I recently delivered a short talk on ‘Creative Judgement ‘to an advertising agency. It was a way of teeing up a training programme that I’m delivering later this year. Here are the key headlines that I shared.

Creative judgement is about responding to that killer question when discussing creative work.

‘So…what do you think?’

People who work in marketing find debating creative work both enjoyable and challenging. It is one of the most enjoyable tasks we have to do. But, it is also one of the most challenging. It’s something we do all the time, both consciously and subconsciously. So, it’s something we all need to get better at.

So how do we sharpen our skills? I’ve distilled it down to 9 key lessons.

1 TREAD LIGHTLY ON NEW IDEAS

Here’s my first lesson. Tread lightly on new ideas.

New ideas are fragile. They start off as a thought in someone’s head. They then evolve and begin to take shape. They hardly ever emerge fully formed. At this stage, they’re easy to kill. Not much time has been invested in them. So, if you’re presented with a new idea be gentle. Be very careful if the idea sounds radical. Or if it challenges common wisdom.

2 BE SENSITIVE AND BALANCED

This leads onto to my second insight. Be sensitive and balanced. When reflecting on any new idea, don’t jump straight onto the negative aspects. It’s very tempting to do this. Remember a new creative route is usually the product of skill, effort and deep reflection. Often there’s a lot of attachment to it and emotional investment.

Of course, not all ideas are great and this needs to be pointed out. But do so in a way that’s balanced. Imagine you were conducting a review of someone’s personal performance. Point out what’s working first, then point out what needs to be improved. Be candid, and be specific, but do so with positive intent. Do so in a way that encourages a positive reaction, rather than disillusion.

And remember, keep the conversation about the work, not the people who produced it.  

3 TAKE YOUR TIME

My third lesson is to take your time.

Whenever we’re discussing creative work, there’s often pressure to make a quick decision. To move on to the next phase. In my experience, it’s better to pause. Sometimes your gut reaction is wrong. Don’t blurt out ‘I love it’ or ‘I hate it’ straight away. Take your time.

Ask questions. Asked to be talked through it. Listen to your gut, but wait. Sometimes it’s ok to sleep on it. Think about it, then come back to it later. Your subconscious mind will continue to reflect on it. Your thoughts will become clearer and more considered.

4 SEPARATE ‘THE BIG IDEA’ FROM THE ‘EXECUTIONAL DETAILS’

So, you’ve remembered to be sensitive, you’ve taken your time and are conscious of being balanced. But what are you actually looking for?

This is my 4th lesson. Separate the ‘big idea’ from the ‘executional details’.

When presented with a piece of work, we’re often drawn into the specifics. The colours, the layout, the way the product looks. These elements are all important and you need to get them right.

However, before you do this, ask yourself what’s the ‘big idea’ behind the creative work? What is it trying to say? Get clear on this first and challenge it if you’re unsure what it is. Executional details can be easy to fix, but if there’s no big idea, you don’t really have a great foundation.

5 DRAW UPON YOUR EXPERIENCE

Our work needs to stand out, look different, and arrest people. It needs to be remarkable. This is where experience and knowledge come to the fore. If you’ve worked with a category for a long time, you should be able to spot something that looks exciting or fresh. Perhaps more so than other people. Use it, it’s your superpower. If you don’t feel you have enough experience, talk to your elders. They can bring you a depth of knowledge to the table.

Producing boring work is the cardinal sin. Avoid it.

6 BEWARE OF YOUR BIASES

Whilst experience is great, there’s a flipside. Too much experience can be a bad thing. It can lead to bias or over-confidence.  We like to think we’re objective and rational. But we’re not. We all have biases. We can’t help it. We’re human.

We need to be super-aware of them when judging creative work. This is important when you work with target audiences you don’t know well. They may be very different from you. Recently I ran a workshop in London with a brand team in tandem with a bunch of ‘Gen Z’ consumers. People the brand team didn’t come across every day. We were discussing communication ideas and it was a revelation. There was so much myth-busting and fresh insight. It was amazing.

There’s this lovely graphic called the ‘Cognitive Bias Codex’, which lists over 180 biases to be aware of.  There are so many that I can’t even read them all.

There are just a couple that I want to point out. Firstly confirmation bias. We are drawn to details that confirm our own existing beliefs. We filter out facts, data and information that challenge our view of the world. And then there’s recency bias. This is about favouring the immediate, most relatable things in front of us. Our memories are short. We’re obsessed with the latest thing we’ve seen or heard.

7 BECOME A CRITICAL THINKER

So how else do you manage your biases? The answer is my 7th lesson. Become a critical thinker. So what do I mean by critical thinking?

Here are 2 definitions that I really like.

First, critical thinking is the ability to think rationally. It is understanding the logical connection between ideas. This is all about using facts, data and reasoning when developing a point of view.

The second one is ‘the ability to think reflectively and independently.’ This means avoiding ‘groupthink’. This is especially important when critiquing creative work. Think deeply. Develop an informed point of view. Only change your point of view if you feel the argument is strong enough.

8 IT BEGINS AND ENDS WITH THE CREATIVE BRIEF

Here’s my 8th lesson. It begins and ends with the creative brief. I won’t explore the ins and outs of writing and presenting a creative brief. That’s a whole separate topic. A creative brief is one of the most important documents in marketing. It’s the contract between the creative agency and the client. Whenever debating creative work, always go back to the creative brief.

Within the brief, I would always focus on 2 elements. Firstly, the communication objective. In other words, will the creative work help us achieve our aims? Will it enable us to get to where we need to be?

The second element is consumer Insight. Will the creative deliver against the consumer insight at the heart of the brief? Again, I’m not going to discuss what makes a great insight. That’s another huge topic. You must always ask yourself: Will our work address our consumers' pains? Will it help their doubts, fears, or desires? If it doesn’t then the creative work isn’t powerful enough.

9 LIVE A CREATIVE LIFE

And the final lesson is to live a creative life.

Choose any field that interests you. It could be writing, music, dance, art, baking, photography, or making TikTok videos. It doesn’t matter. Choose whatever you love or something that you’re good at. Just do it.

There will be 2 benefits

Firstly, you’ll appreciate the effort, craft and brilliance required to produce creative output. You’ll develop a sensitive eye and a deeper appreciation. Secondly, by living a creative life you’ll feel comfortable playing with ideas, living with half-formed thoughts, evolving and moving them on.

All of which will make you better equipped to judge creative work.

SUMMARY

So there we have it – my top 9 lessons around the topic of creative judgement. There are many more, I’m sure but that’s all I’ve got for you today.

Overall, remember to tread lightly, be balanced and take your time.

Once you start reviewing creative work, look for the big idea first, before you dive into the details. Use your experience to spot remarkable work but at the same time, be super aware of your biases. The antidote to bias is to spend as much time - face to face - with your consumers. Learn from them. And to become a true critical thinker. Focus on reason and logic.

The magic document is the creative brief. This should guide all your decisions. Look to achieve the communication goals and address the consumer insight.

And finally, live a creative life. As a creator, you’ll be much more sensitised to the challenges of producing creative work. You’ll then become much better at judging it.