Creativity can revolutionize the UK economy.

The biggest enemy of creativity is fear.

Understandably in the midst of recession there’s a lot of fear around. On top of that, we’re in the midst of a revolution which will be as economically and socially disruptive as the one that started in the Midlands in the 18th C. Except the Industrial revolution happened at the pace of a puffing locomotive. This one is happening infinitely faster.

The Internet has already changed the way we communicate (can you imagine life without email?); the way we shop for groceries and clothes (ASOS.com attracts over 5.4 million unique visitors a month and has 2.4 million registered users). It’s changed how we buy and listen to music (Amazon is the UK's favourite music and video retailer- Verdict Research 2009). The Internet has changed how we pay our bills, how we watch film and TV; even how we diagnose our illnesses and start dating. It’s creating different social interactions, starting to kill the dominance of big brands in favour of niche ones and forcing businesses (and banks) to become increasingly transparent.

It’s given more power to consumers so they can influence what brands do and what products they stock (Wispa was brought back by popular demand through a consumer led online campaign). It has allowed them to share opinions with each other and take control of brands by making their feelings and complaints very public.

But we’d be mistaken to think this is just a digital revolution. We are at the beginning of is a creative revolution.

Because, although we are awash with more new technology than we know what to do with, we need ideas on how best to monetize it. That’s why we need to think creatively – consumers are already showing us through their own content how impactful and viral their ideas can be. Now they’re expecting companies to raise their game and deliver content that is desirable, that is targeted at them and which rewards them for engaging with their brands.
Sadly our education system has, for years, relegated ‘creative subjects’ to the bottom of the education hierarchy and created a society where they are deemed less important than academic subjects. As Sir Ken Robinson stated in his emotive TED lecture (http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html,)creativity should be seen as important as reading and writing.
It’s a destructive system where the disconnect between academic and creative thinking creates obstacles which stay with us throughout our lives and ultimately results in barriers in business. One of the obstacles the creative industries face today is that not enough people recognize what creativity can achieve and the huge transformational effect it can have on businesses. You need only look at Jaguar cars and see how the influence of a brilliant creative thinker, Design Director Ian Callum has transformed the image and appeal of this marquee.

So many ideas are killed because those who hold the purse strings lack the imagination to see their real potential. They think ‘creative’ = ‘crazy’ and because creativity is something intangible and can’t be plotted on an Excel spreadsheet it is seen as a ‘nice to have’ rather than an ‘absolute must, to have’.

But let’s not forget the revolution has barely started. In the same way that computers emerged ten times faster after the 1973 – 7 oil shock, so they increased their speed ten-fold after the 2000-4 downturn. They’re likely to be ten times faster in 2011 than they were in 2007 when the credit crunch started. This means more content will be more easily downloadable and accessed by more people. It means that Internet TV will become the norm and there will be huge opportunities for content creators in all areas to create ways to entertain, inform and excite consumers. The lifestyles of people are changing, they will no longer need to flock to mercantile hubs like London and will choose to live and work in less expensive cities and start working more remotely.

In the 18th C, the Midlands started a revolution that spread across the world. Today it could invest in the blossoming creative industries and champion their successes. What’s stopping central England becoming a ‘California’ for software and game designers? Why can’t it capitalize on its location and become a distribution hub for all online retailers? Why aren’t more businesses using the wealth of creative talent available in the student community and helping facilitate even better connections among creatives in different disciplines. Why can’t the Midlands lead the future of mobile (the interface is just coming of age)? If the Midlands became the home of the most connected creative minds where ideas were shared, talent recommended and experiences shared, just think how the fire would spread.


A revolution isn’t the time to bury heads in the sand; it’s the time to raise them above the parapet, to be brave, to start using your imagination and trust creative thinkers.

As Steve Jobs famously said “...while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”



David Harris is Executive Creative Director at Wunderman, a global digital and direct agency network and part of WPP

One of the industry’s most outspoken champions on creative standards he has been running award winning creative departments for 13 years and shows no signs of stopping yet. Before Wunderman he jointly founded LIDA (part of M&C Saatchi) in 1999. He is a passionate supporter of young creative’s, has close links with the Birmingham City University and is a Trustee of the Graeme Robertson Trust