Rick Brim, Chief Creative Officer of adam&eveDDB, built a reputation for bold, emotionally resonant campaigns. For the 25th Anniversary of Design Indaba, Brim delivered a candid talk on the realities of creativity in an oversaturated world. Brim shared a sobering statistic: £18.3 billion is spent on advertising each year, yet only 4% of ads are remembered positively, 7% negatively, and a staggering 89% are barely noticed at all.
The question, then, is simple: how do you make people care?
For Brim, as he shared with audiences, the answer lies in understanding human emotion at a fundamental level. Whether tapping into a cultural trend, finding a unique angle or redefining the zeitgeist entirely, the goal is to create work that connects instantly and meaningfully. It’s a high bar but one that adam&eveDDB consistently meets through bold, unexpected ideas that often push beyond conventional boundaries.
Central to Brim’s approach is simplicity. The most effective campaigns are not overloaded with messages, but distilled to a clear, human truth something audiences can feel rather than decode. At the same time, he emphasised the importance of creative risk, safe ideas may fill space, but they rarely leave an impression. In a landscape dominated by noise, the ideas that endure are those that evoke emotion humour, empathy, surprise and stay with people long after the moment has passed. Brim’s creative process calls for bravery and precision in equal measure and underscores the importance of understanding people deeply, saying something real and saying it in a way that no one else can.
