FAQs
Are there any objective criteria to evaluate creative work by advertising agencies?
Indu Sharma, marketing procurement specialist at CCS&N, writes: Creative work can be difficult to evaluate totally objectively. However, the role of a buyer is to minimise subjectivity and assess creativity on its commercial merit.
Creativity tends to be split into two parts: creative concept and creative execution. A sign of a strong creative concept is that it is simple and can be described and sold without any visuals.
The thinking behind the creative concept should demonstrate how it would help to achieve the objectives of the campaign and how it would fit into the wider marketing strategy of the company. It is important to understand this strategy in order to assess the commercial and creative value of agencies’ proposals.
Creative execution means “expressing the creative concept in the appropriate medium” through visual or verbal messages. For the advertising to be successful, the execution should be relevant to the offering, have a strong impact and be memorable.
The best way to assess creative work is to invite agencies to present their concepts as well as executions. It is also important to ask them to present their action plan and process to demonstrate how the campaign will be delivered on time and within the given budget.