tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31362061737521499322024-03-27T09:24:52.565+02:00AdtherapyTherapy for better advertising: healthier agency/client relationships, better skills, better work, better results.Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-82907200517414231372022-08-11T11:02:00.000+02:002022-08-11T13:15:41.847+02:00Brief writing - it's harder than you think<h2><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">The biggest problem with brief writing is that people think they're easy to write.</span></h2>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Typical Marketing Department:</span></b><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">"We're going to grab a sandwich. Coming?"</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">"Sure, give me ten minutes. Just need to get a brief to the Agency".</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Typical Client Service Department:</span></b><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">"We're going for sushi. Coming?"</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">"Sure, give me ten minutes. Just need to get a brief into Traffic".</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Great briefs take time. </span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A great brief needs to be very, very clear what the resultant output should achieve (note: not what it should look or sound like, but what it's intention is). More than that a great brief must inspire, in fact, <i>catapult</i>, the imagination of your creative teams. It needs to immediately conjure up ideas and angles and possibilities and excitement. </span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">To do that it needs to be a few simple things:</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">1. Be Clear.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">2. Be Concise.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">3. Be Clever.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">4. Be Creative.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">5. Be Collaborative.</span></div>
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<b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">I'm going to unpack these in this blog. I've even drawn you a little video in the proposition section. Take a look. </span></b><br />
<b style="background-color: yellow;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></b><b style="background-color: yellow;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Be Clear:</span></b></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><b>Who</b> do you want to do <b>what</b> as a result of <b>this piece</b> of communication?</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">There's a bunch of choices in there and the catch-all target market definition usually chucked in a brief is a perfect example of lazy thinking, where no choices have been made at all. It's murky and bloated and will undoubtedly lead to obviously murky and inefficient communication output.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">To exquisitely illustrate the point, watch this:</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Once you've sorted the "who are we talking to" out, then w<b>hat </b>do you want them to do...as a result of engaging with <b><i>this</i> piece of communication.</b></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Answering these questions as a "if-then" approach is helpful. Remember, they may be exposed to a whole lot of things that your brand is saying in a whole lot of channels. However - what's <b>this one</b> going to ask the/expect them/persuade them to do? This is where separating out marketing objectives from communication objectives is so critical. Example, the key job of a banner ad is most likely not to increase brand awareness.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Obviously if the brief is for the BIG IDEA, and you're not down to the individual elements yet, think even more carefully about what the role of the communication will be. What will success look like? Will it (can it) be measured, if so how, and if not - how will you know it worked?</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow;"><b>Be Concise:</b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Doing all of the above thinking - before you write the brief - helps you become focused in your thinking. And so the communication can be focused, and work in an integrated way with all the other bits of communication in your overall plan. If you want to ask your consumers to do ten things, you must realize that not only are you being lazy, but most consumers are. Ask us to do/think/feel/remember one thing, maybe - just maybe - we'll do it. Ten things, or even three? Sorry, what were you saying again?</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A creative brief should be no more than two pages. It should tell a story and should read well. Not like a collection of marketing-speak cut and pasted from the brand plan. </span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow;"><b>Be Clever:</b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">Find a truly interesting and motivating and deep-seated reason <i>why</i> people do what they do. And find a way of connecting it to what your brand offers. Where the human truth or insight meets your brand truth or insight is where the magic starts happening. This is going to emerge in your brief as the Proposition (see next point).</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;">An example from a campaign that I loved the moment I saw it (Boom! Great insight driven work always does that - connects with a Boom!), is Sanlam's One Rand Man campaign. The insight is - my words not theirs - that because we don't physically pay with cash, our money doesn't seem real. </span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow;"><b>Be Creative:</b></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">This is the real thorn in the side. Here's why you really can't bang it out before lunch.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The inspirational bit of the brief hinges on the <b>Proposition</b>. Call it what you like. The Platform. The Single Minded Thought. The Elevator Pitch. The thing most likely to convince our consumer to do/think/feel what we want them to do/think/feel. This builds on the brand's Value Proposition.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=gH92pWMsi78C&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=a+value+proposition+exists+at+the+crossroads+of&source=bl&ots=X0tvE8wte7&sig=oKx4hCsQQBSrzmYYghwTI8C4yfI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ne5MVcPkH-HW7Aas1IHYDQ&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=a%20value%20proposition%20exists%20at%20the%20crossroads%20of&f=false"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Source: Tim Williams</span></a></td></tr>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Usually, you can't get to a great proposition unless you have a really good <b>Insight.