New IPA Scotland chairman Brian Coane: Why the agenda I'm proposing is creative for Scotland
It’s a great honour to be taking on the role of chairman of the IPA for Scotland. That may sound like a slightly cliched statement to make, but there are a number of reasons why it isn't.
Brian Coane
In preparing for taking on the role I’ve been canvassing the opinions of the IPA members in Scotland. The nature of our business means that we’re more likely to bump into each other in the reception of some organisation or other before or after a pitch to a potential client. So it’s quite unusual to be asking what we can achieve together. Having had the chance to meet on neutral terms, it reminded me what a very talented bunch we are to represent.
I feel particularly privileged to become chairman at this important time for the advertising industry in Scotland. Economically, the business model of our industry is evolving, the technological pace of change shows no sign of slowing down and politically, in case you hadn’t noticed, there’s plenty going on.
With this opportunity to take a step back from the day-to-day, the question I asked is what have these changes meant for our industry?
Some say that advertising is no longer the powerhouse that it once was in Scotland. Reading the Creative Scotland strategy for the creative industries, published last year, that’s a conclusion that you might come to. It mentions the word advertising just once.
But I don’t think that’s a point of view that we should be prepared to accept. We know advertising can be strongly influential on society. However to make sure that it is, the IPA members’ feedback has echoed my view that we need to bring a sharper focus to what the IPA for Scotland stands for. We need to create an agenda that elevates the status of advertising in Scotland. To re-assert the value and values of advertising. The agenda that I’m proposing to achieve this is for the IPA to focus on creativity.
Why should we focus on creativity?
For a start, creativity is good for our economy. The creative industries sector is the fastest growing sector in the UK economy. It contributes £5.8bn to the Scottish economy alone. In Scotland it employs 68,000 people. That’s more people than work in the oil industry. It’s a diverse sector but advertising is a vital driver of it.
As well as our core business, providing the strategic and creative thinking that builds brands and changes behaviour, we are also the industry that commissions the production and distribution of those strategies and ideas. There are many designers, illustrators, photographers and filmmakers who benefit directly from advertising.
When it’s at its most creative advertising is revered. This is the only country in the world where Coca-Cola is not the undisputed number one soft drink. Advertising has played a phenomenal part, over many years, in making Irn-Bru Scotland’s best-loved brand.
The cultural creativity for which Scotland is world-renowned benefits advertising, but it can also work the other way. To take one example, David Shrigley’s style has influenced advertising and his work for Pringle of Scotland was a great celebration of Scottish creativity.
Advertising can also create societal as well as economic value. It’s no coincidence that the campaigns that have delivered the greatest commercial value are often the ones that are most creative. The Always ‘Like a girl’ or Dove ‘Campaign for real beauty’ being good international examples.
Here in Scotland, when the groundbreaking ban on smoking in public places was being introduced, research questioned whether it would be a success, suggesting the ban would be flouted. Advertising explained that passive smoking was a killer not a nuisance and built confidence that the ban would work.Today, as a result, the premature birth rate is lower and fewer children are being admitted to hospital with asthma.
And finally, at the risk of stating the obvious, it’s the chance to change behaviour or transform a business with creative thinking that makes us stand out. It brings people to this industry, gets us up in the morning and sometimes keeps us awake at night.
That’s why the agenda that I’m proposing is that the IPA is creative for Scotland.
The IPA can harness the creativity that’s in our DNA for the good of Scotland. Getting more people to talk positively about the creativity of the industry in Scotland. Hearing more people say that they got good at what they do by starting their careers here. By being creative for Scotland we will help ensure the long-term health of advertising in Scotland as an industry that is here for good.
Brian Coane is IPA chairman for Scotland and partner at The Leith Agency.