The Evolution of Creative Communications

When I left my position as Head of US Film, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was going to become a statistic. Mark Ryan McKenna, 42-year-old communications and marketing creative, leaves NYC for Canada and embarks on new ventures after years of relative safety in agencies. What happens next? No matter what Gary Vee says, sometimes your 40s just feel old, and the golden handcuffs of full time employment are difficult to leave behind.

But, as you mature, the value you bring evolves. You are no longer in the ‘what have you done for me lately’ bucket - you become the accumulation of your experiences. I've always believed ‘thought leaders’ 🤮, just have a broader frame of reference than most. Marry that to witnessing the problems in the system for years and sometimes it pays to be a Geriatric Millennial and an unreasonable creative.

I had to move from an ingrained standpoint of agency promotion to self-promotion. It's an awkward step change, but a necessity. My success is no longer rooted in the progress of others who work directly for me.

So, I started deeply exploring personal branding and, therefore, branding theory and the history of branding, and ultimately it got me thinking about the evolution of creative communications in business.

When people say brand, what they're referring to is the efforts of a collective team of marketers, writers, and designers creating an experience. It's a shared endeavor, that isn’t the sum of creative communications. But it is the prologue.

Here’s a little story for you.

In the grand tapestry of human civilization, whether you align with creation or evolution, people have been around for a long time. We hunted, gathered, and crafted our essentials. It's only in the last century that the industrial revolution forced specialization. So, we're no longer growing our own food, as much as we all may long to live on the Techno Prairie. 

We moved to small-town living, where a local grocer, a general goods store, and a single option for products were all we had - do you have soap? Yes, I have this soap. And as more people specialized in making things, competition happens. Now they have to distinguish themselves from each other, and they create identity. It's just a point of differentiation. It makes sense.

What happens is, as we delve into specialized skills and industrial manufacturing, there's a disproportionate amount of options that emerge.

And as the small town grows into a really big town, the grocer no longer knows you on a personal level; they can't make recommendations anymore. And now that job is put on the producers.

So, the company needs packaging, design, colors, and messaging.

This is evolution, my friends. We don't have just one kind of soap, or one kind of toothpaste. We have too many kinds of soap and toothpaste. Choice, once confined, knows no bounds.

Today we live in an era of abundance, wealth, and health, our choices extend far beyond survival. We seek meaning. As we navigate the corridors of time, the narrative unfolds – a story of individual prosperity, collective evolution, and the eternal quest for significance…

Record scratch emoji…

Hold up time travelers, enough. Let’s take a moment back in reality. Does everyone reading this truly understand the difference between branding, advertising, and corporate communications? Because that's really my point. Allow me to quickly define them for you.

• Branding - The process of creating a distinctive identity for a product, service, or company. It involves developing a set of attributes, values, and a visual representation that distinguishes the brand from others in the market.

• Advertising - A form of communication that aims to promote or persuade an audience to take a specific action, typically to buy a product, use a service, or adopt a particular viewpoint.

• Corporate Communication - The strategies and activities a company employs to effectively convey information both internally and externally. This includes communication with employees, customers, investors, media, and other stakeholders.

Now, remember, what led me here is a deep dive on personal branding. The reason I paused is this.

When people discuss personal branding, they often employ the same language as corporate branding. However, personal branding isn’t primarily about trying to sell anything. It's more about defining who you are in the world and expressing a desire to present yourself as that person.

I’ve found the same in corporate communications. People transplant advertising language and approaches to something that is clearly not that. We’re all confused; we need clarity.

Let me provide it for you:

• Branding = Differentiation

• Advertising = Promotion

• Corporate Communications = Messaging

I used to joke that one day we’ll cut through all the BS. That investor communications will become as simple as stating, "We made this decision because it will make more money. Here's how it does it." That sustainability policy will become “As a by-product of our business we do a lot of harm to the environment; we know that. This is how we're addressing it.” We’ll focus on true and clear messaging, admit our actions, and justify them.

Let’s ask our agencies to stop repackaging advertising techniques as corporate communications. You are not selling a product. You're navigating a story. And oh my, is that important. They’re related, but they serve different purposes.

While effective corporate communications can indirectly contribute to a positive sales environment by enhancing the company's reputation, it’s not a specific function aimed at generating revenue by selling products or services. It’s more meaningful.

Corporate communications focus on building and maintaining relationships, managing reputation, and conveying the overall image and values of a company. And that’s where creativity lies.

Why are we pushing branding or advertising when employed to do corporate communications? Our creativity must mature as our business does. Make sense?

So here is the evolution of creativity in business. It's to serve three different stages in the life cycle: 

1. Differentiation

2. Promotion

3. Messaging

One follows the other, the predecessor not being discarded but built upon. As the business scales, matures, and the size of responsibilities grows, it evolves. 

For this Season of Unreasonable Creativity, I'm focusing on number three.

As you were,

MrMcK. 🚀