</b> Because what we want to do with the proposition is create a launch pad for ideas. The insight helps because it allows you a real understanding of consumer motivations and beliefs - the why not the what. (Insights are something that must be done, along with the Brand's Positioning Statement way before you sit down to write the brief).</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The proposition requires creative writing. And understandably not every marketer or account manager is a creative writer. So this proposition can and should be written in collaboration with the agency. In agencies, account managers should be creative. But if they're not, then they should bring in a strategist or a copywriter to get that sentence. Because once you've got it - you're off. That's the catapult to a big idea and a seamless, integrated campaign.</span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Propositions need also to help <b>make the brand distinctive</b>. Why can this brand solve the tension in that insight better than anyone else? This is when a truly differentiated and distinctive product concept helps. But honestly, how many of those do we see?</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So the proposition links a universal insight or truth with a brand truth with something that makes your brand distinctive from the competition or category. Note I said distinctive not differentiated. Distinctiveness is critical when we get to the communication part of the proposition. It sets us apart, maybe tonality, maybe because of an underlying purpose, maybe because of a bottle shape. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Read this wonderful examnple from The Economist: <a href="https://brandsandhumour.substack.com/p/those-economist-ads-part-1">https://brandsandhumour.substack.com/p/those-economist-ads-part-1</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPsOc8gBTNj81t6-XoQYH_MZH94NxYfU4rZHeLifU2JVW54lo2YQbMTh-qXgrHVwgsam-yw3Gt5bkCIwNiLFFt5CYlgNuoYzvqZf9xhlhXsKiKhWD0pHfa3layjlRpX5711pHvL0SzZ3VYGfTqLI9ycRPbqCDeIFysyWz86FBIYPb-tXQ8hAnm82o/s1484/Screenshot%202022-08-11%20at%2013.12.32.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1162" data-original-width="1484" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPsOc8gBTNj81t6-XoQYH_MZH94NxYfU4rZHeLifU2JVW54lo2YQbMTh-qXgrHVwgsam-yw3Gt5bkCIwNiLFFt5CYlgNuoYzvqZf9xhlhXsKiKhWD0pHfa3layjlRpX5711pHvL0SzZ3VYGfTqLI9ycRPbqCDeIFysyWz86FBIYPb-tXQ8hAnm82o/w400-h314/Screenshot%202022-08-11%20at%2013.12.32.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The best way to get better at this is to practice. There are a number of obvious examples but a powerful one is Dove. The fact that a brand based on a moisturising soap can help you acknowledge your inner saboteur and encourage self-belief and self-confidence in young women, is nothing short of miraculous.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I find a way to write good propositions is to think of them like headlines. In fact great propositions can be headlines and many end up with tiny tweaks to be payoff lines. How would you write the proposition for this ad?</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Human truth: Very few women think they're beautiful (4%).</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Brand truth: Dove has a range of everyday beauty products.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So, true to the brand: Dove is a real beauty product</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Motivating insight: You are probably more beautiful than you think</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Distinctive to the competition: Dove believes in real beauty.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here are some options (and these take time to write, so you have to try them out until you get to one that sounds like it could create ideas).</span><br />
<b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span></b><b><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Proposition ideas:</span></b><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">With Dove, you know your beauty is real.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dove helps you be comfortable in your skin.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dove believes your beauty is within.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dove - real beauty is more than skin deep.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dove is a real beauty brand that celebrates real beauty.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Dove wants you to feel more beautiful than you think.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Here's what their VP said:</span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So "Dove wants you to feel more beautiful than you think" feels quite on-brand and quite creatively liberating doesn't it?</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">That's probably an easy one, because we know what the output is. I took toothpaste (IMHO a massively undifferentiated and non-distinctive category, except for specialist toothpastes) and here's where I got:</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Brand truth: Brand X makes your teeth white and your smile beautiful</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Insight: I feel happier if someone smiles at me.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Distinctive: A toothpaste brand that believes in the benefit of smiling.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Proposition attempt: </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Brand X, making the world a happier place, one smile at a time.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">I've never worked on a toothpaste brand, but Googling this - smiles are everywhere in toothpaste ads, So that's not distinctive. But it seems that "happiness" could carve a distinctive tonality in the category. Is this Coca Cola's territory? It is close. (Ironically). So we may need to keep working on the line to find the right word. But can you start seeing a campaign around Making the World a Happier Place, a hashtag on Instagram, a Pinterest board, some amazing content possibilities, ads? I can. It has "legs". </span><br />
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The last piece about "Be Creative" is that you should consider your audience for the brief. The creative team. How can you dramatise the proposition? Where should you do the briefing session? In the boardroom? Or In Real Life somewhere? Wherever, make it inspiring.</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span style="background-color: yellow;"><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Be Collaborative</span></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">As I said at the beginning, briefs are hard to get right. The more heads to bounce ideas off, the better. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">But, this is not a committee. You're asking for clarity and inspiring comment, not "oh and can you add in that we now also close later on Fridays"?</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Find people in your organisation that are good with words. Those right brain types. </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And, when you have your briefing session, and in discussion someone creative says "what if we said.....", and comes out with the zinger of propositions, please for the love of great communication, punch the air and say YES that's IT! Instead of "it's not what it says on the brief".</span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">If they feel excited and you feel excited, I promise there's a better chance your consumers will too.</span><br />
