Creatives is a term often used to describe professionals in advertising, marketing and PR.

It reminds me of the Mad Men episode in which 1960s-era ad man Don Draper, in yogic meditation on a grassy hilltop, lands on the Coke “I’d like to teach the world to sing” campaign.

As challenging as this character was, the message was clear: Draper was a creative genius.

Much has changed since the 1960s, which Mad Men worked to chronicle.

For example, the days of the three-martini lunch are largely over.

But while creativity remains a linchpin in PR, marketing and advertising today, these creative disciplines have ultimately become a numbers game. Clients want, and expect, creative ideas. But their larger goals are to get media coverage, generate leads, and sell products and services.

And in today’s challenging economy, they’re more focused on these results than ever.

Doing the math

That’s why Bospar works so hard to use client news, data and creative ideas to secure media coverage. It’s why we continuously monitor for and share resulting stories with clients. And it’s why we assess metrics like share of voice (SOV) and push to get clients a bigger piece of the pie.

Securing media coverage and growing clients’ SOV – and helping to positively impact downstream results such as increased sales and stronger stock prices that can arise from that – require far more than just presenting creative ideas. They hinge on decisive and rapid action.

Translating ideas into action

Many PR firms offer up ideas but struggle to execute on them to provide clients with the results they need. Others are comfortable resting on their laurels and waiting for clients to tell them what to do. (We know this because clients and prospects have shared such experiences.)

At Bospar, we are creative. And we translate that creativity and positive energy into action.

We monitor breaking news, yes. But we also deliver on it, springing into action by writing quotes that speak to the news and highlight client thought leadership for our customers’ quick approval. While one or two account team members write and get client approvals on these quotes, others on the team are identifying appropriate media with whom to share the quote. That way, we get the client quotes to media who are writing about the breaking news ASAP.

Creating connections and driving coverage

Newsjacking, as this type of effort to win media coverage is often known, is a great way to insert clients’ thought leadership into the topics that media and their audiences care about. It’s also an optimal means to introduce and elevate clients’ profiles with key media contacts. If a company provides an illuminating quote today, reporters will be much more likely to call on that thought leader to act as a source for – or to be the subject of – a story tomorrow.

Bospar also helps clients meet their goals and ease their workloads by creating compelling pitches and contributed content. We present pitch ideas and the pitches themselves to clients. We know which reporters and media outlets these story ideas will appeal to, and we reach out to these reporters and editors – with whom we’ve built strong relationships over the years – to place contributed content, secure client interviews and generate reporter-written stories.

We use our creativity, connections and “politely pushy” approach to make that happen.