ABSTRACT
Advertising agencies labor hard and fast to innovate and be creative. They must regularly produce creative products in the form of advertisements and other branded ideas for their clients. Creativity is the mainstay of advertising agency output. Creativity occurs as a group dynamic when agency executives—particularly account managers, account planners, and creatives—gather to plan and create ads. Advertising agencies are the authoritative cultural force charged with transforming ordinary objects into elevated symbolic vehicles for which consumers are willing to pay more. The innovation generated by advertising agencies is manifested in novel strategic ideas, original research, and imaginative advertising campaigns that win agencies clients and attract consumers to brands. In advertising agency practice, as in other domains that join art and commerce, such as fashion, film, and music, there are several discrete ritual occasions and liminal periods that mark the agency’s collaborative efforts on innovation. The ritual process in creative development is more than a symbolic reflection of social operations.
