The 2013 edition of the Holmes Report's Creativity in PR study, co-authored by NowGoCreate and sponsored by Ketchum. Based on research of 600 people across more than 35 countries, exploring whether the PR industry is creative enough to sway marketing budgets and develop game-changing ideas.

1. Creativity in pR | A Global Study 2013
In association with
Co-authored by

2. Introduction Creativity in PR | A Global Study
Creativity. Of all the buzzwords that
litter the marketing communications
industry, this one is more elusive than
most. Even as persistent overuse and
empty application conspire to rob it
of all meaning, the transformative
impact of genuine business creativity
has never been more important.
Hence, the report you are reading
now. One year ago the Holmes
Report and Now Go Create, in conjunction with Ketchum, set out to
explore whether the public relations
industry is truly creative enough to
meet the demands of the 21st century. A world where citizens and activists can see easily see through spin
and understand the true character of
an organization, where earning attention, respect and, crucially, trust,
requires ideas, innovation and courage.
Last year’s report revealed an ambivalent view of creative quality in the
industry. 95 percent of respondents,
however, cited it as a key skill, with
89 percent describing themselves as
creative. If nothing else, the result
confirmed a disconnect between
perception and reality, one that the
industry must bridge if it hopes to
assume a more central brand-building role.
The second edition of the Creativity
in PR study again brings considerable insight into these critical questions. The report polled 600 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.
They answered a variety of questions
during the three months the study
ran during the summer of 2013,
encompassing attitudes towards
creativity; tools and skills; opportunities and challenges; and suggestions
and advice. We are very glad to bring
you the second edition of this landmark study, particularly after the
remarkable support the first effort
received. As always, we appreciate
your time, thoughts and feedback.
www.holmesreport.com
www.holmesreport.com
Arun Sudhaman
Editor | Holmes Report
One of the key reasons for co-authoring the Creativity in PR study is to
understand what this much-bandied
about word means and how it translates into real-world outcomes. To wit
my favourite Ogilvyism: “If it doesn’t
sell, it isn’t creative.”
In at the PR industry sharp-end for
over 20 years I had to be creative
daily to win and maintain clients. The
question I'm now most regularly
asked is "How do you build a creative
culture?” Depending on the problem,
workload, deadlines and people, the
same team can deliver inspirational
creative work one day, and really
mediocre work the next. I’m
obsessed with the variables that drive
a creative business. This year’s Creativity in PR study shows that:
The PR industry overall is self-critical
with 60% saying the industry lacks
big ideas. Creativity in PR is fundamental to everyone but clients want
better creative quality – only 18% of
clients are consistently happy with
their agency’s creativity. Budget has
overtaken time this year as the key
barrier to creativity. In 2012 the use of
technology was identified as largely
absent as a way to drive creativity
and this continues as a trend in 2013.
Creative infrastructure investment is
relatively low - almost 90% of businesses allocate less than 10% of
their budget on creativity – often far
less. The hundreds of anecdotal
comments show some old-school
attitudes that pervade around creativity; that it’s the purview of a chosen
few, that process is anathema and
that unstructured group brainstorms
will cut it when it comes to answering
a brief. There’s a simmering frustration running through the survey
responses – we’re as good as any
other part of the marketing mix – why
are we not recognized for our creative
chops?
In-house teams face different creative
challenges from agencies – often
small teams, repetitive problems,
corporate risk-aversion, multiple
internal stakeholders to sell ideas to.
A senior client bemoaned the only
time they get the creative work they
want from their PR agencies is when
they competitively pitch the work.
I collaborate with talented agency
PR’s and big thinkers in all sectors,
whose creativity is hamstrung. As
Matisse famously said: ‘creativity
takes courage’. We need the collective confidence in our creative abilities (like our ad agency brethren) to
ask for better briefs, more face time,
better insight, more time! Then and
only then will be the creative divide
between what clients want and what
agencies can deliver be bridged.
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
Claire Bridges
Founder | NowGoCreate
2 | creativity.holmesreport.com

3. Contents
This year's survey results confirm our worst
suspicions; that even the campaigns winning creativity awards are not as creative
as we tell ourselves, primarily because they
are not as effective as they need to be.
That's because, in our creative zeal, we
leap too quickly and too blindly into solving
a company's problem without first focusing
on solving their customers' problems. Too
many brainstorms focus on selling product
benefits rather than magnifying audience
needs and possible benefits. And we
immediately limit ourselves as an industry if
we think our creative mission is to purely
earn media attention -- this has got to be
our year to serve consumers and customers creatively -- by imagining and implementing solutions that go way beyond
generating publicity impressions. As one
successful creative agency looks at it, we
must find our creative solutions at the
intersection between product truths and
cultural truths. Only then will PR achieve
its creative potential.
Pg 4.............................................Business Value
Pg 10.............................................Ideas & Quality
Pg 15.....................................................Barriers
Pg 17.....................................Drivers & Definition
Pg 20................................... Talent & Investment
Pg 27.................................... Techniques & Tools
Pg 33................................................... Appendix
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
Karen Strauss
Chief Strategy &
Creativity Director | Ketchum
3 | creativity.holmesreport.com