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<i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/">Adtherapy</a> runs <span style="background-color: yellow;"><a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/?p=553">Exceptional Brief Writing workshops</a></span> for marketers and agencies</span></i><i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. </span></i><br />
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<i><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/?p=553">Creative Fitness </a>programme also includes Developing Transformative Insights and other useful tools and techniques to make sure your communication is as good as it should be. </span></i></div>
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<span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>Email <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a> or call 0832659099 to discuss how we can help you.</i></span></div>
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Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-17051858178087838512021-10-19T12:34:00.052+02:002021-10-19T12:47:02.404+02:00You've written your best Brand Plan. Now it's time to write your best brief.Just like any other strategic process, a brief is about choices. The brief is the roadmap of how to direct the execution of creative materials to achieve the marketing objectives at which you have carefully and strategically arrived.<br />
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A brief is not just an instruction for work to be done, it's a strategic and creative document, meant to summarise effectively the task at hand in a way that <b>inspires great creative output.</b><br />
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I shouldn't have to remind you of this, but the reason you should want (in fact, insist on) great creative work is simply because it works harder and better. The IPA and researcher Peter Field recently updated their <a href="https://www.thinkbox.tv/Research/Thinkbox-research/The-link-between-creativity-and-effectiveness">research on the effectiveness of creativity</a>: "the findings revealed a direct correlation between strong advertising creativity and business success, and that high levels of creativity make advertising campaigns some 12 times more efficient at increasing a brand’s market share".<div><br /></div><div>Briefs are hard to write, and even harder if they are not underpinned by good strategic thinking upfront. Mark Ritson bemoans the state of brief-writing and unpacks most of the common problems (strategy being confused with tactics is a biggy, or even worse going into a briefing with no discernible strategy at all, hoping the agency will magically identify one during the creative process, <a href="https://www.marketingweek.com/mark-ritson-better-briefs/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>The <a href="https://www.betterbriefs.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Better Briefs </a>research that Ritson references acknowledges that most marketers admit to finding them difficult to write, and in fact not even experience seems to make them easier, but in spite of that many marketers in fact think they're rather good at them. Not so the recipients of the briefs. The research showcases the astonishing divide between the author and commissioner of the work, the marketer, and those that need to interpret the brief and deliver, the agency.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5GaU29p9_3ujM0D13wtBJk0_prWx5YvJt8NinvIWWFn8VGIpjxacuGBOyajIkhrCAa4yx9Vcx2LgBkaUzW0AKfkju-4c6mBB8X3cFwGyitliniKI3n6kgNZncAseLyyS4zv0tVCXKEg/s1928/Screenshot+2021-10-19+at+12.27.22.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="1928" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5GaU29p9_3ujM0D13wtBJk0_prWx5YvJt8NinvIWWFn8VGIpjxacuGBOyajIkhrCAa4yx9Vcx2LgBkaUzW0AKfkju-4c6mBB8X3cFwGyitliniKI3n6kgNZncAseLyyS4zv0tVCXKEg/s320/Screenshot+2021-10-19+at+12.27.22.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5W8Zygf9VeoGovun69w_caJP8eCkOThdBT9XGRxi4r1oj-pZ8lR7HJAywtO1TiS7yCd8ugbI0Cti4Yi2tjTH0Rb2MgwqKo0D1ne4cOT-9uepbl-FE1jPTvuIgAV29QQYIUsbDyWpOeI/s1924/Screenshot+2021-10-19+at+12.27.40.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1924" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5W8Zygf9VeoGovun69w_caJP8eCkOThdBT9XGRxi4r1oj-pZ8lR7HJAywtO1TiS7yCd8ugbI0Cti4Yi2tjTH0Rb2MgwqKo0D1ne4cOT-9uepbl-FE1jPTvuIgAV29QQYIUsbDyWpOeI/s320/Screenshot+2021-10-19+at+12.27.40.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBn9yxmVWnMSyqIuJjZKMHm0wjBhEmaNKqxJO1bbGq8D69ps7wQmcctcR9Gh7YPZ_jzsr3dK3S6ZR1ygVNYsnchsGGQcuj1YUydpoWBOTWxaYJGkVlVTcRt0v3QIlgPinxU1-sq84Zre8/s1920/Screenshot+2021-10-19+at+12.27.53.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1920" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBn9yxmVWnMSyqIuJjZKMHm0wjBhEmaNKqxJO1bbGq8D69ps7wQmcctcR9Gh7YPZ_jzsr3dK3S6ZR1ygVNYsnchsGGQcuj1YUydpoWBOTWxaYJGkVlVTcRt0v3QIlgPinxU1-sq84Zre8/s320/Screenshot+2021-10-19+at+12.27.53.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;">So, what does a good brief need to make it good?</h3></div><div>The key attributes of briefs should be <b>Clarity, Brevity and Fertility</b>. You probably have a standard briefing template, and you just have to fill it in before lunch, right? Wrong! Templates may have the right boxes but the hardest part of writing the brief is deciding what goes into those boxes, and what gets left out.</div><div>
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Did you see the size of the brief in the Stop Sign video above? And did you see the chaos that followed? And the resultant confused and jumbled output?<br />
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Sadly, many briefs are problematic - they don't articulate the problem carefully enough , they have too many - or too vague - objectives, their target audience is indistinct, there is no insight into the consumers' behaviour, no clear idea of the behaviour change required and no jump off point for how to bring the brand benefit to life. More than that, most of them are wishful (and dare I say it, sometimes rather arrogant) thinking.<br />
