Creativity at the Table

A Provocation for Ambitious Businesses

 

“How do you know when an idea is innovative? When it scares the hell out of everybody.” Marty Neumeier, co-founder of Level C and author of THE BRAND GAP

 

CEOs and Founders, listen up.

AI, if you let it, will erode your business culture. By handing over your processes in the search for efficiency and progress, you give power to a machine that cannot understand humanity, empathy, or cultural relevance. I get it—we live in a noisy world with too few hours in the day. But AI is not the answer. The real danger is boardrooms stripped of imagination. You can automate processes, optimise efficiencies, and churn out innovation pipelines—but without creativity, you will never build the loyalty, trust, or culture that sustains a business into the long term.

Too many leaders use the word innovation and believe they are being creative. What usually follows is predictable: investment in tools, not ideas. Metrics replace meaning. ROI remains locked to financial returns. Yet the brands that endure—Patagonia, LEGO, Oatly—measure success not only in revenue, but in customer advocacy, employee engagement, and cultural resonance. These companies were brave in the stands they took, embracing ideas that others feared. As Neumeier reminds us, innovation only matters “when it scares the hell out of everybody.”

 

Creativity Isn’t Marketing—It’s the Culture Engine

 

Marketing is essential: it spreads your message. But marketing doesn’t ask why your business exists beyond money, or who it serves and why. Marketing doesn’t create your tone of voice, your brand character, or the values that guide your purpose. Creativity does.

Creative professionals think in human terms—empathy, sustainability, behaviour, emotion. They explore without limits before shaping strategies that matter.

Consider Liberty London. By the late 2000s, the iconic retailer had lost its way. After years of financial strain and neglect of its core customers, it leaned back into its creative heritage. Instead of chasing scale, Liberty doubled down on its Tudor façade, intimate interiors, and curated spaces celebrating makers, designers, and its famous fabrics. By reconnecting with its truth, Liberty reignited loyalty. The result: sales rose 6% year-on-year, and the business grew 61% larger than pre-pandemic (Vogue Business).

 

Purpose-Driven Creativity Wins on Loyalty and Culture

 

CFOs often demand quick financial results. In their eyes, creativity slows things down. Because it isn’t easily quantified, they opt for surface-level fixes: logos, campaigns, rebrands without strategy.

But the evidence says otherwise. A McKinsey study found companies prioritising creativity delivered 67% higher organic revenue growth. Creativity doesn’t dilute financial performance—it drives it.

Patagonia, LEGO, and Oatly didn’t just design products. They defined values, built identities around them, and connected with audiences on a purpose beyond profit. They used creativity as strategy, not ornament.

 

What Must Change—And Fast

 

1. Reframe budgets. Stop calling it “marketing spend.” Call it creative and marketing investment. Without creativity, marketing is a megaphone—often the wrong one. With creativity first, marketing amplifies a movement.
2. Reframe leadership. Invite creatives into the boardroom. Let them interrogate assumptions without ROI as the first filter.
3. Reframe ROI. Measure empathy, advocacy, trust, engagement, and culture alongside profit. These may seem intangible, but they can be tracked—and when aligned, they compound into growth.

 

Brand is not one-and-done. It is the ongoing work of aligning humanity with strategy. Fail to prioritise creativity, and your business will remain efficient but irrelevant. Invest in it, and you’ll build a brand that sparks loyalty, shapes culture, and endures.

If you are a CEO or Founder: stop fearing AI. Start fearing boardrooms devoid of imagination. Don’t ask ‘What will AI take away?’ Ask, ‘What could creativity unlock if we finally let it in?’