About Misfits

Creativity is celebrated as the fuel of effective advertising, but it has a problem. It is an enigma of artistic work, with a range of definitions, and its pursuit invites uncertainty, with corporate boardrooms demanding certain, stable returns.

MISFITS aims to move beyond this impasse by proposing a shared language for what creativity means in advertising and outlines robust evidence supporting its effects. Because if advertisers don’t have the confidence to embrace uncertainty and adopt a Misfit mindset to achieve extraordinary effects, they will be confined to safe work and ordinary effects. 

In MISFITS, Adam Sheridan highlights the tension and missed opportunity of harnessing creativity in advertising and explores what it means to the regular people it needs to influence. 

With this shared language in hand, he identifies its value to end advertising effects. And he frames this language and value of creativity in the qualities of the MISFITS of popular culture. The people who do not fit in and, in doing so, can harness creativity to deliver the best experience for their audiences.

Finally, Adam outlines considerations for marketers and agencies when developing advertising, knowing that the evidence confirms trusting in a MISFITS mindset to pursue the extraordinary has more business value than the safe and ordinary.

a package shot of the cover of the Misfits book by Adam Sheridan
a series of Misfits iconic faces
ADVERTISING

We need to talk about creativity

Discover
  • An illustration of a building billboard with the words "advertise here"

    Moving beyond the Rorschach of advertising

    Having established the need to identify a shared language as to what creativity means in advertising, we explore the range of definitions within advertising and propose a definition based less on the opinions of the industry and more the perception of those it needs to influence, regular people.

    Find out more
  • silhouette illustration

    What can we learn from those who do not fit in?

    What can we learn from successful people who do not fit in, the Misfits of the world? In this section, we profile Misfits from popular culture and identify key principles and qualities that we see in their work, and identify these same qualities in highly effective advertising campaigns.

    Find out more
  • Misfits illustration of a brain linked to a network of dots

    The role of creativity and a Misfit mindset in advertising

    With our proposed definition of creativity and the principles of a Misfit mindset in hand, we link these to the key effects advertising needs to achieve to grow brands. And we do this based on analysis of thousands of ads, supported by contemporary case studies across the world.

    Find out more

  • How to apply a Misfit mindset to get to effective advertising

    Harnessing creativity in advertising has tangible business value. In this section, we outline questions agencies and marketers may want to ask themselves at different stages of the advertising development process to best leverage creativity to be more effective.

    Find out more
  • A silhouette laptop with social icons in speech bubbles coming out of the screen

    A word on data fueled creativity

    With a smart application of creativity to media placement and interaction data, marketers can get to effective business outcomes. This is supported by a case review of Effie award winning campaigns, where hard business effects are the key criteria to being recognised with an award.

    Find out more