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It’s an age-old question: Does creativity really drive better ROI? The answer is almost always, yes. 

Years ago, (in a time far, far away) some companies would produce ads just to get buzz and win awards. I know, it sounds wildly fun and irresponsible, but it’s true. Today, the ad industry has shifted because clients are more focused on marketing’s impact on the bottom line. This focus is now making its way into major awards ceremonies. Case in point: the Lion at the Cannes Film Festival. Traditionally a celebration of creativity, the festival is considering the launch of a Creative Effectiveness Lion next year. 

According to AdWeek, in recent years there have been cases where creative success at Cannes dovetailed with business success. “Crispin Porter + Bogusky won the Titanium Grand Prix for Best Buy’s Twelpforce. A year later, Twelpforce counts 27,000 followers and has generated 30,000 Tweets. The TV spots for the launch closed by showing a laptop, which also may have helped back-to-school business, with laptop sales exceeding the retailer’s goal by 40 percent, per Crispin.

Mark Tutssel, Burnett’s global CCO and a Cannes judge, said that despite the occasional exception, Cannes winners tend to be solid business successes. In previous years, Burnett has conducted surveys tracking award-winning ads with business performance. Recent surveys show an 86 percent correlation between award-winning work and effectiveness, up from 78 percent in 1997, the first year of the study.”

So do ROI and creativity go hand-in-hand? Absolutely! And we’re finding new metrics and measurements each day to prove it.