Cre8tivision LLC, Washington DC

For 15 years, Barb Dickey educated agency clients at Scali, McCabe, Sloves and Arnold Worldwide on how to move the masses. Then she decided to move her own clients as Cre8tivistion, LLC. The combined result is some of the most effective, award-winning advertising and branding this side of the pond. Except, of course, for the stuff she’s done across the pond.

What Barb does lies in the hearts and talents of all great Creatives. It’s the unadulterated passion for creating ideas that break through the clutter. While loathing the phrase, ‘breaking through the clutter.’ It’s not shock for shock’s sake, but inherent, organic interest that arrests attention. Whether you’re persuading an involuntary audience to buy sneakers, or be more water-wise.

Never forget that today’s audiences are smart. They get ‘mass marketing.’ They ignore ‘mass marketing.’ You’ve gotta kick them in the gut. Throw out every advertising rule you know, and gravitate toward cutting-edge and simplyimpossible- to-ignore. Elicit a visceral reaction and you’ll turn brand ignorance into more than just brand loyalty. You’ll achieve the Holy Grail: brand advocacy.

Imagine moving an entire country to trust meat. During the Mad Cow Disease scare. For Sainsbury’s, London, Barb leveraged trust in the store’s resident experts to promote the healthy incorporation of beef into the public’s diet. With robust photography. Dynamic graphics. And a strategic lifestyle hook—a mouthwatering recipe. Sainsbury’s profited with healthier sales.

And truly inspiring creative knows no bounds. Employed within Social Marketing it can move masses in astoundingly positive, productive directions. Take Water Advocates—not satisfied to simply state: There is a problem and we need to fix it, Barb recommended stark visuals to emphasize the suffering in developing countries. Married with an Indian girl receiving clean water and a compelling, thought-provoking headline, readers are moved to Support, Sponsor and Solve. Rather than just move on.

Truth is, anyone can use a computer to design a ‘painting.’ That doesn’t make him Picasso. Knowing how to connect, to vibe, to move into action—and to do it on the edge. Now that’s the real art.