4. Business value
Creativity in PR is business-critical
This year’s headline finding reveals that creativity
is becoming an increasingly critical element in
how businesses perceive
PR value. In-house respondents were asked
how important creativity
is to their decisions to
hire and retain an agency.
The results demonstrate
the premium that businesses now place on creativity in PR, with more
than three-quarters (79%)
rating it as 8 or higher out
of 10, compared to
two-thirds last year.
Almost half (47%) scored
it as 9 or more, while
more than one in five
(22%) gave it full marks
for importance, both significant increases on the
2012 results.
The findings belie the notion
that creativity in PR is a
luxury. Instead they demonstrate, once and for all, the
indelible importance
attached to creativity by
in-house marketers and communications as a genuine
business priority.
Geographically, buyers of
agency services in Asia and
Europe are less concerned
about creativity than their
counterparts around the
world. Predictably, creativity
is a more important commodity in the UK (87%) and US
(84%), according to the proportion of clients that rate it
as 8 or higher out of 10. But
there are surprises elsewhere.
Australia, famed for
award-winning creative PR
campaigns, is only average,
while Latin America and the
Middle East score higher than
Asia and Europe.
32.1%
If you are in-house, how
important is creativity in
your decision to hire &
retain an agency?
24.5%
22.0%
8 or higher
uk
LatAm
3.8% 10.7%
Us
middle east
Australia
Asia
Europe
6 or
Below
7
8
9
10
4 | creativity.holmesreport.com

5. Business value
…but PR firms still struggle to prove their creative worth
Are you happy with the
creative capabilities of
your agency?
Yes, Consistently
17.8%
50.4%
Yes, sporadically
No, its a constant challenge
Not at all 3.1%
28.7%
Despite the obvious importance of creativity, PR firms
continue to underwhelm
when clients actually rate
the creative capabilities.
Just 18 percent are consistently happy with PR agency
creativity, a marginal
increase on 2012. Half are
sporadically satisfied, while
more than a quarter (29%),
believe it is a constant challenge. In total, 32% of clients are not happy with
their firm’s creativity capabilities, representing a worrying increase on last year’s
proportion (23%).
Client
view
Creativity is not only critical to
selling in ideas to clients and
helping prove the value of PR and
its efficiency versus other channels,
but ultimately what it will take to
break through the clutter and get
the attention of consumers in an
increasingly more competitive
marketplace.To me the solution to
getting agencies to deliver more
creative thinking is to remind and
reinforce that there is always
money for a good idea. I encourage my agencies to be reactive
and proactive – if you believe in
something or see an opportunity,
don’t wait for us to brief you, be
proactive and bring new thinking to
the table throughout the year in an
opportunistic fashion. Even if we
don’t execute the program or idea,
many times you still get credit for
the thinking, which ultimately helps
generate additional trust in you as
partners and in the PR channel.
Heather Mitchell, head of global PR and
social media, Unilever haircare
5 | creativity.holmesreport.com

6. Business value
Unsurprisingly, then, only
42% of clients are more
likely to approach their PR
agencies for big creative
ideas today than they were
12 months ago. The remaining 58% either said no or
said there has been no
change.
Compared with 12 months
ago, are you more or less
likely to approach your PR
agency for big creative ideas?
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
Firstly, creative work needs to be
presented by creative directors. Just
like you’d never put me in a room to
sell a crisis plan, account teams
should not be presenting the big
creative ideas. Second, creative
directors need to be core members
of account teams, attending key
meetings and tracking the progress
of ideas and the client’s business
situation. And last, we must continue
to focus our efforts on selling ideas,
not tactics. Clients want and should
be ‘wowed’ by ideas. They want and
should be surprised by amazing
thinking. If we don’t deliver on that,
we won’t be consulted for big creative ideas.
Marc Levy, Director of Strategic and
Creative Planning, Ketchum New York
Yes
There has been
no change
No
17.7% 40.5% 41.8%
6 | creativity.holmesreport.com

7. Business value
Where do PR firms rank?
In-house respondents were
asked to rank the creative
quality of their various
agencies, with PR firms
ranking behind advertising
and digital agencies, but
ahead of media and experiential. The results suggest
one of two things. First, that
the creative gap between
the PR world and adland
may not be quite as big as
anyone thinks or, second,
that PR scored higher because the survey was undertaken by more comms
directors than senior marketers.
Please rank the creative quality
of your various agencies
1
2
3
4
5
Advertising Agency
Digital Agency
PR Agency
Media Agency
Experiential Agency
7 | creativity.holmesreport.com

8. Business value
Room for improvement
Clients: Which are the most
important areas in which your
PR firms need to improve their
creative quality?
Paid
Media 4.0%
Stunts/ 7.4%
experiential
Owned 8.1%
media
Realtime 10.7%
Marketing
Quality of creative personnel 31.5%
Media relations 38.9%
Insight/planning 40.3%
storytelling 44.3%
While clients might be unsatisfied with PR agency
creativity, there is more encouragement to be found in
the areas where firms can
improve. 61 percent each
cited content and integrated
ideas, both areas where
smart PR firms should
already be able to make a
difference.
Other areas that are ripe for
creative improvement: Storytelling (44%), insight/planning (40%), media relations
(39%) and, significantly, in
the quality of their creative
people (31.5%).
Also of note, hardly any
clients are looking for PR
firms to be improve creativity in terms of paid media
(4%) or even owned media
(9%).
Integrated ideas 61.1%
Content creation & marketing 61.1%
8 | creativity.holmesreport.com

