Can Creatives Be Rewarded and Awarded When “Fulfilment Won’t Win Us Any Clients”?

As trophies continue to dominate creative conversations, a growing number of creatives question whether the industry is measuring creative success backwards.

“Agencies strive for creative success, because fulfilment won’t win us any clients, or get any of us promoted,” says CHEP ECD Paul Meates. “But creative fulfilment is just as important, because we are truly miserable creatures when our creative itch isn’t scratched.”

For Paul, the pride of winning an award is fleeting – a "moment of affirmation" that pales in comparison to the enduring satisfaction of making something meaningful.

"Nothing seems to match the feeling of creating the work in the first place," he says.

Awards have long been the currency of the advertising world, and a shorthand for creative excellence. But as Paul points out, the pride they bring is often short-lived.

At CHEP – which is soon to be merged into Clemenger – the agency’s shelves may be full of awards, but its walls are dedicated to the work that brought joy – idle sketches, amateur photography, and generative AI experiments.

"Our hope is to be an agency that is as creatively rewarding as it is awarded and as fulfilling as it is successful," he says.

Agencies are beginning to prioritise creative fulfilment, whether through internal initiatives like CHEP’s gallery walls or projects like DDB’s The Creative Index, challenging traditional metrics of value. The Index tracks the value of creativity like a stock exchange, and shows that creative companies perform better commercially.

DDB Melbourne creative director Becky Morriss, who worked on the Index, said the project proved creativity’s “undeniable value”.

“Being a creative for a living and being a creative person are two different things,” Becky explained. “When The Creative Index launched … I had to pinch myself.

“It was a rare moment where my creative being, and creative career collided.”

Paul stresses that the fulfilment you feel for what you made remains separate to the pride you feel for its accolades.

“The two are like oil and water,” he said.

However, ABEL co-founder and creative Nicole Jauncey notes that creativity and validation can also go hand in hand.

"The more recognition, the more creative drive I have, then that in turn brings even more recognition," she said.

"These days, I find most satisfaction in the collective creativity of our business. Personal recognition is great, but seeing the team grow, clients succeed, and collaborating with partners is really what gets me going."

For other creatives, like Motion Sickness creative director Jordan Stent, fulfilment is about finding balance – not just in work, but in life.

Jordan began prioritising balance by spending time in his garden and building furniture, reconnecting with simpler, slower joys to recalibrate his creative perspective and find freedom beyond the fast-paced campaign cycle.

"Most of my time in ad world, I've felt like I was still picking up speed – head down, bum up – trying to match the pace of the industry," he said. "But as I found myself flipping from advertising evangelist to rejector, the voice telling me to go and punch dirt outside got louder.

"Watching the fruits of your labour grow while sitting on a table you built is simple, personal, and deeply fulfilling.”