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Many briefs use the From - To, or the Get - To - By, format, which are both useful. In essence, your consumers are at Point A, and you would like them to be at Point B. What are the messages that would persuade them to change their behaviour, at what stages in their decision making journey should you interact with them, and how?<br />
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But a strong area of insight is identifying what might get in the way of them simply doing what you want them to do, following your instructions like sheep? <b>What is the brand hurdle, or tension between Point A and B?</b> Even if you managed to get them to change their minds about their beliefs about the brand, might there be an obstacle that stills stands in their way?<br />
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By adding that into your brief, you will acknowledge that you consumers too have choices. And maybe you're not one of them. Yet.<br />
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Other top tips:<br />
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<b>1. Really truly drill down into the objective</b> - what is the problem or opportunity that communications can solve or achieve? Why are you doing this? To acquire new customers, or retain existing ones? What are the measures of success and how best will you achieve them? My favourite example of this is Sainsbury's <a href="https://medium.com/@FlorentGeerts/a-case-study-of-sainsburys-try-something-new-today-campaign-df98cf934641">"Try something New Today" </a>campaign - it's an old example but an exceptional one in terms of setting clear objectives. All they needed to achieve a massive growth target (+£2.5 billion over three years) was to ask their existing customers to spend an additional £1.14 each time they shopped. Watch the case study of this campaign <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MopXVY7KswA">here</a> . There's a lot that works in it, but take a moment to marvel at the simplicity and clarity of the objective, and how it clearly directed the creative and media strategy.<br />
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<b>2. Be clear who your core audience is. </b>Famous for his <a href="https://medium.com/theagency/the-ad-that-changed-advertising-18291a67488c">Volkswagen ads,</a> copywriter Bob Levenson said, "I always started by writing Dear Charlie, like writing to a friend. And then I would say what I had to say, and at the end I would cross out Dear Charlie, and I was all right." If your creative team can't imagine who they are speaking to, what will they say and how will they say it?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dear Charlie...</td></tr>
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<b>3. Insight, shminsight.</b> It's such a bandied about term, but it's worth digging for.<br />
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Simply put, you want to understand the sometimes hidden motivations that drive behaviour. Actually no, you NEED to. Consumer insights are little secrets hidden beneath the surface, that explain the underlying behaviours, motivations, pain points and emotions of your consumers. Although they are sometimes quite generic, they are always truthful and a really powerful one will immediately generate an emotional reaction - a laugh, a smile, a tear, a sense of - oh yes, that's me.<br />
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The real power of the insight is when the insight (or human truth) OVERLAPS with the brand benefit. That's the sweet spot.<br />
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I am a fan of the Venn diagram when trying to extract insights - use two or three circles and see where you overlap. When you hit the intersection between the brand and the human motivation in the category, you hit truly powerful territory.<br />
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One of my favourite examples is the <a href="https://www.dandad.org/en/d-ad-always-like-a-girl-campaign-case-study-insights/">Always Like a Girl </a>campaign. Or the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld6i2q3C7ec">Sanlam One Rand Man </a>campaign. Making up stuff for insights (ie not basing them on actual observations & data), and leaving them in space that is too generic, is where things get fluffy.<br />
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How does that motivation that you've identified link unlock brand growth?<br />
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Think Omo's "Dirt is Good". <a href="https://www.millwardbrown.com/docs/default-source/insight-documents/points-of-view/Millward_Brown_POV_Big_Ideas.pdf">"The campaign had resonance because it addressed the inherent tension between moms’ controlling instincts (visá-vis dirt) and their desire for their children to be free to grow and develop through play. Moms found the message relevant, meaningful, and evocative. Before this campaign, it could be argued that most moms (and most makers of laundry detergent) thought of dirt as the enemy, but this big idea made us think about dirt in a very different way. It made us think of dirt as an ally in our children’s development."</a> The idea was not only disruptive, it was based on a universal insight, so was able to resonate (with a few regional tweaks) across the world.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Book Of Dirt, a recent execution off the long running idea, 'Dirt is Good'.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.behance.net/gallery/67406467/OMO-The-Book-of-Dirt">https://www.behance.net/gallery/67406467/OMO-The-Book-of-Dirt</a></div>
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<b>3. The Proposition. The Single Minded Proposition. The Value Proposition. The Single Minded Thought.</b> Call it what you like. <a href="https://www.howardibach.com/?cat=28">Howard Ibach</a> who writes books on Briefs and Propositions, says that a well written proposition is "the best kept secret for transforming our brand'. </div>
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He describes it well here: </div>
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"in an academic world, a positioning articulates the competitive added value of a brand. It is defined vs competition, whereas a value proposition defines what the brand brings to its audience and is consumer-driven. Some people define value proposition with the claim e.g Airbnb's proposition is “feel at home anywhere in the world”, whereas it's positioning could be the anti-hotel brand". </blockquote>
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The proposition is the springboard for the creative - it sums up what the benefit is, in a neat sexy sentence. Remember the job of the brief is to inspire great creativity - this is what does it. (Or doesn't.) </div>
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An example: 'Snickers makes you, you again'. (Watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKkXD6HicLc">Mark Ritson's Effies Case study here </a>. Venn diagrams are useful here too. When you read the proposition for AirBnB or Snickers, can you imagine a campaign? If you can - it's got "fertility": ideas will come easily, and will spread across multiple channels. That's what you're aiming for.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Venn diagram, based on info from the Effies case (link above).</td></tr>
