Nurturing an effective creative culture within a marketing organization

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of and the management of creative individuals in organizations. Design/methodology/approach The paper integrates concepts including a range of recently published (1995‐2006) theoretical works in the creative culture, creativity, and innovation literature. Findings The paper provides information and action approaches to marketers to aid them in harnessing creative talent within their organizations. Relevant literature shows that communities may be magnets that attract or repel creative individuals. Organizations can engineer themselves to become attractive to creatives. If marketers are skillful in managing creative individuals, the organization may enjoy increased competitiveness. Research limitations/implications The theoretical concepts that form the foundation of the paper appear to have a significant application to consumer marketing but have not been tested empirically. Practical implication The study explores a global effect that has implications for the nature and scope of marketing orientation performance. Originality/value This paper describes the nature and application of creativity and creative culture to marketing. While most literature has concentrated on the city or community level, the paper provides a perspective that may help to nurture the creativity of individuals within an organization. It offers the potential of increasing marketing competitiveness by allowing firms to maximize their creativity as a competitive tool.