Creative Platforms

A great creative platform is a distillation of a brand’s point of view.

Over the last decade, I’ve watched advertising lean harder on tactics and stunts, the quick PR hit. There’s nothing wrong with them, and for pure consumer plays they can work on their own. For complex brands, stunts only work when they hammer home a bigger idea.

That’s the job of a creative platform. It’s the coat hanger every ad, film, speech and message hangs on. The work can be refreshed as often as the market demands, while the idea underneath gets stronger every year it runs. It turns one-off creativity into something that lasts.

Here are some of the creative platforms I’ve helped build and launch over the years.

IBM: Let’s build a smarter planet.

UPS: We ♥ logistics.

Cisco: The network. Intuitive.

Northern Trust: For where wealth goes next.

Nokia: Take your business to the power of n.

Circle: The new shape of money.

Crowley: We move the things that move the world.

Workday: Software for a changing world.

BAE Systems: It’s not just security. It’s defense.

IBM: Let’s create.

CDW: Make amazing happen.

Grainger: Get it. Got it. Good.

CFA Institute: Let’s measure up.

IBM: Stop talking, start doing.

Arrow Electronics: The innovators’ club.

BitFury: A bit of a revolution.

IBM: Take back control of your infrastructure.