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Of course there are other things to put in your brief - <b>tonality, reasons to believe, deadlines, budget </b>and so on. I like to try not to be prescriptive in terms of media channels when briefing for a campaign, because the idea can also inform the media choices. Usually though, you have an idea of which channels to go into, and these can also be helpful to the creative teams. What can be useful is to understand the process a consumer goes through in terms of decision making, and where you should be talking to them at what stage of their decision process. Whilst you might have the where to talk to consumers sorted, please always allow the creative team the freedom to come up with the how. I love to think about how boring a Train Safety campaign could have been if the client had been prescriptive - instead of this one.</div>
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So - good luck! Have fun with it. Remember the <b>target audience for your brief is the Creative Team</b>. Be inspiring. Bring it to life with a face to face briefing that brings the proposition to life. </div>
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Please, please don't email the brief without discussion. Sometimes, when confronted with your hard toiled brief, a creative team or strategist will ask some questions that you hadn't thought of. Use this opportunity to improve your brief. </div>
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[Note to marketers: very often an agency will write a BUILD on your brief, called the Creative Brief. Why? It interprets your 'marketingese' into inspiring nuggets that can help the creative teams deliver great ideas. It's a really good idea for you to sign off this brief - most agencies will build on your first proposition - they will make it sexier and more juicy - that's what they do. BUT if you don't sign it off, there may be a subtle direction change that you did not envisage, and it's definitely something to agree on before the creative development process begins. Also, think how excited you will be to see the outcome?] </div>
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[Note to agencies: if your client signs off the proposition on the creative brief, you will an almost 100% chance of your work being bought first time round. It's a win-win!]</div>
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<b>The brief is the first step in the creative process - get it wrong, or make it boring, and it sets up a world of pain, confusion and ineffective work. In fact, the Better Brief research found that 33% of every markeing budget is wasted on poor briefs and misdirected work! And no-one needs more of that. (</b><b>Get the full report <a href="https://www.betterbriefs.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.)</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Now, go be great.</b></div>
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<i>And of course - if you need help, call me.</i></div>
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<i>Head over to our <a href="https://www.adtherapy.co.za/?p=1707">Brief Therapy</a> page to see how we can help you (we run Creative Fitness training workshops on brief writing and we can mentor or help you write the briefs in other ways, like getting to grips with insights or finetuning your proposition). Email me at <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a> with your questions or what you think would help your team.</i></div>
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</div>Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-30609713180236924232020-09-17T12:08:00.030+02:002020-09-17T13:07:47.909+02:00Playing Together to Win - how to build an agency ecosystem (across brands, categories, disciplines & regions) that delivers great work <p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Global and local CMO’s have starting asking the same question: now that we know we need great creative because it works better (thank you <a href="https://effworks.co.uk/ten-best-charts-binet-field/" target="_blank">Binet and Field</a> and <a href="https://adage.com/article/opinion/new-research-uncovers-biggest-differentiator-effective-marketing-bravery/2186146" target="_blank">Mark Ritson</a>), how do we get it? </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>It’s a question every CEO should be asking, and every CMO answering.</b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I’m sure you’re familiar with the strategic framework of defining Where to Play, How to Win, and what Capabilities are needed to execute the strategy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Perhaps the other really important question that marketers need to ask is “how do we play together to win”?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In other words, <b>how do you optimize the client-agency relationship so the combined partnership ‘plays’ in a way that generates the best quality commercial creativity?</b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">For a number of recent local and global projects, Adtherapy has been briefed to look at optimizing client-agency relationships, applying this to the client’s full eco-system of different agency types, scopes and services, specifically in order to improve the quality of creative output.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space">What makes this sort of project interesting, is that it's not really clear where the ownership of various aspects of the ecosystem and the deliverables sit in an organisation. A 2019 report by the <a href="https://wfanet.org/" target="_blank">World Federation of Advertiser</a>s outlined the challenges faced by their members. Does this sit with Procurement, Marketing, Marketing Ops (if there is such a thing), the Agency?</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmILhh7zUTzqL-7jJ1UsqylxJRSJjHbzbMZ8HEEDbnjmQWr3uRtEAlTZHP_0iM548mLnG43kKrraH0iTHWzOB25FiDrAJpsNWfLDrTrufHpl2NNq1z6sc5yxUxOWca8mcQkfCeI_7Poo/s2048/Screenshot+2020-09-17+at+12.46.36.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmILhh7zUTzqL-7jJ1UsqylxJRSJjHbzbMZ8HEEDbnjmQWr3uRtEAlTZHP_0iM548mLnG43kKrraH0iTHWzOB25FiDrAJpsNWfLDrTrufHpl2NNq1z6sc5yxUxOWca8mcQkfCeI_7Poo/s320/Screenshot+2020-09-17+at+12.46.36.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmki98iorXlBRLKBoVAfNcK271UdfmIc29uK4Z9lAk8Fb0bI836HpZAkJUlKHZpHoajt_qR7hX6zdKrOWRCxXVwtCPes36BYKNt49KLPr-Swb-FokNVS_NJ7_DBFP6mK1mz-0d9XMXNA/s2048/Screenshot+2020-09-17+at+12.47.23.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1147" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmki98iorXlBRLKBoVAfNcK271UdfmIc29uK4Z9lAk8Fb0bI836HpZAkJUlKHZpHoajt_qR7hX6zdKrOWRCxXVwtCPes36BYKNt49KLPr-Swb-FokNVS_NJ7_DBFP6mK1mz-0d9XMXNA/s320/Screenshot+2020-09-17+at+12.47.23.