“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” wrote Mark Twain, upon reading his obituary in the newspaper.

It’s much the same story in advertising today.

“Creativity is no longer important,” said a CMO of my acquaintance, voicing what many of her peers think, even if they don’t have the bravura to say so.

We live in a time of change and, inevitably, change means out with the old and in with the new. Digital transformation hasn’t changed the old rules of communication; it has reversed them.

When the media landscape comprised TV, radio and print, marketers would spend 90% of their money on media and 10% on production. Today, it would be easy to flip those numbers. Ninety percent of the budget goes on the constant stream of content marketers think they need; the apps, the blogs and the influencer posts – let alone their ads on Meta, Amazon, YouTube and across the Google display network.

Being a CMO today is like working in a circus. All those spinning plates.

There was a time when she was in control. She could take her time to look for the sort of strategic insight that would give shape to a ‘big idea’. Not any longer. Now she is trying to manage dozens, if not hundreds, of little ideas, mostly lower-funnel direct marketing ideas, because her bosses want to see better sales figures and they want to see them NOW.

When one of those little ideas offends, it comes as a big surprise.

Much of her job now has become damage limitation and her own career is one of the casualties. Just one short video led to a 20% fall in Anheuser-Busch’s (AB) InBev stock price and a 26% drop in sales of Bud Light (Budweiser’s flagship low-calorie beer).

AB’s CMO, Alissa Heinerscheid, got someone called Dylan Mulvaney to post a short video on Instagram promoting a March Madness competition. Some people didn’t like the video at all. And they shared their dislike.

A singer called Kid Rock filmed himself shooting cans of Bud Light with an assault rifle.

Even Republican Senator Ron de Santis climbed into the ring. He said the video was an example of “woke companies… trying to change our country.”

When AB tried to distance themselves from Mulvaney, the American Left now joined the Right in boycotting Budweiser. Mulvaney, you see, is a transgender woman. In her video, she impersonated Audrey Hepburn. Before the video, she wasn’t particularly famous. After it had received 11 million views, she had to go into hiding.

While AB denies that Heinerscheid has been fired, she is no longer in her post as CMO.

So if you’re a marketer, the rewards for creativity are death threats and involuntary career changes.

After the fiasco, Bud Light went straight back to Clydesdales, the horses that have been featured in their advertising since 1986.

Now, I have a YouTube channel and I have made a few compilations of old commercials.

In the last month, for reasons I don’t entirely understand, one of the compilations titled ‘10 Funniest UK Ads of the 70s’ has attracted hundreds of comments.

@bungabening3530 wrote, “Those were the days when advertisers knew that a memorable ad was good for brand recognition. Today’s ads are instantly forgettable because they’re all about virtue signalling.”

There are others along the same lines and they got me thinking.

Back in olden times, we created brands by dramatising the product and/or its benefits. We put forward a few arguments. A cup of PG Tips is a great pick-me-up for your working day.

Drink Heineken because it is refreshing. When you encounter one of life’s little problems, perhaps smoking a Hamlet cigar will make things feel better.

Then a clever person in an agency asked the rhetorical question, “Yes, but what is the benefit of the benefit?” Which was a short step away from, “What is the benefit of the benefit of the benefit?” And suddenly, rather than talking about a product’s virtues, we were talking about its values. Heineken’s website tells me their values are: “Courage to dream and pioneer. Care for people and the planet and enjoyment of life.” Oh dear!

The damage Simon Sinek has done with his Golden Circle theory… He says most brands tell people what they do; some explain how they do it; but those that explain why they do what they do are the brands that succeed. Really?

Apple is supposed to be a brand that explains its ‘why’ brilliantly. The company exists to help creative people change the world. The trouble is, their latest commercial for the iPad shows them crushing creativity, literally. Okay, I’m being disingenuous.

When she said, “We don’t need creativity anymore,” what my CMO acquaintance really meant was that she does not need a tent-pole TV commercial.

For very good reasons, by the way. Why spend half a million on a lavishly produced spot that will be watched on a screen two inches by three inches in size? Why spend all that money on an ad your younger target audiences may never see because they are so adept at avoiding advertising? Why spend money on a big statement ad when the evidence is clear that a constant stream of prompts works better?

Writing an award-winning TV commercial is a skill. It involves creative thinking, but it isn’t necessarily creative. Many so-called ‘creatives’ are conservative, reactionary and bereft of originality.

So, what is creativity, then? For me, it is nothing more and nothing less than solving problems and making things better.

Yes, a great TV spot can make things a whole lot better for a brand if it drives sales, makes the profits to drive innovation and creates jobs, but agencies can do so much more for their clients now. Technology has liberated them from just making ads.

At the Caples Awards last week, a Spanish agency, Cheil Madrid, won gold for its work with Samsung. Now, a wristwatch can help people who stammer speak more fluently.

Impact BBDO won gold with ‘Audio Nikahnama’ for Easypaisa. Now, a young bride in Pakistan can dial a number and, in one of seven languages, hear her marriage contract explained before she signs away her rights.

In New Zealand, the DDB Group is showing owners of diesel-guzzling Volkswagen Kombis how to electrify their vans.

Although they use advertising to get traction, these are not advertising ideas. But they say as much, if not more, about the brand than any commercial could.

The implicit message from Samsung is that no one is more innovative. Easypaisa is telling a story about financial inclusion. And Volkswagen is able to reference its distinguished past while indicating the way ahead.

Rather than talk about their values, these brands are creating products and services that demonstrate them.

Perhaps Budweiser should take note.

Because creativity isn’t dead. It is evolving. And that is as it should be.

Patrick Collister is Custodian, Caples Awards, formerly of Ogilvy London and Google NACE.
patrick@creative-matters.com