Staying True to the Essence of an Idea
Adrianna Hosford
Communications & Marketing Leader at Artera (SaaS / AI / Health Tech) / ex Real Chemistry / ex Ketchum/Omnicom
All too often, those of us in creative businesses get stuck on an idea, even when the idea, as it is currently constructed, doesn’t work. Because we love the idea or our client loves the idea, we try to make it work at all costs – even when it doesn’t. Ketchum's Director of Client Development, Michael O’Brien, talks about staying true to the “essence of an idea” - not just the idea itself. We don’t have to kill our darlings entirely, but unwavering commitment needs to be directed to the right place.
It’s about the attributes
It’s not about making that idea work exactly as written in the plan, regardless of anything, but rather staying true to a feeling and outcome. Essence is the attribute or set of attributes that makes something what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity. Staying true to the essence can mean changing some of the elements to make that idea fit better for your client, team, budget and timing. It means not focusing so much about what is on paper, but being willing to abandon a tactic or change an approach if it’s better suited to how your challenge and situation has changed or evolved. Too often, once a plan is approved, teams proceed mindlessly ahead, following the exact details even when it’s not working. That is a habit we need to kick.
It’s about inspiration from outside
Staying true to the essence also means borrowing great ideas from other industries while figuring out how they could work (with changes) for your industry, customer and approach. In creative communications, we often look to consumer brand marketing for trends and engaging ideas and think about what those approaches might look like in other spaces like B2B, healthcare, and brand reputation. Why were consumers so engaged? Why did the media care? Why did this become so popular on social? Can we use any of these insights to inspire thinking for clients in other fields? All questions to consider.
Great programs are constantly evolving. They continue to change as the needs of the clients, customers and business change. But programs that begin great and end great do so by staying true to the great idea’s essence – not its tactics.
When have you changed an idea to make it work better while staying true to the essence? How did it turn out?
President @ Axicom | Communications for tech brands and brands with a tech story
8 年The inspiration from the outside piece is particularly true for me. I went to a talk by Charles Duhigg this week and he believes one of the tenets of creativity is to smash together ideas from completely separate worlds. It's also a good reminder to always try to bring diversity into a team charged with a creative challenge - you need ideas and experiences from different backgrounds in order to come up with something truly innovative.