9. Business value
Assessment
The dissatisfaction is not all
one-way traffic. Disturbingly, agencies report an
increase in clients that
either have no set process
for assessing creativity or
do not assess it at all (41
percent vs 37 percent last
year). Once again, agency
creativity is most often assessed as part of client satisfaction (36.4%).
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
Agencies : Do clients
assess your creative
effort?
Yes
Yes, as
Somepart of times,
client but there
satis- is no set
faction process
17.6%
18.9%
No
6.5%
6.9%
Don’t
know
3.1%
4.8%
2012
2013
Co-creation between agency and
client will be the key driver for more
creativity in PR. There are communications experts sitting on both sides
– the agency and the client. A new
generation of clients won’t wait until
the creative agency team has baked
up an idea for presentation. They
want and should be part of the
ideation process to shape ideas from
the beginning.
Petra Sammer, Chief Creative Officer,
Ketchum Germany
29.9%
36.4%
41.6%
34.3%
9 | creativity.holmesreport.com

10. Ideas & Quality
The client-agency divide
extends to overall perceptions of quality and ideas in
the PR industry, demonstrating a much less
favourable view from those
on the in-house side of the
equation.
Broadly speaking, opinions
of creative quality within
the PR industry have not
shifted much over the past
12 months, demonstrating
that ambivalence persists.
Once again, more than half
describe it as ‘ordinary’ or
worse. 40% say it is good
and just 7% label it ‘inspirational’. One in 10 describe it as ‘unsatisfactory’.
How would you describe
the quality of creativity in
the PR industry?
POor
4.4%
UNsatis- Ordinary
factory
Good
Inspira
tional
5.6%
9.6%
39.2%
37.7%
10 | creativity.holmesreport.com

11. Ideas & Quality
“Really depends on the
sector. However, when I look
at ‘award-winning’ campaigns — they all seems to
recycle the same ideas over
and over.” In-house, US
2.4%
4.7
%
“Good but needs to get
much better - more interconnected and bolder.”
Agency, France
Clients: how would you
describe the quality of
creativity in the PR industry?
47.2%
Significantly, clients have a
considerably more jaundiced view of creative quality than their agency brethren. Just 39% describe it as
inspirational or good, while
more than 60 percent see it
as ordinary or worse. Once
again, it appears that agencies are falling down in their
quest to prove to clients
that they have the necessary creative credentials for
today’s engagement environment.
34
.6%
“In our region (MENA) clients
like the idea of creativity but
in the end refuse to allow
agencies to do anything creative. This is because, in
most cases, in-house corp
comms people have less
experience and far less imagination. PR for global brands
is very often generated in
Europe, North America or the
Far East and issued in a
command and control fashion.” Agency, Qatar.
.0%
1
1
poor
Inspirational
Unsatisfactory
Good
ordinary
11 | creativity.holmesreport.com

12. Stagnant Quality
Ideas &thinking?
Stagnant thinking?
Over the past 12 months, do you feel that the quality
of creativity in PR campaigns has improved?
38.8%
33.1%
28.1%
Further clarity is provided
when respondents are
asked whether they think
the quality of creativity in
PR campaigns has improved over the past year.
61% disagree that it has,
suggesting that there are no
quick-fix solutions to raising
creative standards.
Respondents in Anglo-Saxon markets — Australia
(56%), the UK (54%) and
US (50%) — held the most
favourable view of creative
quality, with Asia (38%)
some distance behind.
Asia
LatAm
Middle East & africa
Europe
no change
Us
no
Uk
Yes
Australia
Inspirational or good
12 | creativity.holmesreport.com

13. Stagnant Quality
Ideas &thinking?
Again, clients are even less
convinced that quality is
improving; just 26% agree
with that statement.
Clients: Over the past 12 months,
do you feel the quality of creativity
in PR campaigns has improved?
Latin American respondents
(71%) are least likely to see
an increase in creative quality, followed by US (69%)
and UK (66%). Australia
stands out, with just 59%
disagreeing with the notion
that the quality of creativity
in PR has improved over the
past year.
74.2%
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
Disagree
Australia
Middle East & africa
Asia
Europe
Uk
Us
LatAm
www.ketchum.com
The issue that comes to mind here is
‘diligence.’ Creativity shouldn’t be
transactional — if we’re only delivering ideas for the client when they ask
for them, we’re doing it wrong.
Agencies should be delivering a
steady stream of creative ideas to
clients, demonstrating that we have a
never-ending supply — and that
we’re always thinking about their
business.
Marc Levy, Director of Strategic and
Creative Planning, Ketchum New York
25.8%
Yes
No, or no change
13 | creativity.holmesreport.com

