Lindsey Evans: 'See uncertainty as opportunity'

Are you optimistic about the future of creativity?

Yes… and no. Yes, because I believe that while the context changes and new technology and media emerge, the fundamentals of value creation and brand growth remain the same. Creativity drives effectiveness, and effectiveness drives value. What we must remember is that regardless of the new ways and means of connecting and engaging with audiences, it’s the big, bold creative ideas that matter most. Without those, we risk bouncing from tactic to tactic to tactic.

My fear today is that people are beginning to buy into the Zuckerberg narrative that creative agencies are dead men walking in light of AI. While I don’t underestimate the disruption AI is bringing to our world, we should not confuse the media with the message; we should see AI as a tool to fuel creativity, not replace it. So, my optimism is tempered by my anxiety that creativity is being devalued at exactly the time when creativity is what is needed most.

Is diversity an aid to creativity?

It always has been (long before the DEI mantra) and always will be. I have long believed that refracting problems and solutions through multiple lenses, and listening to and learning from diverse perspectives, helps challenge conventional thinking. This makes the work more unexpected, more robust and more likely to resonate more deeply with audiences. 

What is less helpful to creativity is the pursuit of “diversity” for the sake of it – instead we need to use deep empathy, lived experiences and cultural insight to genuinely  be “inclusive” rather than just show it. 

Have clients become more risk-averse because of global uncertainty? 

I have been asked this on multiple occasions when events – economic, political, social – conspire to disrupt conventional wisdom and generate waves of uncertainty. 9/11, the financial meltdown in 2008, Covid and now Donald Trump’s tariff wars on the global world order.

My answer has always been the same… the best clients hold their nerve and, in fact, see uncertainty as opportunity. And that, in turn, requires us to be even more bold and creative in the solutions we deliver. Study after study has shown that those clients who do not blink, do not pull back from spending on their brands are the winners in the long run.

Lindsey Evans is global partner and chief executive of Special Australia