How Creativity Can Help Brand Safety

The other day, crossing the road near my house, I almost got flattened by a cyclist. It was my fault, I was immersed in a phone call, but I had one of those sudden memory flashes as clear as if it was yesterday. ‘Crossing the road is as simple as ABC,’ I used to tell my daughters when they were of an age when they listened to parental guidance! ‘Always Be Careful.’

And now I find myself responding to the same sentiment with some of the world’s leading brands. Except it’s a different ABC. Long-term brand safety requires you to Always Be Creative.

Shared beliefs

It’s a conviction that’s been reinforced during the past months as I researched a book I’ve just released that explores what makes great advertising. Shared Beliefs for a New World is the result of speaking to some of the most influential people working in advertising today about the principles they believe underpin the best work.

"Brands are too risk-averse, they see comfort in blandness when what is really required is something to help them stand out."

One of the key themes that emerged during the interviews was the idea of how creativity can protect a brand from the endless threats in an always-on, perpetually opinionated world. A handful of complaints can lead to a social media avalanche in a matter of minutes, administrative cock-ups are magnified to such an extent that share prices can tumble, brands can take months to recover from stories that used to be brushed off with a hastily arranged press release.

Starbucks has recently been under huge pressure when, in April, a video went viral showing two black customers being arrested by police after one of them asked the manager to use the toilet before they’d bought a coffee. The damage is instant, the repair will take some time.

Above: The news report about two black men being arrested in a Starbucks in the US.

Embrace the risk 

When it comes to brand safety the key, in terms of creativity, is not to worry about the risk but embrace it. As I write in the book: ‘The more disruption there is, the more brands have to take risks and provoke … The best advertising is often the result of being at our boldest, a trait all the more valuable in an age when people have less time to give to advertising content.’

"It made people smile, doused the flames and helped give the brand an emotionally authentic human response."

We all know that creativity needs investment if it is to perform wonders for brands. I believe there also needs to be an investment in risk. Look at KFC and the catastrophic negative image that resulted from its fast food outlets across Britain running out of chicken. That same week, the brand launched a brilliantly subversive, funny and risky set of ads exclaiming simply: F*CK. It made people smile, doused the flames and helped give the brand an emotionally authentic human response.

Above: KFC's print ad in response to the recent chicken shortage they suffered. 

Just at the moment that the safety of the brand was in danger, creativity saved the day. On a much more significant scale, Facebook is attempting to shore up the safety of its brand in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal and the impression that remains of consumers’ interests being secondary to Facebook’s.

In such a moment, creativity may act like more of a sticking plaster. Something much more fundamental needs to change. I mention in the book, more than ever brands can’t simply talk about values, they need to live them. ‘An organisation needs a reason for being and to deliver on that through the way that it operates and the advertising it creates … making a difference that matters.’ Facebook does make a difference that matters, but to protect the brand safety in a moment of existential crisis it needs to be truly purposeful rather than simply talking about values.

Empathy is key

Protecting our data will be one of the key considerations for brands in the coming years. In truth, it has always been important but the Facebook scandal has brought it into clearer focus – and that means brand safety will often be reliant upon brand responsibility.

"Technology can only go so far in terms of predicting and identifying how unsafe a brand is and how it can best combat that through advertising."

In that respect, another of our Shared Beliefs talks about the need to support both brand creativity and purpose – to not forget what it means to be human. If brands are to matter to people, and the advertising to be effective, we need to show empathy: ‘Human subtleties and nuances need to be unpicked from the raw data, which algorithms and artificial intelligence cannot provide … We need to forge deeper emotional connections.’ And part of that is for brands to ensure they are trusted because that is what they can fall back on when their safety becomes threatened.

Technology can only go so far in terms of predicting and identifying how unsafe a brand is and how it can best combat that through advertising. That’s what being human means – understanding people and brands in ways that technology can’t - yet! - and engaging them in mutually beneficial conversations that make them feel valued.

All of these – creativity, purpose and human empathy – relate to the point I started with. Safety. Brands are too risk-averse, they see comfort in blandness when what is really required is something to help them stand out. A great ad perhaps, or a societal ambition that chimes with people’s emotions.

Safety-first isn’t always the best option to protect brands. Distinctiveness, fuelled by purposeful ambition and empathy for the audience, very often is.