Canva Report on the Top Must-Have Creative Tools for Business

In today's competitive marketplace, businesses must embrace creativity to stand out. Creative ideas inspire teams, engage customers, and inspire product innovation, yet not all workplaces encourage this mindset. A partnership between Canva and Harvard Business Review Analytic Services conducted a survey of more than 500 global business leaders. The findings revealed that while 96% believe that creative ideas are the key to long-term success, few businesses are successfully turning these ideas into impactful actions.

Workplaces often fail to foster creativity. Although 91% of respondents value creative thinking, many do not reward it. More than half of respondents reported that their culture does not encourage creative pursuits, while 41% of leaders support the risks of creativity and thinking outside the box. Almost all respondents agreed that creative leaders improve team creativity, yet 72% of lazy people felt their leaders weren't involved enough to support it.

Organizations are increasingly using Canva to encourage creativity and collaboration. About 95% of the Fortune 500 now use Canva for visual communication. Investment in creative tools or technology is seen as profitable by 94% of respondents, while 87% expect investment in these tools to remain stable or increase.

Collaboration drives creativity by introducing new ideas and concepts. Leaders have many opportunities to encourage diverse collaboration and diverse thinking. Digital tools like Canva Whiteboards facilitate creative collaboration, making it easy to organize and share ideas.

Generative AI is also seen as an important tool for developing creativity. Leaders believe AI can automate repetitive tasks, accelerate idea generation, and create content with minimal human input. Canva's Magic Studio provides AI tools for various creative processes, helping teams save time and focus on more powerful creative work.

Rebecca Janes, Global Product Creative Designer at FedEx, highlighted the benefits of using Canva for efficiency and strategic planning. Similarly, Expedia's social media teams use Canva AI tools to handle tasks such as resizing images and zooming in on images, freeing up time for more creative work.

Canva focuses on empowering organizations to design and think creatively. Their Visual Suite and Magic Studio enable real-time collaboration and visual communication, demonstrating the impact of investments in creating business success.

Photo: Canva