Creativity in Marketing - Essay Example

Name xxxxxxxxx Institution xxxxxxxxx Title CREATIVITY IN MARKETING Tutor xxxxxxxxx Course xxxxxxxxx Date @2009 Creativity in Marketing Creativity can be defined as identifying and describing new ideas which are novel and helpful. It is therefore important to note that individual and group creativity plays a crucial role in various phases of marketing practices (Boone 2007). To be truly creative, an innovation has to adequately demonstrate “radical newness”. In inclusive are those circumstances in which the problem or opportunity as initially indicated was vague and lacked a clear definition. Therefore part of the task involves the formulation of the problem itself. This has brings about a meaning for marketing and the ability of the firm to be more-market oriented. There are different references to creativity as far as marketing is concerned. Areas that involve creativity in marketing include advertising, personal selling, and the development of new products (Gagnon 2003). In advertising, for instance, creativity is used to illustrate the section of an advertisement that entails the artwork which explains the attractiveness or basic selling method of the advert and how the appeal will be expressed to a given target market (Coe 2003). Creativity is usually applied in the perspective of ‘creative selling’ in personal selling and there is usually no specific reference to the literature of creativity or the exact meaning of ‘creativity’. In the development of new product, the word ‘creativity’ can be used to describe how individuals or teams can fully identify and execute new product ideas. Creativity involves imaginatively gifted recombination of the various known elements into something new. Basing on this fact, a creative resolution may not essentially require new workings but can basically incorporate the accessible knowledge in a more helpful way. This form of understanding has implication for upstream marketing activity which includes target needs of the customers and the assessment of competitive benchmarking. For instance, it may be clear that the tracking of customers needs continuous efforts in data collection; creativity in this case can easily help in the identification of new resources once they are identified (Dahlen 2008). One other explanation of what creativity means in marketing indicates that to be creative, there is need for a solution to have value. This form of application is mainly applicable in an era where the management function of marketing information is participating basically in pursuing a unique competitive advantage for the organization (Fillis 2004). The aim of the newness as well as the imaginatively gifted recombination may be meaningless incase they can not bring forth the value-added outcome. Conditions of Creativity in marketing Both individuals and teams that are considered to be highly competent may not be able to perform equally. The main reason s that various preconditions are supposed to met and certain organizational components marshaled to assist individuals as well as teams to be more creative. The Couger Center for Creativity provides a 4-p model of creativeness in different contexts. The model provides a basis for the application of both structure and techniques for the facilitation of creativity in marketing (Hoffman 2005). The application of creativity 4-P’s model The model represents creativity as a form of dynamic phenomenon that comprises of four components that are highly interactive. The components include; person, process, product and press. Press generally refers to the working climate. The simplicity of the model enables individual measurement as well as the evaluation of the interaction of the various components. One other strength of the model is that it can be applicable to a given specific functional organization, for instance marketing section or marketing research department. It can also be applicable to the organization as a whole. The four Ps in this case are described in reference to both marketing management and marketing research practice (Jenkins 2009). The creative person There are various misleading notions as regards the creativity in people. A number of people perceive themselves to be creative, may be due to various highly publicized research efforts that have been directed to the understanding of creativity in different and highly accomplished areas. Most individuals are inclined to suppose that creativity is inherited and that we can either possess it or not. Various researches indicate that creativity is present in every individual and in most cases it is distributed. Nonetheless, a good number of people utilize less of their native creative capability as they grow old. A study carried out by Nationwide studies of American School Children indicate that children register lower scores on tests that involve creativity as they move through the system of schooling. 4th grade is usually characterized with a slump (Titus 2007). Marketing management can encourage creativity amongst employees through reinforcing the fact that every individual is innately creative. Through enhancing the use of proven creativity practice, marketing managers can be in position to help the employees reinstate the natural curiosity as well as the originality that they exhibited when they were in the learning process. Management an also offer motivation for employees to be more creative. It is crucial to put into consideration both intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivation. The source of intrinsic motivation comes from the anticipated approval of generating a certain form of creative idea and putting it into practice. Extrinsic motivation can be provided by the management through rewards, for instance recognition and financial incentive. Management can also facilitate the creation of a creative environment whereby employees obtain the intrinsic fulfillment of creatively completing a task or a project more easily. The Creative Process Substantial research has mainly focused exclusively on the creative process through which individuals are able to enhance their creative abilities and creative outcomes. Various researches indicate overwhelmingly significant results in case creative abilities are purposely nurtured. There are various creative problem-solving methods that have been revealed to be supportive in marketing. Creativity will involve bringing in new ideas that help in the facilitation of the running of various activities in marketing. Being able to read the minds of the clients and striving hard