Does creative work, work?

It figures that creative agencies like to produce creative work. And many clients believe that the more creative an idea the more engagement and stand out you’ll achieve, leading the consumer along the journey to purchase. But as spend comes under even closer scrutiny the more important issue is whether the work, works. To generalise is to oversimplify, but if we were to take an extreme example of creativity and put it to the test it might give us some answers.

One of the most unusual and creative TV commercials of recent times was the Gorilla ad for Cadburys Dairy Milk. For the majority of the commercial we see close ups of a very realistic looking Gorilla, set against the sound track of ‘In The Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins, until the camera pulls back to reveal the Gorilla is sitting at a drum kit. At that point our furry friend springs into action with a pretty impressive impersonation of Phil himself. The TV ad then closes showing a shot of a glass and a half of milk being poured into a pack shot of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, with the line ‘A glass and a half of pure joy.

So, did this crazy ad actually work? The figures tell us all we need to know. Cadbury’s issued the following statement; “The whole campaign delivered a master brand payback that was 171 per cent greater than previous campaigns, with Gorilla alone delivering a ROI of £4.88 for every £1 spent.”