Strategic Creativity: A Business Field Guide to Advertising, Branding, and Design

195 Pages·2022·47.877 MB·English

by  Robin Landa

“Few mysteries confound business leaders more than how creative profes-
sionals work their magic. In Strategic Creativity, Robin Landa pulls back the
veil to reveal the hidden logic of great marketing communications, from
copywriting to graphic design to brand design. Armed with the insights in
this book, business leaders will have a vastly easier time interfacing with
creative professionals to produce game-changing marketing communica-
tions. Filled with compelling insights, checklists, and real-world business
cases, Strategic Creativity drills into the details yet never loses sight of the big
strategic picture: to build brands with purpose and humanity.”
Neal Roese, Professor and Chair of the Marketing Department,
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
“Robin Landa has written a fascinating new book on Strategic Creativity.
The book hands executives the keys to harnessing the best out of creative
professionals while also learning how to generate ideas and be more creative
yourself. This guided tour of strategic creativity should be on the desk of
anyone hoping to build a strong brand, fine tune your advertising, and avoid
costly mistakes.”
Paul A. Argenti, Professor of Corporate Communication,
The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
“Professor Landa has written a remarkable and valuable book, simultane-
ously enlightening and pragmatic. Business professionals are the customers
of advertising, but rarely understand or contribute to what they are ‘buying.’
This book enables a business professional to rise above their peers with
superior creative outcomes as well as enhances their ability to communi-
cate the ‘why’ throughout their organization. Landa provides a compelling
rationale and checklists in a stepwise manner and illustrates them with clear
examples. If only I had read this at the start of my career!”
Donald Fishbein, Senior Biotech and Pharmaceutical Executive
“Again and again, Robin Landa has brought forth her inexhaustible well
of creativity to help us see and deal with the world in new and imaginative
ways. Now with her latest work, Strategic Creativity, she shows us how to
use our own imaginative understanding in a detailed way that guides us to
achieving our overall aims and intentions in a variety of environments. This
highly original volume provides a practical handbook to harnessing the crea-
tive potential within us all.”
Professor Craig P. Donovan, Kean University Senate Chair
“Robin Landa has done it again! This is a must-read for anyone in the market-
ing or advertising industry who wants to be the one business person in the
room who speaks knowledgeably about creative directions and solutions. This
explains the importance of strategic creativity better than I ever could.”
Brooke Roderick, Senior Art Director, VCCP
“Marketers, strategists, and business owners alike will benefit from reading
Robin Landa’s book, Strategic Creativity. This book is filled with important
and easily digestible advice that you won’t find anywhere on ‘Dr. Internet.’
It’s apparent that a significant amount of research has gone into this book,
and as a marketing strategist and business owner myself, I plan to revisit
Strategic Creativity again and again. Robin defines exactly what brands need
to do to make consumers stop their scrolling and take notice. As Robin
mentions, the riskiest idea is the one people will not notice. If you don’t take
notice of this book, you are missing out on an incredibly valuable read.”
Megan Lynn Levy, Entrepreneur and Marketer
“Strategic Creativity is one of those books that no matter where you open it,
you’ll find creative insights that you can use in your everyday. I found myself
making notes throughout the entire read. Robin’s writing and way of story-
telling are engaging and easy to follow. It all just makes sense and will have
you asking yourself, as well as others, all the right questions. It’s an ace in
your back pocket when dealing with creative teams. Strategic Creativity will
have you zeroing in on the ‘WHY’ and should be in every exec’s toolbox.”
Mike Sickinger, Art Director
“Robin Landa’s new book distills the complexity out of modern marketing
decision-making. You’ll be more strategic, more creative, and more effective
after reading this great playbook.”
Drew Neisser, Founder, Renegade & CMO Huddles and Author of
Renegade Marketing: 12 Steps to Building Unbeatable B2B Brands
“Strategic Creativity is essential for any brand, particularly creating a com-
pelling story about a brand, product, or service that stands out from the
noise and sticks with the intended audience. When done well, buyers feel a
connection to the brand and the message resonates. This book provides a
solid framework to help organizations think beyond the status quo, which is
a trap many brands fall into today. Landa packs a lot of valuable information
into every chapter.”
Lauri A. Harrison, Lecturer, Business Certificate Program,
Columbia University, School of Professional Studies
Strategic Creativity
The secret weapon for business experts to ensure strategically creative
results, this is an indispensable field guide to evaluating creative advertising,
branding, and design ideas and solutions, and to working with creatives.
Strategic Creativity is a fundamental resource that enables business
professionals to stand out amongst their colleagues and enhance their
ability to communicate the creative “why” throughout their organizations,
and it covers what every business expert should fully comprehend about the
creative process. To effectively grow a business and reach the right audience
or move a brand forward, advertising and branding need to be relevant,
engaging, and worth people’s time. This book contains what a CEO, CMO,
manager, business owner, or client didn’t learn about the creative side of
advertising and design in business school.
Featuring insightful conversations with creative experts, this book will earn
a place on the desks of executives, leaders, managers, and middle managers
across industries, whose work requires them to understand and execute
on branding initiatives, advertising campaigns, social media, and other
customer-facing content.
Robin Landa is an expert in creative advertising, branding, graphic design,
and social media, and has been called a “creativity guru,” having published
over 20 widely recognized books in her fields of expertise. Robin holds
the title of Distinguished Professor of the Michael Graves College, Kean
University, USA. She has won numerous awards for her design, writing, and
research, and the Carnegie Foundation lists her among the greatest teachers
of our time. Robin is a former chair of Design Incubation and serves as a crea-
tive consultant to the C-suites of international corporations. You can find out
more about her work online at Robinlanda .c om

Strategic Creativity
A Business Field Guide to
Advertising, Branding, and Design
Robin Landa
Cover design and chapter openers: Romit Sarkar
First published 2022
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Robin Landa
The right of Robin Landa to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by
any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Landa, Robin, author.
Title: Strategic creativity: a business field guide to advertising,
branding, and design / Robin Landa.
Description: New York, NY: Routledge, 2022. | Includes bibliographical
references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2021057002 | ISBN 9781032137803 (hardback) | ISBN
9781032137797 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003230786 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Creative ability in business. | Commercial art. | Branding
(Marketing) | Advertising. | Communication in marketing.
Classification: LCC HD53 .L363 2022 | DDC 650.1--dc23/eng/20220126
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021057002
ISBN: 978-1-032-13780-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-13779-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-23078-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003230786
Typeset in Freight
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
For everyone who could use a secret superpower.

Contents
Foreword xiii
Acknowledgements xv
Preface xvii
1 Why Strategic Creativity 2
The Value of Strategic Creativity 2
What Constitutes Strategic Creativity and
What Doesn’t 3
Employ an Effectiveness Scale 4
Quickstart Field Guide to Strategic Creativity 5
Interview with REI INAMOTO, Founding Partner of I&CO 10
Note 15
2 Thinking Creatively 18
The Power of Strategic Creativity 18
C.H.O.I.C.E. Thinking 18
C.H.O.I.C.E. Thinking plus Creative Prompts 19
The Strategic Creativity Effectiveness Scale 24
Interview with RICK COSGROVE, President of Agency EA 25
Notes 30
3 Strategically Creative Ideas 32
What’s In It For Me? 32
S.U.I.T.E.S. of Benefits 32
Brand Narrative Construct Alignment 33
Strategic Creativity 36
Idea Generation 39
Interview with ROSS CHOWLES, Professor of Practice at
Michigan State University 47
Notes 54