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5EzqiknN_OzI_xLDXGT1Xi6JCHbLF1YWvFHvfHphQz3Ik5C_A1FXvuXKDXsGFqiFynxUs4xHPAwWi95MtoWmrKKaNSTM5E_uUI_aDAAcmOUMV7tW6kllVoUkOtyNq48hzBggsSwgXlI/s2048/Screenshot+2020-09-17+at+12.47.55.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5EzqiknN_OzI_xLDXGT1Xi6JCHbLF1YWvFHvfHphQz3Ik5C_A1FXvuXKDXsGFqiFynxUs4xHPAwWi95MtoWmrKKaNSTM5E_uUI_aDAAcmOUMV7tW6kllVoUkOtyNq48hzBggsSwgXlI/s320/Screenshot+2020-09-17+at+12.47.55.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">When a marketer has a complex ecosystem of agencies with different scopes of work and different deliverables, across different categories and brands and in some cases, different markets, it’s important to clearly </span><b style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">map the ecosystem </b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">and how it fits together to make the whole. Not only does this help the flow of work, but it helps in three other areas: it helps in collaboration – if the other agencies across the eco-system know who’s responsible for other things, it’s easier to work together. It helps define the guardrails and where accountability lies. It also helps in pitch governance: when and why does anyone on the brand side need to brief or pitch outside of the ecosystem? (Clue: mostly they don’t).</span></div><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Once that’s done, a <b>Ways of Working</b> can be mapped, so everyone clearly understands who does what and when, and who needs to be included when and where. RACSI’s can be defined to ensure that the process is clear and that the correct decision makers are in the room at the right time. One the things that becomes apparent is the need to clarify terminology across the organization and across agencies (so many terms we bandy about kind of mean the same thing, but crystal sharp clarity is needed for consistency). <b>Most importantly, is the definition and explanation of the “why” and the “what good output of that phase” looks like.</b> What the process needs is for the marketing practitioners in the business to buy-in to the effectiveness of better work, and clear communication of the ambition, from top leadership, to ensure that the business achieves better creative outputs.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">In order to achieve this goal, the key inflection points in the Ways of Working process must be identified: i.e. those activities that have a material impact on the next steps and the quality of the output. At each of those inflection points, best practice examples and templates, accepted guidelines, and most importantly the “how-to’s”, with links to training courses, templates and tools, have to be clarified and communicated.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Briefs are a critical inflection point. </b>Creative evaluation skills and understanding what the business is aiming for in terms of creative quality, are equally critical. In a large organization, with many people making these decisions on a daily basis, what criteria are they using to approve or reject creative work? If there’s a research company in the mix, what are their criteria? Is there common ground? Process issues, like uploading files in the right format for re-application, can be a small thing, but can have enormous knock on effects in inefficiency, cost control and quality.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">After the need for clarity, comes the need for consistency. What’s standing in the way of the consistent application of any agreed Ways of Working? Very often, it’s simply a lack of communication. So many organizations have poor systems for the dissemination of training and institutional knowledge, with years of clever processes and templates and methodologies sitting in people’s hard drives, at best inaccessible when needed and at worst, completely forgotten when people leave the organization. (I’ve been briefed to develop a X Marketing Way training academy from scratch, when I had been involved in the building of the same company’s marketing academy a few years before. The new team didn’t even know where to look for the old academy material. What a waste.)</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Another reason for inconsistency is a degree of inexperience that leads to non-compliance. Inexperience can be absolute (coming into marketing from another function), but it can also be corporate or category inexperience, so relying on tools and ways of doing things from previous companies or categories. This results in a methodology mish mash – in one company I worked with, every brand and marketing manager had a different briefing template, mostly given to them at some stage by an agency. There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of them – it just leads to differing inputs that aren’t necessarily the best at inspiring, and getting, great creative work.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The big hairy challenge is how to build compliance in a positive way. Rather than make this a tick box approach, realize that compliance is aligned to culture, so try to build an understanding through the organization of why creative work is the goal, why it’s important (again, in case you still don’t believe me, because it’s more effective). The aim is to get people to lean into compliance rather than be forced into it. Creativity needs air to breathe. In research conducted by Peter Field, he showed a strong correlation between companies awarded Cannes Advertiser of the Year, and significantly higher than average share price growth in the same period. Why? Because the companies were in a period of innovation across their whole business. (Source: The Case for Creativity, James Hurman).</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Having said that, there are risks, and financial implications for non-compliance, so for certain key steps, you need a governance and evaluation/measurement system that makes it clear what the metrics are and where the boundaries lie.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Once all of this has been mapped out, the system needs to be constantly communicated and updated. My preference is for a shared portal of some sort that aims to both be a source of tools and methodology as well as a source for inspiration. It should be living, breathing, and frequently accessed, refreshed through the sharing and rewarding of great work, great briefs and great case studies from within the company and without. This virtual Center of Excellence becomes a place where the agency and client can easily access best practice guidelines but also add to and build expertise across functional lines.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Ultimately, the success of the process, of how the client and agency play together, will be in the success of better work in the market. </b>The win will be if the organization follows the process, if the process unlocks greater collaboration and better quality creativity, and if that delivers greater results in the marketplace.