“In my experience, there are no tools that deliver brilliant creative. It comes down to a great creative process approach, being organized, inspiring the team, and letting the human brain do the rest…”

You can create a beautiful-looking campaign, using the best tech, but if the message doesn’t hit the mark, and result in action, the campaign is a flop. Ultimately, it’s the measurable results that determine a campaign’s success.
What is creative direction exactly?
You may have heard the saying ‘like herding cats’… well, creative direction is a little like that. Creativity, by its very nature, is often chaotic, experimental, and temperamental. The combination of unlikely thoughts and ideas to unlock solutions that cut through the clutter and create impact.
Creative direction makes sense of the chaos, while always keeping the objectives, brand and strategy top of mind. It informs the broad concept, or ‘big idea’, and aligns it to copy and visual, and application onto all the relevant assets required for a particular project.
The correct team assembly, based on the project scope is also essential. All creatives have different strengths, so the Creative Director is responsible for selecting the best people for the project based on the requirements.
Our Rooftop concept approach: Safe, standard, brave
Concepts need to fulfill two key functions, they need to achieve specific objectives (preferably measurable), and they need to get noticed by the target audience.
At Rooftop, we have a client base whose mandates often relate to sensitive, or even controversial content. They are also organizations whose marketing platforms have the eyes of the world on them, and often these ‘eyes’ are highly critical.
This understanding helps us to shape concepts that align with the organizations and their positioning and communication approach. We do, however, apply a concept approach that covers three areas: safe, standard, and brave.
This allows us to explore ideas across a broad spectrum, as we know that the safe ideas may get lost, and that the brave ideas are often the ones that stand out. We allow the client to partner with us on shaping these ideas to form the perfect solution.
The brave approach
Rooftop recently worked on a project for WWF where we were able to showcase our innovative thinking and creative skills thanks to the client’s willingness to trust us to carry out a brave concept. This resulted in a highly successful campaign.
The client originally wanted to project a video onto a building as part of an activation for a major global event in a prominent city. The challenge with this particular video was that it required audio for it to make sense to the viewer.
We considered the challenges, and proposed a solution that was more dynamic and engaging, and required no audio to relay the message in a bold way to the passers-by. We worked with the client to shape several short animations, each focussed on a specific message, and the end results certainly delivered and exceeded the objectives set out initially.

Safe doesn’t have to mean ‘boring’
In certain cases, clients’ existing corporate identity and branding guidelines mean that they can’t step too far ‘out of the box’. But for Rooftop, this doesn’t mean that the product can’t still have an effective and influential impact on the audience.
In these instances, we really work hard at unlocking content from the client which carries an emotive connection with the audience. Many of the organizations we partner with at Rooftop are involved in very compelling projects. This content always allows for great story telling and captures the reality of topics in an engaging way. With these projects, we aim not just for reach, but engagement and action in the content we create
Taking a unique approach to every project
Whether we create internal communication campaigns, learning materials or international awareness campaigns, we approach each project on its individual merits. We start with a ‘clean slate’ for every project to allow for fresh thinking and unique ideas from the team.
At Rooftop, our teams are made up of passionate creatives who strive to create impact in everything we do. And we bring this mindset to every project no matter how big or small it is.
We create impactful animations, short-form documentaries, stop-motion films, informative explainers, digital and printed publications, social media campaigns, influencer strategies, and all of the supporting materials that go with a successful campaign. This includes social media strategies, influencer collaborations and other marketing materials.
Right now, we’re excited about working with new technologies, and diving into the world of 3D mapping. Find out more about how Rooftop can work with you and your organisation: Take a look at our Case Studies for inspiration.