Robert Senior on the Importance of Creative Bravery

This past weekend was the 2017 Kinsale Sharks and this year saw the introduction of the Creative Bravery Award.

The award, said the Sharks, was created to "celebrate work which has the courage and tenacity to push boundaries regardless of the risks and potential consequences. Work that only the bravest clients will support and which will have represented a huge leap of faith".

At the head of the inaugural Creative Bravery Award jury was the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, Robert Senior. Here he talks to shots.net about the introduction of the award and its importance, and tells us why the two pieces of work which picked up gold Sharks epitomise bravery.

Robert Senior, head of the inaugural Kinsale Sharks Creative Bravery Award 

What was it about the work that won that stood out from the crowd?

25 Annoying Things [for Amnesty International, below] took on the deeply sensitive political and social issue of abortion rights in Ireland. And the individuals who took part showed extraordinary bravery to stand up and speak out with such elegance and power.

Amnesty International's 25 Annoying Things

The World’s Biggest Assehole [for Donate Life, shown below] came at the topic of organ donation from the polar opposite point you might expect. And does so with aplomb. And the cost of failure, err, well if there are not enough organs, people die. Very brave and, I hope, hugely successful.

I look forward to seeing more brands enter into next year's Creative Bravery Awards. As every brand and business stares at the existentialist challenge of their 'transformation agenda', I suspect that fortune will indeed favour the brave.

How would you define ‘bravery’ in an advertising sense?

Doing what you believe is right, in spite of the cost of failure.

How often do you think clients or agencies (or both) mistake shock tactics for bravery and why?

Almost always. Although they do so under the guise of 'saliency'.

 The World’s Biggest Assehole, for Donate Life

Does the introduction of a specific Creative Bravery Award mean that advertising has taken a more risk-averse approach in recent years?

The paradox of technology is that data mitigates decision-making risk, while brave creativity maximises effect by embracing risk. The award is a timely reminder that risk is an essential ingredient of creativity and of its business success.

How can an agency influence a client to embrace bravery and does that inclination already need to be inherent in the client from the outset?

Clients buy the agency culture as personified through their teams. Bravery is cultural and courses through an agency's veins. It is not an agenda item nor decorative sound bites to make everyone feel better about their jobs.