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It’s hard to see how it cannot win. <b>Mediocrity thrives in chaos.</b> What an exercise like this aims to do is to take inconsistency, lack of clarity, lack of accountability and lack of ambition out of the picture and build in a clear picture of what the process is aiming for.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">In times like we're in and entering into, the relationship and the Ways of Working need to be slick, empowering and delivering greater value in terms of creativity than ever before.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p> </p>Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-31785896012258918752019-09-12T10:24:00.000+02:002019-09-12T10:35:05.879+02:00Just How Risky is Creative Advertising?<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The short answer?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />Much less risky than boring advertising.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />I wrote this some time back and I thought I would republish. Worth bearing all this in mind as we go into execution season.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Do you know how </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">marketing messages we </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">are exposed to every day?</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Figures vary but it's safely between several hundred and several thousand. A figure of between 3000 and 5000 marketing communication messages every 24 hours is often mentioned. Read the links in this article <a href="http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=56750">here</a> to give you an idea of the studies done in this area, some which clarify that number, some that dispute it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course when you talk about messaging in the thousands, you are including every single message - from your Facebook stream, the branding on the motorbike in front of you, messaging in shopfront windows and on shopping bags, packaging and so on. In reality, we obviously don't <i>"see"</i> all those messages, as Shari Worthington notes in this<a href="http://blog.telesian.com/how-many-advertisements-do-we-see-each-day/"> piece</a>. She notes:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Our senses are bombarded with over 11 million bits of data every SECOND. The average person’s working memory can handle 40-50 bits, max. That means we ignore 10,999,950 bits of data every second we are awake."</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">-</span></span><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "lucida grande" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"> See more at: <a href="http://blog.telesian.com/how-many-advertisements-do-we-see-each-day/#sthash.zNRsE2iJ.dpuf">http://blog.telesian.com/how-many-advertisements-do-we-see-each-day/#sthash.zNRsE2iJ.dpuf</a></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Whatever the amount is, studies conducted by Harvard University's Graduate School of Business way back in 1964 concluded that of all the messages we see, only 76 penetrate our subconscious. (<a href="https://ams.aaaa.org/eweb/upload/faqs/adexposures.pdf">Bauer, Greyser</a>) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Further studies emphasised that from the 76 messages of which a person might be aware, only 12 made any kind of impression <a href="https://ams.aaaa.org/eweb/upload/faqs/adexposures.pdf">(Adams, Common Sense in Advertising, 1965</a>). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And of those, how many are remembered the next day? Figures range between none, 1, 1.7 and mostly, at most 2. (*All references to this research taken from notes in the excellent book: <a href="http://www.caseforcreativity.com/The_Case_for_Creativity_-_About_the_Author.html">Case for Creativity by James Hurman</a>).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bear in mind, these studies quaintly only measured 4 - 5 media types: magazines (remember them?), newspapers, radio and TV. Only in later studies did they include outdoor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fast forward to the proliferation of media around us, and taking into account Shari's estimate that we only really see between 300 and 700 marketing messages per day</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, let's settle on a number of around 500? Assuming the number of 76 of which people are even vaguely aware still stands (and why wouldn't it?) that's 15%. If only 12 of those 76 make any impact, we get 15% and a miserly 2% of the total. And recall the next day? Of those that made an impact we are likely to remember 16% the next day, when we're shopping for something. And if we take the percentage of those recalled the next day of the total number of messages of which we were aware? 0.4%. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Point being - <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-82446,00.html">if a tree falls in a forest</a> if probably makes a sound but no-one cares. Ditto with 98% of advertising.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdhD0GQ2rBfzL3_9vK4iMgv8NZRavTbZsdU9JPzYtSZSFXvKpt7-7T3GkrjYzqBhnRJNwjJix-06BZMjtG-sQaDdFjwW2aVdO8giVTlpUNVC4A1GTsZ9L2acy1dpIJee2PytgICGGSby0/s1600/If_a_tree_falls_in_the_woods377Detail.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="image from http://musingsfromhigherdowngateandelsewhere.blogspot.com/2014/10/if-tree-falls-in-forest.html" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some valuable insights on whether a tree makes a sound: image from http://musingsfromhigherdowngateandelsewhere.blogspot.com/2014/10/if-tree-falls-in-forest.html</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So. Good. That's all clear. We want to be making ads, creating marketing messages, that work. Awareness on its own really isn't much use. What we're trying to do with commercial messaging is create a behaviour change - change how someone thinks or feels or what they do. So vague awareness is only marginally useful. We need to make an impact.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But how? </span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Buy more media? Prof Byron Sharp reckons that by extending your penetration, you will grow your share as growth </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 24.375px;"><a href="https://byronsharp.wordpress.com/">depends largely on mental and physical availability</a>.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.375px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not everyone can afford that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Be more creative? Yip.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Isn't that risky?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Turns out it's the opposite of risky. Mediocre is the risky option.