Return on creative?

How do creatives consultants that produce media products know that value has been added to the client? I am assuming that the client must share with the creative that revenue that has been created and associate that with the creative consultant. With this model, there has to be a tangible and quantitative goal, no? This goes against the idea of "art for art's sake." (I never bought into that, btw.) Corporate identity has been dwarfed by the surge of branding in today's industry.Then, this of course leads to the question what is the line between responsibility to your client and responsibility to the end user?

Excerpts from "Return on Creative"
http://www.agda.asn.au/dm/observations/Retur.html
When we speak of a 'return on creative,' we become aware that designers have more to add to the business process than elegant brochures and eye-catching web sites. Designers can bring a return on creative because they are trained to bring something out of nothing. They are results-oriented.

'Return on creative' emphasises that creativity can, should, and will drive business success. Designers find themselves at the centre of this epochal transformation of business practices thanks to the dual meaning of the word 'design.'

The rise of design as a social and commercial force drives us to the considerations I have engaged in here. It is becoming more and more clear that an enterprise without creative direction cannot succeed, and that creativity without a social goal flirts with frivolity. As the demand for a 'return on creative' increases, we will see, first of all, that there can be no return without the judicious application of creative resources. But we will also see something else: the breakdown of the division between business leaders and design leaders as more and more people realise that an enterprise can only succeed 'by design.'

A comment that was added to 'Return on Creative'

Creative Business Ideas
http://www.eurorscg.com/h/s/ow_cbi.asp
"Today, marketers need more than good advertising and promotion. Marketers need ideas that apply creativity to their business strategy in new ways to drive profitable growth. We call these ideas Creative Business Ideas: they transform the product, the brand, the company—and sometimes even the business itself. "


--Stephen
www.smjdesign.com