14. Stagnant
Ideas &thinking?
Quality
Stagnant thinking?
The PR industry has been
criticised for lacking
‘big ideas’. Do you agree?
Yes it’s a fair judgement
No it’s unfair
Similarly, people continue to
agree with the contention
that PR agencies lack big
ideas, a contention that is
often voiced by ad industry
types at Cannes. 60 percent
believe the statement is a
fair one, essentially the
same proportion as last
year.
Among clients, the view is
even more pronounced,
with 69% believing that the
PR industry lacks big ideas.
Lacks
big ideas
40.3%
9.7%
5
‘The PR industry has a range
of obstacles in putting forward and driving 'big ideas'
and very few agencies have
managed to master the art of
both creating a 'big idea' and
harnessing the power of their
own structured traditional PR
techniques.’
Agency, Australia.
14 | creativity.holmesreport.com

15. Barriers
Compared with last year,
lack of budget (54%) has
overtaken lack of time
(44%) as the biggest barrier
to creativity. 43% say client
feedback or risk aversion is
a barrier to creativity, whilst
clients say they’re not
happy with the level of creativity from their agency. So
where’s the disconnect?
“For a client there is a perceived risk in taking a creative (read, more expensive)
idea to market. Unlike advertising we do not control the
end result of the editorial
(unless, as some agencies
do, they are paying for content – but that's another conversation). So there is a perceived risk in offering a creative idea which runs an
increased risk in "not having
the client taken seriously",
and the idea itself ends up
being more interesting than
the reason why you went to
market in the first instance.
Plus, the vagaries of editorial
mean that with a lack of control in the editorial outcome,
it makes clients nervous. We
cannot guarantee the way
the story will be carried. The
other end of the spectrum is
the 'creative PR agency'
who forgets the rules and
etiquette of PR and does not
integrate the idea with the
tried and tested solid communication techniques of
running a PR campaign.”
Agency, Australia
What stops you or your company from being creative?
Lack of budget (54.0%)
Lack of time (44.2%)
Client feedback or rick aversion (43.6%)
Lack of clear objectives (40.7%)
Lack of understanding between agency & Client (23.4%)
"I believe the biggest barriers
to creativity in PR are (in no
particular order): Client AND
team risk-aversion; unclear
direction from clients/fear or
apprehension of pushing
back to gain greater understanding of the challenge;
not enough planning/research, which leads to lack
of strong insights about consumer target; the belief that
the ad agency is always
going to lead creative, so we
sit back and take their direction. We need to be
Differences in opinion about creative quality (20.5%)
Regulatory enviroment (19.6%)
Our own risk aversion (17.2%)
Leadership do not view it as important (11.9%)
The economy (9.8%)
It’s the domain of other departments... (8.6%)
15 | creativity.holmesreport.com

16. Barriers
pro-actively coming up with
creative ideas and presenting
them to clients. We are just
as creative as ad folks, we
just need to assert that fact.
This is especially true as the
lines become more blurred
between "advertising" and
"PR." Agency, US
“Creativity is particularly lacking in PR agencies in Asia
Pacific: many agencies are
stuck in the 90s bringing
cobbled-together, recycled
PPT with hollow ideas to
client meetings/pitches. This
is an agency management
issue: creativity and new
thinking is not taken seriously, invested in and rewarded.”
Agency, China
“PR agencies are not structured to provide creativity as
a service. To do that, you
need a creative team that is
paid solely to think and
create. Not account teams
who like to think they are
creative, but spend the majority of their time managing
projects and clients. Until PR
agencies shape themselves
more like creative agencies,
they won't be creative.”
Agency, UK
Improving the use of insight
is cited most often (33%)
as a catalyst for greater
creativity compared to
‘more time’ in 2012. Also
rising in importance is the
ability to take more risks
(32%). Resourcing —
budget and time — continue to be seen as areas ripe
for improvement, as is a
better knowledge of creative tools. Significantly, options such as hiring a planner, hiring a creative director or ‘more fun’ garnered
relatively little support.
If you could only do three things to improve your own or
your company’s creative capabilities what would they be?
33.2%
Improve use of Insight
32.4%
Ability to take more risks
30.4%
More Budget
28.8%
More knowledge of creative tools
More time
24.6%
Educate clients
24.3%
More external stimulus
17.9%
Clearer client briefs
17.9%
More rewards for being creative 17.3%
More training
15.6%
All other Responses 11.1%
16 | creativity.holmesreport.com

17. Drivers & definitions
In which areas are you seeing an
increasing need for creative
thinking and ideas?
Paid media 14.7%
Realtime marketing 22.9%
owned media 27.8%
stunts/experiential 28.6%
media relations 41.1%
content marketing 44.2%
It is one thing to talk in general terms about creative
standards, but a more
useful picture emerges
when respondents are
asked to zero in on the
areas where an increasing
need for creative thinking
and ideas is seen.
Content creation comes out
on top (74%), reflecting
surging demand from
brands, followed by integrated ideas (64%), digital
comms (59%), content marketing (44%) and media
relations (41%). In common
with in-house findings, paid
media scores considerably
lower (15%).
digital communication 58.9%
integrated ideas 63.8%
content creation 73.5%
17 | creativity.holmesreport.com

