Reflections on the 2016 IHAF Leadership Summit and the Creative Industry
It’s impossible to leave an event like the 2016 IHAF Leadership Summit and not feel energized. Having the opportunity to listen to some of the creative leaders in the in-house industry and meet many more left me feeling impressed and totally inspired by the work design teams are producing all over the country. And while I walked away from the Summit with plenty of food for thought, one takeaway really stood out from the rest: the idea of the creative business vs. the business of creative.
For years, at its core, the “creative business” was all about producing fantastic design work. And while that’s still certainly true, today’s creative leaders are charged with more than ever before. Not only do they need to motivate and protect their teams so they can continuously put forth amazing collateral; Today’s industry leaders are also responsible for ROI, cost and value justification, value drivers, revenue generation, promoting, marketing, and partnering—in other words, the business of creative.
This idea of the creative business vs. the business of creative is a theme I heard echoed in several of the day’s presentations. It’s also something I’ve heard repeated in many conversations with industry leaders—both at the 2016 Summit and elsewhere. In fact, Rob Munz, our founder and chief product officer, recently alluded to this very topic in a recent blog post recapping MarTech 2016.
There’s a number of ways creative leaders can hone their focus on this new area of responsibility, but one of the most effective practices we’ve found is to think of process as the path to better results—not the other way around.
In other words, positively impacting your creative team will in turn produce positive metrics, whether that’s higher ROI, clearer value justification, or increased revenue.
And one of the best ways to encourage your team’s success is to give them the tools they need to improve their process. Arming them with what they need will lead to a higher quality of asset output. And that in turn translates to measurably improved results.
As leaders continue to work out how to find success in today’s industry, more and more are asking themselves, “How do I select the tools I need to improve my team’s process and help me achieve results?” That’s where a creative work management system comes in. When leveraged appropriately, a creative work management system can help leaders remove the barriers that prevent their teams from consistently producing fantastic collateral. A better process equals better creative. And better creative equals better results.
I’d love to talk more about the business of creative and how a creative work management system can help. Please reach out directly, or check out some of our other resources and best practices.
JT Rimbey is the Global Sales Manager at inMotionNow. Since joining the company in 2013, JT has leveraged his years of experience to identify new creative and marketing teams who have benefited from inMotion, including Nationwide, Habitat for Humanity, Pep Boys, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.