Coca-Cola: Complicated creative equals bad creative

Coca-Cola: Complicated creative equals bad creative

Creativity can be a commercial and competitive advantage but to work creative ideas need to be “blindingly obvious”, asserted Coca-Cola’s Jonathan Mildenhall at Circus.

Mildenhall, vice president of global advertising strategy and content excellence at the Coca-Cola Company, feels agencies can over-complicate their approach.

 “Another interesting quote that I always refer back to, that is that creativity is about seeing what everybody else is seeing and thinking what nobody has thought,” Mildenhall said.

“Another way to put that is creativity should be a glimpse of the blindingly obvious.

“If creativity seems to be too hard, too complex, I can’t call up my mum and explain to my mum in 60 seconds on the phone what it is that I am trying to execute in this creative idea then chances are it is a bad creative idea.”

The best creative ideas are the ones that are “so obvious it feels almost familiar”, he added.

Mildenhall also spoke about how in 2004 Coca-Cola’s former chief executive publicly declared the company “creatively bankrupt”.

As a result, Coca-Cola moved to reinvest in creativity. Part of that involved academically studying what Mildenhall described as “some serious creatives”.

Those creative minds included Madonna, Steve Jobs and author and poet Maya Angelou among others.

Madonna is an inspiration for the company due to her ability to read pop culture and ensure the expression of her core values remain relevant.

This is the on-going task facing Coca-Cola to guarantee the brand’s expression of happiness “is relevant to an ever changing consumer base”.

Mildenhall said he had studied American author Maya Angelou and the way “she can smash your heart open in two or three sentences” to remind Coca-Cola of the power language holds.

“I worry that one thing that technology seems to be getting in the way of is how powerful the use of words can be,” he said.

Mildenhall also spoke about Coca-Cola’s “Content 2020” plans during his speech at The Communications Council’s three-day festival of commercial creativity, Circus.

For more on Coca-Cola’s future plans stay tuned for The Brief in coming weeks which will feature a one-on-one interview with Mildenhall.

In next week’s The Brief B&T brings you more from Circus with interviews with Mayan, chairman of JWT’s Asia Pacific creative council, and the global creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi X, Doug Van Andel.




Please login with linkedin to comment

Latest News

Revium Snags Peter Bauld From Deloitte Digital
  • Advertising

Revium Snags Peter Bauld From Deloitte Digital

Revium, a leading full-service digital and AI consultancy, has announced the appointment of Peter Bauld (lead image) as Executive General Manager. Revium is a full-service digital and AI consultancy with over 20 years of experience creating engaging digital experiences for leading organisations and their customers. Bauld joins Revium after an illustrious career spanning over two […]

Veridooh Snatches Prashand Menon From ScentreGroup
  • Advertising

Veridooh Snatches Prashand Menon From ScentreGroup

Out-of-home OOH) and digital media leader Prashand Menon (lead image) has joined OOH ad tech company Veridooh as group business director within NSW and QLD. Menon joins Veridooh from his most recent role as ScentreGroup’s group business director and brings with him more than 10 years of experience in Australian media. Previously, he held positions […]

Kat & Co Transforms Into THE WORLD OF Experiential Agency
  • Advertising

Kat & Co Transforms Into THE WORLD OF Experiential Agency

After more than twelve years of producing experiences for some of the world’s most innovative brands, including Hermes, Van Cleef & Arpels, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co, Kat & Co has quietly metamorphosed into THE WORLD OF. THE WORLD OF is an experiential agency at the juncture of culture, technology and the human condition. […]

SMG Studio Launches Risk: Global Domination X Dune Part Two
  • Campaigns

SMG Studio Launches Risk: Global Domination X Dune Part Two

Through a licensing agreement with Legendary Entertainment, SMG Studio inked the rights to adapt Dune: Part Two into a game based on Risk: Global Domination, Hasbro’s interactive board game. Inspired by Denis Villeneuve’s cinematic masterpiece, Dune: Part Two, this new digital adaptation, RISK: Global Domination X Dune: Part Two, is poised to captivate players from […]

QMS: Taylor Swift, Lunar New Year & Mardi Gras Were Boon For OOH Market
  • Marketing

QMS: Taylor Swift, Lunar New Year & Mardi Gras Were Boon For OOH Market

Taylor Swift, Lunar New Year and the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival have had a dramatic impact on the number of people moving in and around Sydney over the past month, drawing big crowds into the heart of the city and its surrounding suburbs. New data from digital outdoor company QMS reveals a […]