to fulfill their requirements is one way of making use of the creative ability in an individual person (Pride 2008). The process of creativity will involve identifying the targeted objective and formulation of the step-by-step procedure aimed at attaining the goals. The Created Product A close analysis of creativity can as well start with the end product through identification various characteristics that are necessary for products to be considered as creative. A number of individuals believe that incase people are informed about their native creative abilities, are supplied with processes to facilitate their creativity and given full support through positive environment for creativity, it is coherent to assume that creative products together with services will be realized (Fillis 2004). Nonetheless, it is essential for employees to possess ways of measuring their level of creativity outcomes. There is need to come up with a framework for the measurement of creativity in marketing activities. The management of marketing could then translate how creativity can be recognized, judged and rewarded in specific terms. Individuals who are highly innovative in an organization need to be rewarded for their good work to act as a motivating factor to other employees. The resultant outcome can be highly rewarding not just to specific individuals but the entire organization as a whole (Masterman 2005). Press (the Environment for Creative Work) Press refers to a term in the arena of education which involves the association that exists between human being and their environment. The significance of the work of environment for either encouraging or discouraging creativity is adequately supported in various creative researches. Favorable results do not come about unless an organization has constructive climate for creativity (Kerin 2008). Various researches have been conducted to determine ways through which environment has an impact on creativity. Climate for creativity are made up of factors that stimulate or hold back creative behavior. Various studies indicate organizations are able to a set of norms which facilitate creative thinking (Kotler 2004). The norms include universal tolerance for new ideas as well as international intolerance of cynicism and sarcasm. Employees of the company need to be rewarded for coming up with what is good concerning new idea before others are allowed to criticize the new idea. Organizations which systematically identify those who are specialized finding faults in new ideas will always find their collection of new thoughts drying up at a higher rate because there is only unhelpful reward for providing one’s new ideas to the organization (Csikszentmihalyi 1997). There are five characteristics of work environment that have been identified to facilitate creative thinking in the marketing field. The five dimensions include the following. Goal clarity: This involves a clear understanding of the targeted objective for creative work. Resources: The resources define relevant and necessary financial as well as non-financial support. The availability of resources within an organization will facilitate the process of materialization of the ideas that have been conceived by the employees. Freedom: This entails the latitude available to explore whatever directions of inquest which seem appropriate and is likely to be beneficial in the field of marketing. Encouragement: This refers to the genuine and expressed support from both the management as well as the co-workers. The resultant effect will be exploitation of various avenues so as to constantly come up with new ideas that can warrant acknowledgement from both the co-workers and the management of the organization (Lovelock & Wright 2001). Congruity: This involves the match between what management and what it actually does. Suspended judgment: This refers to the act of maintaining an open market place for ideas whereby the potential strengths of new ideas are recognized before their possible weaknesses. In marketing, paying attention to the six dimensions assists in ensuring a healthy environment for creativity that will enhance the productivity of a good number of ideas (Kotler 2009). Conclusion It is essential to conclude that creativity is an essential aspect in the field of marketing. It is therefore imperative that business entities recognize what is required to enhance creativity. The resultant outcome of creativity and innovation can help boost the growth and development of the organization. References Boone, L., 2007, Contemporary Marketing, Louis E. Boone (Author) › Visit Amazon's Louis E. Boone Page Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author Are you an author? Learn about Author Central South-Western College Publishers, Cincinnati. David L. Kurtz (Author) › Visit Amazon's David L. Kurtz Page Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author Are you an author? Learn about Author Central Branding and Marketing, 2007, Creativity in Marketing, Retrieved 29 August 2009 from http://brandandmarket.blogspot.com/2007/02/creativity-in-marketing.html Coe, J., 2003, The Fundamentals of Business-to-Business Sales & Marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill. Csikszentmihalyi, M., 1997, Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, Greenwood Press, Westport. Dahlen, M, 2008, Creativity Unlimited: Thinking Inside the Box for Business Innovation, John Wiley, New York Fillis, I., 2004, The Internationalizing Smaller Craft Firm: Insights from the Marketing/Entrepreneurship Interface. International Small Business Journal Vol. 22: pp. 57 – 82 Gagnon, E., 2003, The Marketing Manager's Handbook: The Keys to Sales and Marketing Success, University of California Press, Berkeley. Hoffman, D. (2005). Advantage Books: Marketing Principles and Best Practices, South-Western College Publishers, Cincinnati. Jenkins, J., 2009, Marketing Requires Creativity. Retrieved 29 August 2009 from Kerin, R., 2008, Marketing, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York. Kotler, P, 2004, Principles of Marketing, Prentice Hall, New York. Kotler, P., 2009, Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, New York Lovelock C. & Wright, L., 2001, Principles of Service Marketing and Management: Prentice Hall. New York. Masterman, G., 2005, Innovative Marketing: Approach for the Events Industry. Newark: Butterworth-Heinemann. Pride, W., 2008, Marketing. Lawrence Earlbaum Publishers, New Jersey. Titus, P., 2007, Applied Creativity: The Creative Marketing Breakthrough. Journal of Marketing Education, Vol. 29: pp. 262. Read More