18. Drivers & definitions
Getting paid
A new question in this
year’s survey 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, revealing a disturbing dichotomy between
each side.
Agencies would rather stick
to billable hours (46%) with
slightly less also favouring
set fees for ideas (45%),
despite adland’s signal failure on the latter count. Clients — demonstrating more
innovation than they are
perhaps known for — would
prefer to pay agencies
based on sales results tied
to ideas (46%). Just 22% of
clients like billable hours
and not too many are
convinced of the merits of
set fees for ideas (29%) or
IP/licensing ideas (24%).
vative approach to funding
would help encourage idea
development and overall
creativity. Put more simply,
it appears that agencies
need to work harder to find
common ground with clients
that are searching for more
creative PR work.
In terms of developing
ideas would you prefer to
pay or be paid according to:
Client Agency
21.8%
"Campaigns that are self-serving, and
briefs that focus on the product and
not the consumer, are not producing
ROI. Creative that cuts through to the
heart of consumer need is the brand
of creative that moves minds, bodies
and product. If clients are intent on
paying for creative that leads to
sales, they will need to buy ideas that
are less self-serving than they may be
accustomed to.”
Sarah Unger, VP, Insight and Strategy,
Ketchum NY
29.1%
Billable hours Billable hours
45.8%
set fees for ideas Set fees for ideas
44.7%
23.6% Intellectual property Intellectual property 30.8%
and licensing of ideas and licensing of ideas
45.5%
Sales results Sales results 15.0%
tied to ideas tied to ideas
The findings would appear
to confirm that a more inno18 | creativity.holmesreport.com

19. Drivers & definitions
Creativity is...
In your opinion,
what drives great PR work?
73.4%
Great storytelling
Insight & planning
59.1%
Emotional resonance
48.4%
Content creation
43.2%
purpose
34.6%
Results
29.2%
Third party 16.4%
endorsement
humour
13.6%
viral
execution 11.7%
Technological 11.2%
innovation
all other responses 3.7%
Finding a definition for creativity in PR remains elusive.
Like last year, we asked
respondents for their suggestions and received
around 400 of them. They
appear in the appendix to
this report and again suggest that creativity means
different things to different
people.
When asked which factors
drive great creative work,
respondents again ranked
‘great storytelling’ first
(73%). And, once again,
insight/planning came
second (59%). However,
emotional resonance took
third spot this year (48%),
followed by content creation (43%). Significantly,
fewer respondents cited
purpose as a creative driver
compared to last year
(34%), reflecting the paucity
of purpose-driven campaigns in the Holmes Report’s recent Global Creative Index.
19 | creativity.holmesreport.com

20. Talent & Investment
Creative director
Like last year, almost half of
all respondents think that a
dedicated creative director
role is unnecessary. 35% of
organisations say they have
one, with another 14.5%
considering it. 4.5%, meanwhile, say they’d like a CD
but can’t afford it.
"Our Creative Director develops our creative process and
helps to inspire others to be
more creative. Often takes
the lead on 'big idea'
generation."
Agency, UK
"The CD engages with the
brand from the outset to help
shape and define the creative
brief. He is then involved in
the whole creative process –
from beginning to end."
Freelance, UK
“We find the best ideas
come from the youngest
team members...one person
cannot go across all practices and over 100 clients.”
Do you have a creative
45.5%
director?
34.7%
Agency, India
“To me the biggest issue of
all is investment in creative
talent. In most cases, agencies rely on their account
leaders to generate creative
ideas (these people also
engage media, manage
client relationships, manage
internal operations, etc., they're multi-taskers). There
needs to be investment in
Creative Talent that does
nothing more than ADD creative value and insights into
solving client challenges. Ad
agencies do this, PR agencies rarely do. That's the
problem.” Agency, Australia
15.2%
4.7%
No, not necessary, it’s
part of everyone’s job
Yes
No, but we are
considering it
we’d like to but we cannot
afford it
20 | creativity.holmesreport.com

21. Talent & Investment
Recruitment
“Avoid hiring all MBA's and
Ivy League grads - theses
people oversaw the great
recession. Take ‘chances’ on
other types of people - a few
successful fuck ups who
challenge everything.”
“We need to hire people with
strong, proven creative track
records. Most likely from
outside PR.” Freelance, UK
Agency, Belgium
A brilliant track record is
more likely to land a PR
creative a new job than anything else (48%). Blowing
your own trumpet leading to
recommendation has
increased by 10% on last
year (36%). Specific interview questions are also up
on last year by almost 10%.
“Talent in China is hard to
find let alone great people in
who are top creatives. It is a
bigger issue in this line of
work and getting people to
think larger picture is always
a struggle.” Agency, China
How do you recruit for
creativity?
Award Portfolio 11.9%
43.9%
Specific interview questions
Specific interview test 40.0%
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
“We have a tougher time finding
creative directors among our Generation Y candidates. Baby boomers
and Gen Xers are used to throwing
ourselves into every challenge and
every creative opportunity we see, no
matter how much it eats into our
private life. Gen Y is different. On the
one hand this is the best educated
generation we have ever had. Talented and skilled. On the other hand,
they are also pragmatic and rational
thinkers, always keeping an eye on
their work-life-balance. The generations have to learn to work together
to build a great creative staff.”
Use interviewer’s judgement
35.8%
Assess interviewee’s previous work
Recommendation
47.5%
25.6%
We don’t use any specific methods 17.5%
Petra Sammer, Chief Creative Officer,
Ketchum Germany
21 | creativity.holmesreport.com

