The Fred and Ginger Syndrome

They made everything they did look so easy. Everyone thought they could do dance just as well. Forget about craft or talent.

Same with ads, some clients, some account service people why, even some 'creatives', think that it's easy to create an ad…actually anyone can do it.A little word play here, a little confronting image there and voila! an ad.  And usually an award or two.But where's the depth of thinking needed to build long time brand values and propositions?

Not saying it should be hard or first thought ads can't be right (they usually are but only after  you've been living the brand for months, long before the final brief arrives). Neither am I saying that advertising is the sole ownership of people in agencies. Sometimes people outside agency world can have an insightful thought/idea. Bravo to them. But it's much like a layman could probably guess where to make the correct incision for an appendectomy.

The best ad men and women are highly intuitive. It's in their DNA, they have a gut feeling for what's needed/right. It may or may not be word play or confronting images. It may be a category changer of an idea, or an idea that's not advertising at all.  They make it look easy because they live and breathe it.

That's what good ad people do…it's a craft they've developed and honed. Much like Fred and Ginger.

Next time "Are there simply too many people in advertising?"

Creating talk. Generating Commerce™

'Creative' - what does it mean to you.

Creative.  It's a word that has been used and misused for many years. When you hear someone say… "She's a creative type…"  do you think they are being disparaging or complementary?  If a client or an agency suit counters with "that's a typical response from a creative" …complimentary or disparaging?  Is a 'Creative' someone who is glib, superficial and vulgarly self-obsessed? Or someone who knows how to bring to life the key benefits of a product or service in a persuasive, memorable, intriguing and entertaining fashion?

A good way to judge your next advertising agency is to go into the 'Creative Department' and ask any of the staff..."What do you do?"

If they answer  "I'm a creative" you may have a problem.

If, instead, they answer "I'm writer (art director, designer etc) who helps sell my clients products with intriguing, relevant and entertaining arguments", you're on a winner.

Don't get me wrong -  Creative advertising is the only advertising... and has built great brands and transformed mediocre ones. It's a mandatory for any business wanting to truly connect with their consumer. The problem is the definition. 'Creative for creatives sake' is blatantly wrong. Creative to get a product's benefits under the skin and into the consumer's brain is patently right!

Agencies and clients make the mistake of writing and approving ads that, more often than not, are missing the one key ingredient: relevance.

Bill Bernbach, the father of modern era advertising, wore a suit and tie to work everyday (just like Madmen) and famously said "if you can't do it between 9 and 5, you can't do it". He was a no nonsense genius who understood that 'creative' describes the argument not the person working on it.

Tomorrow…I want to talk about the Fred and Ginger principle™

Creating talk. Generating commerce™