10 July 2012

Whatever happened to crafting the Big Idea? Did it go the same way as closing jobs?


Whatever happened to crafting the Big Idea? Did it go the same way as closing jobs?


(Photo at Cannes Lions: Fabrica Treviso wins three Grand Prix awards with Benetton 'Unhate' campaign at Press Lions.)





‘Anyone can be creative’ rolls the call of many. Have you noticed this statement will come from the most straight-laced people possible?
99.9% of the time.
The Big Idea be it in the sciences, business, or anything we do to make a living is important. Various questions abound in today’s market, especially alike ‘how can my company or I make money on the Internet’?
But most commonly ‘The Big Idea’ is the most important factor in marketing and communications.
Anything is born of an idea, and in marketing and advertising the idea is king. 
Various ‘creative’ people have given their theories in this. The creative process I most admire and most advertising people of nay (intended) worth will recognise to follow in a brainstorm to arrive at the Big Idea is as follows:
  1. Getting together as much as raw material.
  2. The fun part, exploring every inch and aspect of it, playing with it.
  3. This is where we suits never get it, well most people don’t. Just walking away from it and doing nothing. Recognise those creative who happen to be playing games on their really posh, high performance Mac computers anytime you walk into their department? Well actually they’re allowing their sub-conscious to work.  The mind silently works best when you are actually doing something else. So the next time you see your creative team playing war craft, encourage it. The better, join.
  4. The unconscious mind offers up the idea. Honest.
  5. Step five is where Cannes Lions awards are won and also millions in dosh. This is when behind locked doors; the creative team will sit to trash, push, probe, hold the idea up to an in-built set of standards and find it unworthy.
Then and only then is when ideas like facebook, Google, Cannes Grandprix Lions happen. Please see previous Cannes Lions Creative Bravery Presentation here:
Creativity, creative, is a discipline. Just like someone is a scientist or a businessman. What we marketers must understand is that we are in charge of a brand, and what makes us good is the fact that we can understand and recognise great ideas.
A person who can sing and play an instrument through singing or playing by ear is creative. So is the kid who draws a perfect cat when he’s two years old. So is that tattooed, longhaired, two earring, pierced, middle aged schizophrenic who writes the body copy on your ads.
The best marketers are the one’s who work on the most successful brands and them you will see having a very good relationship with their creative from the advertising agency. They recognise they are good marketers as this is what has chosen them in their life, like a doctor who always knew they wanted to be one, and now is damn good.
So are those in the creative department of your advertising agency. They have learned to generate ideas, like we were born to run successful businesses.
Leave the creative to the professionals. Don’t kid yourself you know better. Otherwise you would now be sitting on their side, making the big bucks.
No sorry make that I!

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