If you ask 100 creative people what does creativity mean to them, you would get the same number of answers. Does that mean creativity is whatever anyone calls it?

When an advertising or creative agency fails to win an account in a pitch, more often than not, they would hear that the creativity aspect made the difference.

But when you probe what the differences were, no one would be able to express himself or herself aptly.

The problem is not new. You can find attempts to define creativity in the writings of Ogilvy, Hopkins, Young and Reeves who, along with their fellow creatives, drove up sales at many companies. So, we have got creatives who can't agree on what's creative, and other people who select creative but can't express why.

I don’t think I can offer answers here, but let me share some insights:

Successful ads can share attributes

Identifying what makes an advertisement effective is easier than creating one. An effective advertisement's message is clear and relevant to those you want to reach. It is liked and has visual charisma. Ogilvy is considered to be a big idea creator, yet during his long career he never had more than 20! How do you storyboard a smile? Yet the quality of a smile may determine whether a television commercial works. Small details often make a big difference such as a “do minute!” mnemonic of Maggi Noodles.

The subconscious amalgamates info

One never knows what piece of information kindles the creative process in the mind, so take in all the titbits. If one has to come up with a concept, get as much information as one can. Talk to salespeople, dealers and customers. In meetings ask questions. The reason? Well, read A Technique for Producing Ideas by JW Young. According to him, creative ideas are produced in a five-step process:

• Harvest information

• Digest the information in your conscious mind

• Move the information to your subconscious to incubate

• Allow an amalgamation to take place until an unpolished idea pops into your mind when you least expect it

• Shape that idea until you reach the final stage: A creative idea

Does that mean if everybody follows the steps, they can produce creative ideas? Of course not. It is a mystery of life why there are only a few Piyushes and Balkis. Coming up with creative ideas is a daunting task even for them. Sometimes one gets into a paralysis. It is important to keep the issue in the subconscious mind in order to bring out potentially successful ideas.

Strategy is key to an effective creative

If I were to pick one thing that causes most disappointments, it is the lack of clear direction. An effective creative begins with a well-defined strategy. Without one, chances are clients will not get what they expect – no matter who does the creative work. Perhaps Piyush and O&M may not agree with me. (Grapevine has it that Piyush does not bother about strategy; he just thinks of a creative idea, makes a storyboard and asks his team to sell it to clients!)

Once strategy is clear, creatives should focus their energies on ideas that fit the strategy.

Here's a case: In 1997, when the growth was stagnant for Kissan jams, the then agency Lintas argued that the positioning was totally wrong. While the largest consumers of the product were below 15 years, the Hindustan Lever marketing team tried to address the housewife, their universal target group. The agency, however, proposed that they address the actual users and the rest is history. Growth jumped from 2 per cent to 25 per cent within the year.

That shows not only the importance of strategy, but also the role that an effective creative plays in marketing. Perhaps, creative awards are meaningless; Effie Awards might be!