Creative

On Twitter you find all sorts of odd and untested ideas.

One follower told me that he outsources all of his creative imagery to his customers ... "we simply can't hire enough staff to do what we want to do, and to be honest, our customers know what they want more than we know what they want, so we let them create the imagery we use."

A couple of things.

1. You can afford to hire professionals, you choose not to hire professionals.
2. Outsourcing creative to customers isn't right/wrong ... it's just a choice. One of many choices you make.

Your in-house team probably won't publish the image of the corgi in this post ... that's something a customer does. As a result, your brand is taken in different direction than it would head under the Leadership of a Creative Director.

This is what creative looks like under the Leadership of a Creative Director.

I worked at Nordstrom when the Creative Director was sent to pasture to "spend more time with family and friends". It's a risky job, and if you lead your company in the wrong direction you lose your job.

Neither approach is right/wrong.

Based on my project work, I'm not convinced enough thought is being given to the importance of Creative in a user-generated world.