Is creativity logical, rule-breaking, or random by design?

Many years ago, when I had just joined the advertising industry, I recall attending an orientation session where we discussed the distinction between 'art' and 'applied art.'

Humanity's innate desire to express itself gives rise to art. We created it as cave drawings during the early man era, and lately NFTs have become a craze, but in essence all these are just different forms of expression of a human soul.

Applied art, on the other hand, is a creative expression for a purpose. The purpose could be either commercial, such as creating a social media post to drive sales for a bake sale, or socially beneficial, such as creating a poster to encourage children to wash their hands before eating. However, there is a specific brief that applied art must fulfill.

So, in theory, applied art is a lot more logical than pure art. But when your creation is fighting for attention amidst a clutter of hundreds of other creations, will logic be enough? This is the daily challenge that professionals in marketing and advertising encounter.

By definition, advertising falls into the applied art segment, always responding to a specific brief, yet simultaneously needing to be unconventional to stand out and attract attention. So, in fact, in order to create an impact, advertising needs to be right and rule-breaking at the same time.

As consumers, the creativity of an ad mesmerises and seduces us. We often fail to recognise the powerful logic that underpins the creativity of an ad. To achieve a creative breakthrough, you must first make a strategic move. The strategy must pinpoint the specific issue that requires resolution and the part communication can play in resolving it. Clearly define the message that would lead to a shift in consumer perception. That is the right part.

The next stage is to find the most disruptive way to communicate the message. If we follow conventions, no one would pay attention to our message. If we adhere to conventions, our message will become a mere visual distraction. So, it becomes important for creatives to break a few rules, to do something that has not been done before. Encourage consumers to use their imagination to overcome the clutter. The rule-breaking part.

Take any impactful campaign of any brand, and if you pay close attention, you would be able to isolate the right & rule-breaking aspects. For example, impactful communication of Fevicol over the years has used several rule-breaking devices to capture attention—shadow getting stuck to a shutter, egg not cracking in spite of being hit by a hammer, or girl unable to take off a moustache stuck for a play. But underlying all these strong ‘random’ creative hooks is the strong logic of positioning Fevicol as the strongest adhesive brand—“Fevicol ka jod”!

So, in advertising, it is not enough to just be right; you need to break some rules too in order to get noticed. It's an interesting world, where creativity finds a logical way to be random.

(Our guest author, Neeraj Bassi, is the Chief Growth Officer at Cheil India, driving brand growth strategies.)