What does it take to be an ad creative today?

As the world of advertising is changing and creativity adapts in the increasingly fragmented media landscape, we take a look at what marketers believe it takes to distinguish great work and what it takes to be an ad creative today.

Three creatives from Droga5 London share their thoughts on their roles while attending this year’s Creative Circle’s Festival.

Elliott White, creative director at Droga5 London — who worked on the Amazon Books campaign Bring a Book to Life which won various prizes at the awards — discusses how the essence of being an advertising creative remains unchanged since the role’s inception which requires an insatiable hunger for creativity. “What it really comes down to is, do you love an idea, do you want to see that idea get made in the world, and will you not sleep until it gets made?”

White reflects on how being a creative in this modern landscape, there is too much focus on the frame and not enough on the picture and that the shift to focus on the heart of the idea and once that's determined, it's finding those places where audiences live and show up to really bring the work together. “From my experience, Facebook was the new thing, now it's AI, and those kind of points where we meet them, that frame changes, but the picture doesn't

Kate Shelley, assistant producer, talks about the importance of staying ahead of what's happening and hoped that the modern media landscape supports creatives in a way that keeps a truth to the work being made. She hopes for a time where creatives can “use new resources to champion new ideas, new ways, and still protect the people behind them and use it as a resource rather than a replacement.”

Katerina Gharraph, art producer believes that it takes “being agile, responding to chaos, still having the creative vision at the forefront of all the work, all whilst managing budgets and timings”. She also shares the importance of working in a team that values craft and the creative vision.

Discover some of the Gold winners from this year's Creative Circle Awards.