Sparrow’s Nest: Has the pandemic affected creativity? Spoiler alert: No!

One of the issues that have been top of mind that I’ve been wondering about at Sparrow's Nest is, has the pandemic affected creativity? My perspective is that when great creative people collaborate the best creative ideas are sparked by building on each other’s magic.

Does that happen in isolation, on Zoom, or when you are working from home in your PJs? Quarantine and iso haven’t been good for people’s mental health and wellness and I’m not sure you do your best creative work when you aren’t in the best state of mind. Plus, with the talent crisis are we losing some of the best creative talents, and hence the creative work will suffer?

Looking for evidence and reviewing the work in the local marketplace I don’t see that the pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the work itself.

Overseas campaigns particularly in Europe struggled initially trying to adapt with evidence suggesting that safety, belonging, and togetherness waned, and consumers drew tired of specific Covid campaigns and messaging.

Again, in European countries, there were very different reactions to campaigns related to the strictness of lockdowns. The longer the pandemic went on, the more tired consumers grew with the same Covid messaging and it was vital to get the balance right.

Locally some messaging may be more retail with a call to action with e-commerce prominent, but the work is still good and hasn’t gone backward.

After a straw poll of several prominent CMOs in very different categories, a major agency holding company leader, and a highly respected industry advisor, I gathered their perspectives.

I was surprised as they all agreed the pandemic has had a positive impact and that creativity has thrived. Some suggested what has accelerated are expectations of consumers about seamless online and user experience in-store, however I believe that’s always been important even before the pandemic.

All those I spoke to believe the challenges of the past two years made them more creative marketers and better at understanding consumers’ needs, responding to them faster and better than ever before. In some cases, with less budget, fewer resources, and less time.

One proposed that the imagination quotient has increased because lateral solutions have become more acceptable.

If necessity is the mother of all invention, then the pandemic has been the best elixir for creativity. Creativity does thrive in constraining circumstances and my first concerns about creativity being smothered by Covid are unfounded … the reverse has happened.

In this case, creativity has truly thrived during the pandemic, and this should be celebrated – halleluiah!

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