22. Talent & Investment
Investment
Do you feel that your
business adequately
invests in creativity?
No
Yes
Not sure
48.0%
39.4%
Is your business investing
enough into creativity?
While 40% say yes, the majority – 47.5% – say no. In
total, an overwhelming 60
per cent are not convinced
their organisation is doing
enough.
“There are exceptions, but
mostly no. And it's the
number one, fundamental
reason PR lags behind advertising in this area.”
Agency, Australia
12.7%
“The investment is there. The
adoption needs more work.”
Agency, Canada
“Not enough - creativity is a
challenge and is often at
odds with the structured
thinking of traditional PR
programs.” Agency, Australia
22 | creativity.holmesreport.com

23. Talent & Investment
Investment
Brainstorming is still the
most dominant activity to
support creativity (61%),
followed by award entries
(51%), bookending the beginning and end of the creative process. 27.5% of
respondents say they are
given non-billable time to
think, which represents an
encouraging development
on 2012. This is a practice
that many creatively successful businesses adopt,
with Google’s 80:20 rule —
1 day a week of protected
time to think - being the
most well known. However,
there is a 5% increase in
respondents saying there is
no investment and that it is
just part of the job.
Mentoring, significantly, is
down by almost 10%. While
lack of budget is cited as
the key barrier to creativity,
mentoring represents a
useful way to nurture creative talent in cash-strapped
times. Giving top creative
performers the opportunity
to share their experience
and talent with others has
been shown to increase
profitability and business
confidence. It also helps
encourage an open culture
that takes risks and asks
questions.
Which investments are made to support creativity
in your organisation?
61.1%
Brainstorming activities
award entries
50.4%
using case studies
44.1%
Mentoring
40.0%
audience insight & planning
34.8%
training in creative techniques
30.7%
facilitation training
Non- Billable time to think
crowd-sourcing
job rotation/
secondment
all other
responses
32.9%
27.4%
19.5%
18.1%
15.9%
23 | creativity.holmesreport.com

24. Talent & Investment
Investment
According to 70% of our
respondents, less than 5%
of overall budget is spent on
improving creativity. Almost
90 percent, furthermore,
allocate less than 10 percent. These stats perhaps
support the notion that
investment in innovation has
collapsed since the 2008
financial crisis, and has yet
to recover.
1.2%
5.6%
5.9%
18.2%
29.6%
39.6%
What percentage of your
department or agency’s
overall budget/revenue
is spent on improving creativity?
0-2
3-5
6-10
11-25
26-50
51 & above
24 | creativity.holmesreport.com

25. Talent & Investment
Rewards
More than 50% of respondents do not think that their
creative ideas are properly
rewarded. Bridges points
out that this can be a complex area.
Do you feel that your
business adequately
rewards creativity?
2013
2012
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
“If those tasked to be creative don't
feel like they are adequately compensated, is it any wonder that they're
not firing on all cylinders? The
rewards for creative performance are
proven to be more effective if they are
NOT financial – recognition, promotion, freedom to take risks & more
opportunities to be creative all have
their place.”
Claire bridges, Founder, Now go create
34.1%
No
Yes
don’t know
25 | creativity.holmesreport.com

26. Talent & Investment
Rewards
The majority of businesses
(58%) reward creativity
within the annual performance review. More than
one in five do not reward
creativity at all — compared
to 42% in 2012, however,
this is a significant improvement.
How do you reward creativity
and creative behaviour?
Internal awards
financial incentives
44.9%
“The effectiveness of the
campaign — creative or not
— is judged. Creativity is not
its own reward!”
20.2%
In-house, Australia
33.8%
promotion opportunities
“It is just part of the job.”
Freelance, US
As part of annual performance review
We don’t
56.8%
21.9%
26 | creativity.holmesreport.com

27. Techniques & Tools
Confidence
Respondents were asked
how they would rate the
quality of creative thinking
and personnel within their
business. Unsurprisingly,
perhaps, agencies are far
more confident, with more
than two-thirds labelling it
inspirational or good. On the
client side, though, almost
as many see it as ordinary
or worse, perhaps helping
to explain the gap in how
creative quality and big
ideas are viewed by the two
groups. As Tom Kelley,
founder of innovation firm
IDEO, has pointed out, confidence is a major factor
when it comes to innovation:
“Creative confidence is the
natural human ability to
come up with breakthrough
ideas combined with the
courage to act on them. The
courage turns out to be a
really important part. Because lots of people have
these ideas in passing but
are too timid to put them
into action.”
How would you rate the
quality of creative thinking
and personnel within your
business?
56.2%
Agency
Client
45.1%
33.6%
23.6%
11.5%
6.9%
10.5%
5.3%
Inspirational
2.9%
Good
Ordinary
UNsatisfactory
2.7%
POor
27 | creativity.holmesreport.com

28. Techniques & Tools
Top priority
Despite the ambivalence, it
is difficult to find anyone
who believes that creativity
is not a priority to their business. 81% rate it as a fundamental or high priority;
just 18% see it as average
or worse.
How high a priority is creativity for you
in your current business?
high
fundamental
average
0.2%
3.2
low
non- existent
%
15.1%
.2%
39
.2%
42
28 | creativity.holmesreport.com

