My case for the return of the Big Idea

Some weeks ago, I asked my network on LinkedIn to share what they considered to be great examples of Big Ideas. Many people replied and I was able to compile a long list. Here is a short sample:

Amex: ???????????? Never leave home without it

Mastercard:??? Priceless

Snickers: ???????? You are not you when you are hungry

Axe: ??????????????? Over the top sex fantasies

Allstate:?????????? You are in good hands

Dove:?????????????? Real Beauty

Nike:??????????????? Just do it

Coke:?????????????? The pause that refreshes

Apple:????????????? Think Different

Mercedes??????? The best…or nothing

All of them are great ideas that built business for many years, but one thing struck me; the most recent one is about 10-15 years old.

Last week, I spent two days at Adweek in Mexico City. Lots of great presentations and discussions but not a peep about Ideas.

Big Ideas seem to have gone AWOL and it is my belief that they are the single most important thing that the Advertising industry provides to its clients. It should not be a surprise that Advertisers are cutting Agency compensation if they are not getting any game changing ideas in exchange.

So let my make my case for the return of Big Ideas.

Big Ideas cut though. People are exposed to a tsunami of messages that they do not remember. If your advertising is not noticed because it is boring, complicated, patronizing, or just more of the same, you have wasted the time and resources spent on developing it, and the money spent on producing and airing it. This is the truth, and no amount of marketing weasel words or rationalizations can hide this fact.

Big Ideas are memorable. Building a Brand takes time and requires creativity, consistency, and coherence across all media and platforms. Having a big idea that people will easily remember, process without thinking too much about it, and that leaves them with a good feeling about the Brand is, to steal a word that now belongs to Mastercard, priceless.

Big Ideas simplify and synthesize. As the world becomes more tech-driven and categories fill up with more brands, more versions of the same basic product, advertising messages become more fragmented and harder to understand. A powerful Big Idea will provide consumers with an easy to understand (and remember) message that serves as a “short-hand” explanation of more complex communication.

Big Ideas integrate. As more and more specialists, on both the Advertiser and Agency side, are involved in the development and execution of advertising, it becomes more and more difficult to keep the egos in check and the message consistent. The existence of a big idea provides a NorthStar both for the teams and the communication

Big Ideas have greater staying power than the people that work on them. Both Marketing and agency people work in industries with high levels of turnover. The worst possible thing from a brand building perspective is to have the communication zig and zag every time a new Marketing or Creative Director arrives. The presence of a big idea will minimize the potential disruptions.

Big Ideas make you happy and rich. This one is a no brainer. Anyone at the Advertiser or the Agency would be happy to be associated with any of the Ideas mentioned above, and beyond the emotional satisfaction, there is the very real rocket fuel that these ideas provide to careers.

It is certainly not easy to find that Big Idea but is nothing more important, for both the Advertiser and the Agency. Big Ideas must become priority #1. Advertisers and Agencies need to reallocate talent and resources from existing, yet less important tasks. They both must agree on processes that allow these big ideas to appear, flourish, and prove themselves in the market. And, because not all Ideas will turn out to be big ones, they should create a mechanism that will tolerate failure and richly incentivize success.

And in the search for the Big Idea, they can take comfort in the words of Leo Burnett-

“If you reach for the stars at least you won’t end up with a handful of mud.”