TOP-LEVEL AGENCY CREATIVES LOOK AT ADVERTISING CREATIVITY THEN AND NOW

Influential writings suggest that today's advertising is not as creati ve as it used to be. To explore this suggestion, the authors asked top -level agency creatives whether they believe creativity has improved, declined, or remained unchanged since they entered the advertising bus iness. Respondents' opinions then were grouped and compared by agreeme nt/disagreement ratings on a series of statements associated with fact ors previously identified as responsible for advertising's presumed cr eative decline. From the perspective of the top-level agency creatives , creativity in today's advertising has not declined-in fact, the over whelming majority view is that advertising is now more creative than i t was when they entered the business, or at least as good. In their ey es, certain aspects of advertising creativity have changed, though not always in the direction. predicted in previous writings. With one exc eption, agency creatives' opinions about advertising creativity then a nd now were unvarying, regardless of respondent age, years of advertis ing experience, or agency position/title.