
1%
24%
46%
24%
6%
0%
44 %
44 %
10 %
3 %
0 %
How high a priority is creativity for your current business?

Evaluation
Whilst equal numbers of agency
and in-house staff (48%) say that
evaluation of ideas is a high priority,
it is somewhat surprising that whilst
23% of agency staff agree that it’s
fundamental, there were no in-
house respondents who agreed.
This is versus 14% agreeing with
that statement last year. A further
48% of in-house staff agree equally
that evaluation is high or average
priority.
“Given the data-driven
environment we now operate in
and the overwhelming agreement
that the industry must move
beyond AVEs it seems remarkable
that 50% of in-house respondents
rate evaluation as merely an average priority.
With 71% of agencies citing client risk aversion
as the number one barrier to getting creative
ideas away we can only assume that these 2
issues are linked. If effectiveness in terms of
sales, reputation, behaviour change or other
relevant measures can’t be measured then it
won’t be valued, undermining any credibility in
the idea.”
Claire Bridges, Now Go Create
Fundamental
23%
0%
48% 48%
20%
48%
7%
3% 1% 0%
High Average Low Non-existent
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
How high a priority is evaluation of your creative ideas?

Drivers
There are some marked differences
between what agencies and their
clients or in-house teams believe
drives great PR work. For agencies
shareability, (media, bloggers,
influencers, opinion leaders, ordinary
people—sharing with their friends,
via social media or word-of-mouth)
is rated as the number one factor
in driving great PR work, whilst in-
house practitioners rank it 4th citing
authenticity as the most important
driver. Agencies rate authenticity as
half as important as a driver to their
in-house counterparts.
Storytelling (using stories to engage
audiences, shape brands, spark
conversations and drive social media)
is the second most important factor
for those in-house (7.5), scoring just
4 on the agency side. Engagement
(prompting audience response both
emotionally and in some tangible
way: joining the conversation,
participating in the debate, offering
feedback, getting involved in a cause
or issue) is the third most important
consideration for in-house teams,
who rank it higher than agencies. Of
equal importance to both audiences
are ethics and behavioural change
with little difference between
stickiness and purpose (contributing
to social good rather than just
focusing on business results). On the
latter it would seem that this is falling
out of favour with in-house teams
with it being the lowest ranking in
terms of drivers.
“The lower ranking of storytelling
by agencies this year is surprising
given how much the word is
bandied-about and even baked
into the approach and ethos of
some. PR people have always been
connected to stories in the sense of creating
news and now content, and storytelling offers
a framework for marketers, PRO’s and leaders
to communicate their messages. The current
crop of emotionally-charged Christmas adverts
focussing on storytelling rather than products
highlights that this method of communication
is not going anywhere fast. The popularity
of the shareability measure is interesting
as success here may mean that something
is popular, but is not necessarily effective in
driving the behaviour change that clients are
looking for. Linking the relationship between
the two is something that the industry still
needs to do better.”
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
Courage
Authenticity
Engagement
Shareability
Stickiness
Ethics
Purpose
Behavioural change
Storytelling
(4.38/
(4.16/
(4.14/
(4.64/
(5.29/
(5.17/
(5.51/
(5.03/
(4.1/
5.75)
7.88)
6.67)
5.76)
4.56)
4.94)
4.27)
4.85)
7.58)
0 10OUT OF
In your opinion, what drives great PR work?

Visual/image-led communication
still reigns for both groups as the
most important trend with in-
house teams continuing to value
this highly – 63% this year vs 57%
last year, and agencies citing 50%,
slightly down on last year’s 55%.
Co-creation remains popular – 41%
in-house, 36% agency, both down
on 2016.
Seemingly contradicting the
figures in question seven regarding
purpose, social good is the second
most influential trend informing
creative work with 41% of in-house
and 43% of agency respondents,
both up on last year.
The biggest difference in opinion is
in relation to immersive experiences
with just 27% of agencies citing its
importance compared with 44%
in-house. Unsurprisingly perhaps the
old school bread and butter function
of product placement remains more
important to in-house teams with
19% vs 6% of agency respondents.
Celebrities / influencers has also
increased markedly over the past
year.
“The word influencer now has
a much wider meaning than
it has done historically given
the digital environment and
whilst it can tricky to define and
measure, many agencies now
have influencer marketing offers and the rise
of bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers and the
like will be driving that year on year change.
The importance of influencer marketing
is only set to increase as brands navigate
between maintaining control and consumer
interaction.”
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
36%
41%
6%
0%
31%
22%
50%
63%
27%
44%
37%
35%
4%
0%
43%
41%
23%
16%
6%
19%
38%
41%
Which trends are most influential when it comes to informing
your creative or marketing/communications work?

