Corporate Communications: Design Hotshop or Communications Solution Maker

Creativity and design are the means; communicating, creating an impact, building awareness, getting the target audience to act are the ends. In an ideal world. Often, it's not the way David Ogilvy felt: "A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself."

Shouldn't what a communication say or what it can make the viewer / reader do be more important than how it is said?

So many communications may have failed due to wrong or under- /over-stated creative briefs. So many communications fail because customers set the wrong expectations of the corporate communications teams.

Do you say, "I want a flash presentation" or "how can I make an impact"?
Do you say, "I want a page on the website" or "how do I reach out to a largely online audience?"
Do you say, "I want a great design" or "I want my audience to read my message!"
Do you say, "I want the mailer today" or "How best can we reach the target audience?"