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Here's what nobody in this industry has the guts to say. Most businesses are lying to themselves. They say they want creativity. They don't. They want the outcome of creativity — the campaign that cuts through, the position that makes them unmissable, the brand that makes people feel something — delivered cleanly, comfortably, and without any of the mess that actually produces it. They want the result without the risk. The breakthrough without the discomfort. The boldness wit

Most brands try to say everything. Tia Maria said one thing. Back at the start of my career, I sat in a room deciding the future of a coffee liqueur. Not tweaking a logo. Not chasing a trend. Rebuilding what a whole brand meant to the people who'd forgotten it was even there. Here's what I learned on that campaign. And here's why it still matters more than most of the work you'll see this year. Clarity beat noise. One true thing, said plain. Difference beat taste. Identity ov

For thirty plus years I've watched people get creativity wrong. They treat it like decoration. A nice-to-have. The thing you bolt on once the serious work is done. A splash of colour on a boring plan. A clever line at the end of a dull ad. Wrong. Completely wrong. Creativity is the strategy. Not the wrapping paper around it. And the businesses that understand this don't just stand out. They make the competition irrelevant. So here's what I actually believe about creativity as