Barriers
The number one barrier for
agencies to creativity, following the
same pattern as last year is client
feedback or risk aversion – at 71%,
up five points on 2016 (67%). In-
house teams feel that lack of time
is a bigger barrier than their agency
counterparts at 44% and 31%
respectively, and this has doubled
as an issue in importance for clients
(23% last year). Lack of budget is
the second biggest barrier – similar
feedback with 51% and 54%
agency / in-house. Meanwhile, for
clients, agency feedback or risk
aversion has reduced to 13% - from
29% in 2016.
“Again these results highlight the
need for more robust evaluation
measures, better briefs and
clear objectives at the start of
projects to make the work more
accountable and to assuage client
concerns around the risks involved when work
is presented.”
AGENCY
IN-HOUSE
What stops you or your company from being creative?

The top 3 things that would
improve creative capabilities are
quite different according to our
audiences. For in-house teams
the number one factor that
would improve their own or their
company’s creative capabilities
is the ability to take more risks at
58%, whilst this ranked 3rd place
with 29% for agencies. Clients cite
more budget (49%) as do 32%
of agency staff, which along with
educating clients puts it the equal
first improvement for agencies
on 32%. Unsurprisingly in-house
respondents don’t agree — just 9%
saying that client education would
improve things.
“Research shows that
companies who want to
innovate must learn to
manage risk and introduce
processes to do so. In
companies that stagnate,
or worse die, their desire or ability to
take risks has been shown to be very low.
Whilst it’s not necessarily an easy thing
to do and is related to the overall culture
in a business, particularly related to trust,
then in-house teams and agencies have
to find ways to talk about and approach
risk if they want to innovate. It doesn’t
have to be about betting the farm; testing,
experimenting and iterating and learning
from mistakes can all be built into ways of
working.”
AGENCY IN-HOUSE
What would improve your own or your company's creative
capabilities?

Talent
Creative director
There is a major jump in the number
of agencies employing a creative
director — to 56% from 37% last
year, suggesting that the role is
becoming a formalized position
within the agency model. And there
is a corresponding drop in the
proportion that believes the role is
not necessary (23%).
Disappointingly, though, there is no
sign of positive movement in terms
of the gender balance of creative
directors. According to this year’s
Creativity in PR study, the proportion
of female creative directors has
decreased to 30% this year,
compared to 35% last year.
Yes
56%
37%
13%
21%
23%
30%
8%
12%
No, but we are
considering it
No, not necessary,
it's part of
everyone's job
We'd like to but
we cannot afford it
2017 2016
Do you have a creative director?
2017 2016
male 70%
female 30%
male 66%
female 35%
Is your creative director male or female?

Talent
A consensus appears to be
developing about the creative
director’s responsibilities within the
PR agency model. Respondents
again opted for campaign ideas
first (84%), ahead of new business
(56%), with talent and training
growing to 37%.
Other suggestions included:
‘Critical cultural role: sets the tone in
empowering everyone to be creative.’
‘No idea. Very few people have ever met him.’
1. Campaign ideas
2. New business
3. Design & branding
4. Talent & training
5. Other
84%
56%
37%
37%
8%
How would you characterise the creative director's role &
key duties:

Talent
Recruitment
Planners remain the most sought-
after type of creative talent,
perhaps because of the challenges
the PR industry has faced in terms
of incorporating this service into
their model. They are followed
close behind by art direction and/or
design, reflecting the visual times in
which we live. Of note, there is a big
jump in the need for technologists.
What types of creative talent does your business need?

Talent
Previous work (44%) remains the
most popular way to recruit for
creativity, with awards ranking
more importantly as a measure of
an applicant’s abilities at 29% up
almost 10% on 2016. A quarter still
use no specific measures.
One of the challenges often raised by
PR firms revolves around their ability
to attract the best creative talent.
Accordingly, we again addressed this
issue, with more respondents (33%)
again stating that creative talent
prefer to work at another type of
agency, presumably in a competing
discipline. Meanwhile, salaries (22%)
overtake other concerns when it
comes to posing a barrier to hiring
creative talent.
Other suggestions included:
2017 2016
29%
43%
16%
35%
44%
39%
25%
20%
41%
18%
40%
45%
30%
23%
Applicant's awards portfolio
Specific interview questions
Specific interview test
Use interviewer's judgement
Assess interviewee's previous work
Recommendation
We don't use any specific methods
How do you recruit for creativity?
Salaries are higher elsewhere
They prefer to work at another type of agency
We don't try hard enough to hire them
Our culture is not receptive to them
Other
22%
33%
16%
11%
18%
What stops creative talent joining your agency?
“There is a lingering perception PR is not creative.”
“All of the above plus they perceive having a PR agency on their CV is bad for their career.”
“We don’t ask them, we breed our own.”

