DDB launches the Creative Index to track Australia’s greatest natural resource
Global advertising network DDB, in conjunction with investment and advisory firm Jarden, has launched the Creative Index – tracking the economic value of creativity, Australia’s greatest natural resource.
The index aggregates Australia’s top creative companies using historical and live ASX share price data, from 2012 to now. The result: proof of the performance and power of creativity, as a total dollar figure.
Companies including SEEK, Cochlear, Medibank, and Treasury Wine Estates – plus media companies like Nine, Domain, REA Group, oOh!, and carsales.com.au – feature on the Creative Index, selected for prioritising creative thinking to drive their innovation and growth.
The wider campaign drives home creativity’s economic value, with billboards that read: “Coal. Commodities. Cartoon Dogs”, “Tin. Telcos. TikTokers”, and “Australia’s bull market is not in oil. It’s in ideas.”
Says Stephen de Wolf, chief creative officer, DDB Group Australia: “We know the impact industries like mining, technology, manufacturing, and finance make on the stock market. But for too long, the value of our greatest resource – creativity – has been seen as cultural, not economic.
“The Creative Index changes that. It is tangible evidence that creativity has incredible commercial value. And it proves that creativity is the most powerful force in business, worth the investment.”
A spokesperson from Jarden outlined how companies were identified: “The Creative Index is composed of companies with creativity at their core. The Creative Index features ASX200 companies that meet one of two criteria, they must either fall within a specified listing of Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) sectors or invest significantly in Research and Development.”
Says Maryanne Tsiatsias, marketing director AUNZ, SEEK: “Hiring creative thinkers and nurturing this talent is critical for organisations to succeed in the future. Creativity is not just restricted to explicitly ‘creative’ roles, but a skill critical to all roles in an organisation. At SEEK, some of our best innovations come from fostering an environment for diverse teams to creatively ideate and problem solve together.”
Says Henry Ruiz, chief strategy officer and CEO, REA Group: “Empathic, creative thinkers have underpinned REA Group’s growth and embody our purpose ‘changing the way the world experiences property’. Last year, we established an exciting new business unit to solely focus on innovative and transformational concepts that unlock new opportunities for our customers. Fostering a human-centred ideation approach in our day-to-day work, as well as in regular dedicated hackathons, our people are inspired to solve real world problems through true product innovation.”
Says Kristy Keyte, chief marketing officer, Treasury Wine Estates, Penfolds: “Beyond the many brands within our portfolio are challenges with international tariffs, change in quality as the climate changes, and the introduction of automated processes to the traditional winemaking process – all of which require creative thinking, innovation, and ingenuity to overcome and propel TWE’s success.
“It’s a privilege to be recognised on the Creative Index, and we hope this gets more Australians thinking about how creativity works beyond our theatres, studios, and art schools.”
The Creative Index can be explored online at https://creativeindex.live/ and is also on display at the NGV as part of the Rigg Design Prize – the highest accolade for contemporary design in Australia – from 7 October.
16 Comments
What would have been great is if they also launched an ETF you could actually buy into, and invest.
Looks slick af…
I think they should release that ETF that would really be game-changing.
Would 100% in this as an EFT. Awesome work!
Creating a tradable ETF costs literally millions of dollars in seed money. It would also have been great if they had gotten magical elves to make that possible.
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/80125/1/Florida%20et%20al_2011_Creativity%20and%20Prosperity.pdf
Richard Florida created the creative index many years ago. I think you may have cut the data slightly differently but same idea.
Fucking excellent idea, nothing else is live and actually tracks a value they can objectively put a figure on. this is boss.
Awesome stuff.
#8
I’m sure the case study will be bang’n
this slaps.
This stacks up as something that more agencies should get behind to roll out – our dire industry needs this conversation right now
This is important work, the obsession with the mining industry ruling our country is madness.
What an awesome concept! The design work is also unbelievably top notch, bravo.
This is a massive idea, hats off to those involved, hopefully it creates significant business change across our country. Hope it really takes off DDB crew, I’m sure we’ll be seeing this at the award circuit, but more importantly, on the boardroom circuit.
Great work guys. More than a campaign, this is a tool the whole industry can use to help shift the narrative with clients, who largely don’t understand the role of creative in solving business problems.