The new mandate for CMOs is clear: creativity must deliver growth

For a long time, creativity was marketing’s leap of faith, a seemingly intangible quality executives instinctively valued but struggled to measure. But as boards demand harder evidence of return on investment, a growing body of research suggests creativity isn’t simply good for brands, it’s good for business. Recent research conducted by Interbrand, in partnership with LIONS (owner of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity) analyzed five years of performance data from 50 publicly traded companies that consistently ranked among Cannes Lions’ most awarded businesses. The study found that creativity has a significant impact, with companies seeing a 2.7% increase in profitability and a 4.7% rise in market capitalization in the year following the award. “This idea that creativity can drive growth has never been more relevant than it is today,” Simon Cook, CEO of LIONS, tells Fortune. “We’re operating in an environment defined by constant disruption, accelerated technological change and increasing pressure on businesses to find new sources of growth. It is becoming one of the few remaining competitive advantages that organizations can truly own.” Advances in data are helping make that case, allowing companies to better understand the relationship between creative quality and commercial outcomes, from revenue growth to return on investment. The trend is emerging even in industries not traditionally associated with creativity. In B2B, for example, brands are moving beyond purely functional messaging toward more emotionally resonant approaches. “That shift is delivering stronger differentiation and commercial impact, because buyers are still human beings making decisions based on trust and connection,” Cook says. The stakes are particularly high in the current climate, where periods of uncertainty often encourage organizations to focus on optimization and short-term performance. But Cook warns that cutting brand investment leads to “s