29. Techniques & Tools
Brainstorming
66% of respondents have a
creative process in their
business, even if some of
the anecdotal comment
disagreed.
“Creativity is not a process.
It’s a mindset. An attitude. It
needs to be in the DNA. So
the question should really be
about creativity as a culture.
It can be supported by processes but it cannot have a
process otherwise the concept of lateral thinking gets
replaced by boxed in thinking
or linear thinking. Contradiction!” Agency, India
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
Do you have a creative
process in your business?
Those agencies that have a creative
process are the ones winning creativity awards and rooting their ideas in
solid strategy. In particular, clients
expect a process, a way of arriving at
ideas. It is hard to think of another
fundamental business area where
outcomes are left to chance. If you
look at creative businesses and
unpick what they do there’s always
process involved, it’s not accidental.
Whether it’s creating an environment
where people are free to make mistakes like 3M or time for ideas like
Google, it’s deliberate.
Clarie bridges, Founder, Now go create
Yes
No
don’t know
%
3.8
6%
27.
.5%
65
“The words 'creativity' and
'process' jar with each other
– every idea is and should be
conceived differently. If you
have a process, you're not
being creative.” Agency, UK
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
29 | creativity.holmesreport.com

30. Techniques & Tools
Brainstorming
Do you use any of the
following techniques to
generate ideas?
Group brainstorming
84.9%
When asked which techniques PR people use to
generate ideas, group brainstorming remains number
one (85%). The result calls
to mind Maslow’s quote:
“If you only have a hammer,
you tend to see every problem as a nail.”
insight
What would x do?
Random stimuli
Related worlds
Proprietary process
Reverse
Brainstorming
edward de bono’s
6 thinking hats
we don’t use 6.8%
any techniques
30 | creativity.holmesreport.com

31. Techniques & Tools
Brainstorming
Given the dominance of the
practice, we asked
respondents whether they
really feel that group brainstorming is worthwhile. Despite being the dominant
mode of idea generation,
nearly 10% think it is a
waste of time. But 45%
think that it’s effective, with
a further 46% saying that
it’s ‘good enough’. Among
clients, only 18% are consistently happy with the
results.
Do you feel that group
brainstorming is...?
46.7%
44.0%
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
“If you have 8 people in a room
without any kind of process, insight
or structure then it’s a waste of
(billable) time and energy. Different
personality types also come into play
and the extraverts will chatter and
dominate whilst the more reflective
types may not say much at all. It’s
just lazy practice and probably
accounts for the fact that the ideas
are not cutting it with clients.”
9.3%
Claire bridges, Founder, Now go create
GOOD ENOUGH
EFFECTIVE
A WASTE OF TIME
31 | creativity.holmesreport.com

32. Techniques & Tools
Assessment
Results are very similar to
2012, with mainly subjective
measures being used to
assess ideas; personal experience leading (45%),
closely followed by SWOT
analysis. 25% (slightly less
than last year) say they are
not using any particular process.
How do you assess your own
or your agency’s creative
ideas?
Personal experience
44.6%
SWOT
“The best yardstick of creativity is in the approval of a
client and the execution generating the desired behaviour
in the target audience. All
else is cosmetic show and
tell.” Agency, India
32.8%
Work as part of intergrated agency team who input
We don’t use any particular process
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
19.0%
Risk-assessment
Creative director decision 13.3%
Voting
25.8%
23.8%
Comparison analysis
32.1%
7.8%
6 thinking hats 1.8%
“We truly believe in breaking down
geographic and mental boundaries to
produce a steadier flow of brilliant
ideas that break through. We reject
boundaries of city, state, country or
continent by sourcing ideas through
our collaborative global networks
within and outside our agency. We
also reject boundaries of bias, fear,
parochial thinking and time by trying
to engage clients as often as possible
in our creative process, and advocating persuasively for ideas that take
chances.”
Karen Strauss, Chief Strategy and Creativity
Director
32 | creativity.holmesreport.com