Talent
When asked to list the top sources
of creative talent for their business,
29% pointed to adland, ahead of
other non-PR agencies (18%). Only
17% find the creative talent they
need at other PR firms, while 9%
hire from in-house and 12% from
digital media.
17%
29%
18%
9%
8%
12%
7%
Another PR agency
Advertising agency
Any other type of agency
In-house
Graduate recruitment
Digital media (eg Facebook, Google, Buzzfeed...)
Outside the media and marketing world
What is the best source of creative talent for your business?

Talent
Retention & development
When it comes to retaining the talent
hired, 23% of respondents believe
that their company does an excellent
job, up 5% on 2016, with the
majority doing an average job (57%).
Excellent
Average
Poor
Don't know
23%
57%
13%
7%
How good a job does your company do when it comes to
retaining creative talent?

Talent
The barriers to retaining creative
talent are the need for variety (45%
want to work at a different type of
agency), salary (42%), lack of career
development options (27%) with
23% agreeing that the culture is not
receptive, up 8% on 2016. Salary
They want to work at a different type of agency
Our culture is not receptive
Lack of career development options
They are not offered enough opportunity to contribute
Creativity is not supported by management/leadership
42%
45%
23%
28%
16%
9%
What are the barriers to retaining creative talent?

Talent
There is little significant movement
in most of these figures, although
there is a 6% decrease in
promotion opportunities on 2016.
Despite its importance to business,
in particular in agency respondents
almost 40% of respondents still
say they do nothing to encourage
creativity and creative behaviour.
2017
42%
16%
31%
38%
2016
39%
18%
37%
44%
Internal awards
Financial incentives
Promotion opportunities
We don't
How do you encourage creativity and creative behaviour?

Talent
62% of our respondents said their
company’s HR practices including
remuneration, appraisals, rewards
and training were average or worse,
poor or non-existent. 35% felt that
they were good with just 4% saying
they were consistently excellent.
Consistently excellent
good
average
poor
Non-existent
4%
34%
41%
13%
8%
How good are your company's HR practices - remuneration,
appraisals, rewards, training - when it comes to supporting
creativity?

About
About the holmes report
The Holmes Report is the
authoritative voice of the global
public relations industry, dedicated
to proving and improving the value
of public relations by providing
insight, knowledge and recognition
to public relations professionals.
The Holmes Group was founded
in 2000 by Paul Holmes, publisher
and CEO, who has more than two
decades of experience writing
about and evaluating the public
relations business and consulting
with both public relations firms and
their clients.
The Holmes Group delivers against
its mission by providing the most
sophisticated reporting and
analysis on public relations trends
and issues, along with an extensive
global footprint of events and
awards.
For more information please visit
www.holmesreport.com
About Now Go Create
Claire Bridges is Chief Spark and
Founder of leading creative training
consultancy Now Go Create,
whose philosophy is that everyone
can be creative. Claire is an ex-
WPP Consumer MD and Creative
Director who has worked with some
of the world’s biggest brands in her
previous 20-year PR career and she
now runs Now Go Create, delivering
workshops around the world that
last from three hours to week long
creative leadership intensives and
ongoing programmes. She has
worked on hundreds of creative
projects and trained thousands of
people around the world.
Claire’s new book In Your Creative
Element, The Formula for Creative
Success in Business explores the
question ‘What does it take to be
creative in business?’ and features
proprietary work undertaken by the
author for her MSc in Innovation,
Creativity and Leadership from
the Cass Business School at City
University London.
In Your Creative Element is highly
practical and packed with case
studies and tips from creative
experts and organisations including
the NHS, United Nations, Twitter,
Punchdrunk, Sky Media and Paddy
Power as well as some of the
world’s most successful advertising
and PR agencies including the
Holmes Report’s Most Creatively
Awarded Agency in the World 2016
- Unity.
For more information please visit
www.nowgocreate.co.uk

Creativity in PR 2017

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Creativity in PR 2017

More from PRovoke Media

Recently uploaded

Creativity in PR 2017