Booster - Quick Conversation

What Is the Key to Great Creativity? Giving It Space and Backing It Properly

By Nick Elliott, Founder, Booster Consulting

After spending much of Cannes Lions filming Quick Conversations on the beach, asking marketing leaders, creatives, and founders what they believe is the key to great creativity, one conversation stood out for its perspective.

This time, the backdrop was not the Croisette or a beach club, but Cannes Lions HQ itself. I sat down with Paul Coxhill, COO and President of Lions, to ask a simple question that continues to produce surprisingly deep answers:

What is the key to great creativity?

Paul’s answer was clear, pragmatic, experience-led and rooted in evidence, bearing in mind that much of what the LIONS group does revolves around creativity. 

Creativity Needs Space

The first point Paul made was that great creativity does not emerge under constant pressure or constraint. It needs space.

Space to think.
Space to explore.
Space to let ideas develop properly.

Crucially, that space does not happen by accident. It only exists when leadership actively gives permission for creativity to flourish. That applies to agencies, brands, platforms, and organisations of all shapes and sizes.

Without that permission, creativity is forced to rush to execution before it has had the chance to become genuinely interesting.

Creativity Must Be Backed

Space alone is not enough.

Paul was emphatic that the creative ideas that truly cut through are those that are backed properly. That means backing creativity with time, with investment, and with people.

Too often, organisations celebrate a strong idea but fail to support it beyond a single moment in time. The most effective creativity, however, is not a one-off success. It is built, refined, and reinforced consistently over years.

This long-term commitment is where many organisations fall short, and where the biggest opportunity lies.

Creativity Drives Business Value

One of the most compelling parts of the conversation was Paul’s reference to new research conducted by Lions in partnership with Interbrand.

That research demonstrates a clear link between sustained creative investment and improvements in both market capitalisation and profitability over time.

In other words, creativity is not a “nice to have”, nor simply a tool for awareness or fame. When invested in consistently, it is a genuine driver of commercial performance.

The evidence increasingly supports what many in the industry have long believed: creativity pays back when it is treated seriously.

Creativity Is Bigger Than Campaigns

Paul also challenged the idea that creativity only lives in advertising output.

The strongest creative organisations understand that creativity runs through product design, customer experience, brand platforms, and overall business strategy. Campaigns matter, but they sit within a much broader creative system.

This is why creativity should be a standing agenda item at leadership level, not something that only appears when a campaign is due.

Consistency Wins

A powerful example Paul cited was Apple, which was named Creative Organisation of the Year at Cannes Lions.

While Apple’s executions evolve to reflect new channels, technologies, and cultural moments, the underlying creative platform remains consistent over time. That consistency allows creativity to compound, rather than reset with every campaign.

It is a reminder that great creativity is rarely about chasing novelty. It is about building something distinctive and sustaining it.

Creativity as a Leadership Responsibility

The takeaway from this conversation was simple but no small task.

Great creativity requires leaders who are willing to give it space, back it properly, and commit to it over time. It requires patience, belief, and an understanding that creativity is not separate from business strategy but central to it.

Creativity is not short-term. It is a long-term commitment.

That may be the hardest part of all.