It All Starts With Creative?
I heard a well-trodden expression yesterday that's been repeated ever since my first days of Advertising.? "It all starts with the Creative Idea,"?which when stated, everyone nods their heads and mutters in obvious agreement.?
But at the risk of alienating the relationship with all my Creative Director brethren, I don't get it, and have never thought this to be an accurate reflection of how things work in our business.????
Don't get me wrong, the value we provide and the magic Agencies make is absolutely rooted in the power of a great creative idea.??But when does?it ever "start" with the Creative?idea????
To begin, there's that whole brief thing, which is actually a combination of a host of starting points: clarity on what we are trying to achieve, who we are talking to, key insights critical to motivating that audience, what the main message should be, desired voice etc...???
And what about?channel context and where the creative is actually going to be placed (e.g. the media that's?right for the biz challenge, audience and the message we are delivering)?????Isn’t there work that needs to be done to identify what the lead media channels are before we embark on productive?creative development?????
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I've seen what happens when you start with just an idea (often the approach many agencies take during a new biz pitch).?You work off a brief that has the basics, but you don't get bogged down in specific?execution requirements.?You land on a great integrated creative idea - and to show how rich the idea is - you blow it out across a million channels as part of the presentation.?Unfortunately, 3/4 of the ideas (although very creative) have no bearing on the clients' business and thus don't strike a chord (e.g. this creative concept translates into a great DM idea, but if my business doesn’t need a DM approach then it's hard to get excited about that idea).?
Without media context, you run?the risk of wasting creative?resources, certainly frustrate creative teams by having them execute irrelevant ideas, and you miss a real opportunity to thoroughly demonstrate how your creative idea can solve?your client's biz problem/opportunity.??
This doesn’t even feel like a Chicken or Egg thing (which some have suggested) – it feels obvious that it can't (and doesn't) start with the Creative Idea.
So I must be misunderstanding the intent of this expression.??Love your thoughts on how I should be interpreting this old adage.??
Leader of maturing brands going through their next stage of growth | Marketing Director | Marketing Vice President | CMO
1 年Where this really hits home for me is that so much creative is still presented in a magazine-centric manner… the classic full page ad, or something that approximates that. But then when you try to put that in a social media feed square or a banner ad, the most important stuff is lost.
Former Creative Director at Green Mountain Keurig
1 年As a former creative director ( who worked with Mike in the past ,as part of a client group ), I totally agree. Creative should bring to life, a particular objective within a particular context or it really is of no purpose… it’s just talking to itself, which does not move a business forward. Without a great brief ( which is incredibly rare) , the creative’s attempt is a stab in the dark.