33. Appendix
What is your definition of creativity in the context of PR?
Ability to experiment with the instruments, rather than stick with the
same kit
Change is the only thing which is
constant
Making big yet simple ideas that,
when well told, attract people's
minds & hearts.
Innovation that makes people take
notice, take the desired action, and
do it more fulsomely and faster
Big idea but also authenticity
An incredible idea that not only gets
media talking but can be transcended
across all platforms, that creates
masses of shareable content and that
sparks ripples after it has happened
Big, campainable ideas - ones that
are independent of one particular
discipline (PR, advertising, marketing). Great, creative ideas can serve
as the foundation for truly integrated
campaign work.
Content that on it's surface doesn't
immediately appear to be a PR point.
Convincing teams and clients that
being edgy won't hurt their brands, if
it's done right.
Clever presentation of messaging
that make it more appealing to and
less canned for businesses and
consumers.
More PRativitty, please.
Something that's so immediately
obvious that anyone could have
thought of it - except that no one else
had
you didn't even know you had.
That, which is innovative enough to
grab the consumer's attention, leads
to conversion/ engagement in some
form and gives the consumer and the
marketer maximum benefit from such
engagement.
Fresh combination of insight and
ideas to create work so fresh you
don't notice its PR, and that results in
behaviour change
Forming conversations that would
otherwise not exist.
Forget what was - concentrate on
what is and what will be.
The ability to craft a clever idea which
has messages of the client deeply
embedded within it, and an idea
which has the ability to be 'PR'd'
itself. Marry that with tracking back to
the business objectives of the client.
Fresh, compelling, new and yet
makes absolute sense to the client's
needs and objectives.
PR lies at the heart of brand communication. It needs to grasp the nettle
and take control of comms across all
channels. By positioning PR as the
brand's "editor", the discipline will
work with all channels to deliver
cohesive communications.
An idea that is refreshingly new but
still relevant and, as a result, highly
engaging.
A journalist reacts positively straight
up or a consumer says I get it - it
should change behaviour,change
attitudes or lead to increased awareness
The challenge is to make brands tell a
genuine story, one that is true to its
values and also relevant to the public
- and do this in a creative, engaging
way.
Ability to generate ideas, which,
filtered, produce practical results.
Handling adversity well. It's now part
of the connected world. And integrating/thinking more in terms of
business process and opportunity
loss.
Finding and listening to the thoughts
and opinions of stakeholders/publics
An original means to a meaningful
end.
Ideas generated from a genuine
insight that create emotional charge
and change behaviour.
It is a paradox, so it is the road where
ideas that aren't typically allowed into
PR space intersect with the traditional's acceptance. What it should be:
bold collaboration between departments and client/agency relationships
where budgets are shelved for the
conversation.
Execution of random ideas, particularly those born of an ad-hoc brainstorming process. Notably untethered to business objectives.
societal issues or current events that
are not obvious, via multiple communication and integrated entertainment
methods/media.
An idea that will retain the audience
attention and is applicable regardless
of the media.
Disruption. Getting the right attention
quickly and effectively and translating
that straight to business objectives.
Creativity isn't necessarily the same
in PR -- it could be an out of the box
strategy that successfully evaded a
crisis -- but in any instance, creativity
in PR is the kind of idea that is so
clever and effective that it couldn't be
sold in an advertisement if they tried.
The magic by which a rational insight
is brought to life in an engaging and
emotional way to bring about a
change in behaviour.
Bringing the "wow" factor of advertising to the editorial agenda.
Ideas that build the brand or product
reputation without being seen as
obvious PR.
The "context of PR" limits creativity.
Instead of thinking outside the box,
creativity needs to expand the box,
bringing in innovative thinking from a
wide range of disciplines. Also,
inherent to creativity is to create. Too
often, PR thinks up creative ideas
only to have them outsourced to
other fields which dilutes the idea.
PR needs to be able to create and
execute against creativity.
Powerful ideas that create palpable
and lasting influence among key
stakeholders.
Unique Convergence. Relating the
uniqueness or credibility of a brand
by showing its connectivity to popular
Good ideas that work for the client
business objectives. Too many PR
ideas are just stunts for the sake of it
Making the complex compelling ...
and simple. Teaching clients how to
perpetually seize creative opportunities.
The striking and entertaining dramatization of a relevant information.
Truly moving idea that unlike ads
compels media or consumers to
share it/ act on it.
Our products and programs should
engage, inspire and incite audiences
to do something - there has to be a
call to action to what we do!
Something that makes me think 'why
the f* didn't we think of that' .. That
gives me goosebumps and that can
be integrated across the mix ... and
has longevity.
Big ideas to change perceptions, to
wake minds, to inspire stories that
33 | creativity.holmesreport.com

34. Appendix
appeals people and to get changes in
society.
Capturing the attention of heavily
attention deficit audiences with a
compelling story that connects emotionally with them.
What's that interesting angle you
use? That makes people sit up and
listen? How do you connect the
dots?
Sharp sound bite; adventurous tagline
Depends on the client and industry.
Within healthcare, its more about
innovation within regulations than
true creativity
Storytelling that kickstarts organic
branded conversations, bringing the
consumer / business into the thinking
in a natural and unforced manner.
Something engaging and distinct
from advertising
Thinking outside the square to
achieve a corporate/strategic objective - not just in traditional creative
sense, but importantly in creative
thinking to achieve real corporate
objectives.
Creative content acts as a catalyst for
conversation about the issue not the
creative (e.g., Dumb Ways to Die vs.
the Volkswagon Super Bowl Star
Wars ad).
Bending pop culture in favor of our
www.holmesreport.com
clients' brands.
www.holmesreport.com
provocative ideas + surgical execution
Presenting the message in a way that
captures attention, but doesn't stray
too far away from the company
branding
Ideas that stand out, can travel under
their own steam, and link clearly to a
business objective
www.holmesreport.com
www.holmesreport.com
www.holmesreport.com
Arun
Sudhaman
Editor | Holmes Report
arun@holmesreport.com
The 'hook' that grabs the consumer's
imagination.
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
Creating a seamless environmental
experience/engagement that consumers and customers BEG to be
part of.
Creativity is universal. It is the judgment of creativity that is uncomfortable and requires confidence, even
bravery, to triumph. This is the paradox of creativity in the PR environment. The masters of reputation
management have a bit of a confidence problem when it comes to
owning their creativity.
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
www.nowgocreate.co.uk
Claire
Bridges
Founder
| Now Go Create
claire@nowgocreate.co.uk
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
www.ketchum.com
Karen
Strauss
Chief Strategy &
Creativity Director | Ketchum
karen.strauss@ketchum.com
34 | creativity.holmesreport.com