Teaching Creativity: Experimental Evidence of Three Strategies for Teaching Industry Standards for Creative Excellence

Abstract

Creativity is a system of relationships between individual creators, culture and a field of gatekeepers who select and validate ideas. Within the cultural community of advertising, practitioners operate using informal and implicit rules, called creative codes, about what represents creative excellence as expressed through outputs, shared norms, language and awards. Students of advertising could benefit by recognizing and internalizing broader industry standards of creative excellence to build better portfolios, to be better prepared for interviews and to be more effective in their first jobs. This study evaluated three different communication techniques that educators can use to teach students about creative standards: explicitly communicating creative values, showcasing top campaigns, and comparing and contrasting advertising that has and has not won creative awards. The findings support the importance of these tools for educators.