Whatever happened to creative advertising?

Whatever happened to creative advertising?

Miami Herald considers the enthusiasm for risk-taking has declined in recent years, resulting from massive consolidation of the advertising industry and the emphasis on cost cutting.

An excerpt from the article:
To break out of this rut, the chief executive of Procter & Gamble, the nation's biggest advertiser, recently decided to shift some of its business away from Saatchi & Saatchi to Weiden + Kennedy, Nike's longtime agency, known for its creativity. But Buz Sawyer, who runs Weiden's office in New York, said it took P&G six months to identify a brand manager within the company who was willing to work with an edgy agency that relied on gut instinct rather than focus groups to create ads for Old Spice.

Any connections as we're promoting "Juicing the Orange--How to turn creativity into a powerful business advantage?"