“We have a duty to keep ads beautiful” said Craig Davis, co-chairman and chief creative officer with Publicis Mojo Australia and New Zealand in Campaign Asia, yesterday.

I respect Craig, we pitched against each other for The Rocks account decades ago when we were young and radical and creative directors of competing boutique Sydney agencies. I won. The next year I pitched against him again, for Sydney Water. He won. 

Personally I don’t think advertising is art. It’s Commercial art, capital C. The latest CEO survey published in the same magazine reports 80% of the region’s CEOs think marketing people “are in La-La Land”. 

Craig’s musings on beauty in advertising aren’t going to change those perceptions. He is concerned “talent, craft and significance of ideas are being pushed aside by the desire to save time and money.” Craig makes a point worth taking the time to consider – we have all seen examples of the office junior being asked to whip up an ad because they know how to use clip art and can have it done in no time. Or the manager’s nephew is good with computers so he can build the corporate website for less.

All of this is being driven by the changes enabled by the Internet, “the flip side of the new digital meritocracy is that there’s an inordinate amount of noise generated” observes Craig.

He reminds admen “clients pay us to deliver results.” Hear, hear I say.

Then he returns to his point that “at its best, advertising is beautiful, but in the absence of creativity, it is just pollution. In the words of John Keats: Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

Advertising that works is advertising that delivers a ROI

Business owners are more inclined to see beauty in numbers, like low cost per lead, and high rates of conversion. The fine balance of marketing communications is understanding how to use creativity to commercial advantage.

There is undeniable beauty in identifying a genuine human truth and expressing it to an audience in a way they find appealing. But let’s not talk about beauty for its own sake, lets talk about craft. Both in the craft of storytelling and execution, for business sake.

A century ago Dadaists like Marcel Duchamp challenged the protectors of traditional painting with the question “What is art?”

Before you invest in advertising, social media marketing or any program to grow your business, ask yourself, is this commercial art for the 21st Century? Is the execution well enough crafted to connect with your audience and leave the desired impression? Most importantly, will it give you the best return on investment?

It’s a commercial decision after all, not a beauty contest, don’t you think?