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My elaborate maths above should have already told you that. By being boring you simply won't make any impact and your marketing investment has become that poor tree in the forest that no-one hears.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And how about this?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are some astounding some facts, <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jameshurman/the-case-for-creativity">summarised in The Case for Creativity</a>, reported in a 2010 study, commissioned by the <a href="http://www.ipa.co.uk/">IPA</a> (Institute of Practitioners of Advertising) and <a href="http://www.thinkbox.tv/">Thinkbox</a> in the UK. The research was conducted by acclaimed researcher Peter Field and entitled "<a href="http://adage.com/article/global-news/ipa-report-ads-win-awards-11-times-effective/144942/">The Link Between Creativity and Effectiveness</a>".</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Only about 0,001% of advertising wins a creative award, yet among highly effective campaigns (in this case winners of an IPA Effectiveness award), 18% are awarded. This means that there's on "over-index of 128,500" of how likely creative campaigns are to be effective.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In an analysis of "Excess Share of Voice" (ESOV, which correlates a brand's share of advertising with its share of market, Peter Field found that the "Return On Investment (ROI) for a highly creative campaign is on average 11 times higher". ie... "you need to spend 11 times more on media for an uncreative production" to achieve the same result.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And, here's the kicker: Creatively awarded campaigns are more certain to achieve a higher rate of effectiveness by a "degree of confidence of 99.9%" as opposed to to non-awarded campaigns' degree of confidence of 87%.</span></li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzaV2iUcjqBdwfG7fbJkB2ueYRq2cFrjThzvCX07ttdIB85S0v8DxeFU9GFDxeWfzbdASPkMK0k3g5uKF0g97rDzl-bKP28LN8Gpw7BDTgZxIJRbdeON0jmWImElJSgLo3wR4nRZa9uIc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-27+at+4.37.53+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzaV2iUcjqBdwfG7fbJkB2ueYRq2cFrjThzvCX07ttdIB85S0v8DxeFU9GFDxeWfzbdASPkMK0k3g5uKF0g97rDzl-bKP28LN8Gpw7BDTgZxIJRbdeON0jmWImElJSgLo3wR4nRZa9uIc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-27+at+4.37.53+PM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jameshurman/the-case-for-creativity"><span style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;">www.</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;">slideshare</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;">.net/jameshurman/the-</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;">case-for-creativity</b></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"What this implies is that less creative campaigns are not only less efficient, but also less predictable than creatively-awarded ones - something of a departure from the perceived notion that a more creative approach is a less certain one"</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">James Hurman</span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are plenty more fascinating analyses in the book or on the Slideshare presentation </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(link above) </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">if you need more convincing. James Hurman actually concludes that he looked for but couldn't find any research to prove that there </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">isn't</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> a link between creative advertising and effectiveness. He kindly updated his slides and added in even more justification. See <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56e386d201dbae34929da9d7/t/5755bc03cf80a1f2934cc532/1465236499371/TCFC+2016+Slideshow.pdf">here</a>. Honestly, if you're still not getting great work, or aiming for it, you're doing it wrong.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Heavens alive, even Millward-Brown reported in 2011 in an article titled <a href="http://www.millwardbrown.com/docs/default-source/insight-documents/articles-and-reports/MillwardBrown_AdMap_CreativeEffectiveness_11_2011.pdf">Creative Effectiveness </a>that they observed an overlap between creative advertising and effective
advertising. They concluded, having re-tested Peter Field's research, and added to it with some of their own, that persuasiveness was over-rated and emotional connection is far more effective.</span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"A
study of IPA effectiveness, Effie and Cannes Lions awards winners reveals that
ads don't need to persuade to be effective but they do usually engage
emotionally."</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Dominic Twose, Polly Wyn Jones, Millward-Brown, 2011</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Two interesting cases in point</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That Volvo ad with Jean Claude van Damme: "Epic Split".</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The industry was divided about it. They're talking only to truck buyers, so why should 90million YouTube views matter? Here's what <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/undivided-attention-how-epic-split-became-buzziest-ad-cannes-158248">Volvo said</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a survey they commissioned amongst 2,200 commercial truck drivers, nearly half who had seen the campaign said they are more likely to choose Volvo the next time they buy a truck. A third of all respondents had alraedy contacted a dealer or visited the website for more information. There was also a very positive improvement in the perception of Volvo Trucks as "an innovative and modern truck brand".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh, and they achieved their annual sales target in the first Quarter after "Epic Split" ran.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not bad, huh?</span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Remember Dove's Real Beauty Sketches ad, with the forensic artist?</span></h4>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 23.7999992370605px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"<a href="http://princetonpartners.com/why-the-dove-campaign-was-the-most-compelling-ad-campaign-of-2013/">Since they launched the campaign, Dove has seen an increase of almost 2 billion in sales, and has received a multitude of awards, including 19 at the Cannes Lion Film Festival alone.</a>" </span></span></blockquote>
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Princeton Partners</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It won lots of awards, got 65 million views on YouTube. Did it work?</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ogilvys-sketches-dove-takes-grand-effie-158161"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">A jury of six men and two women awarded “Sketches” the Grand Effie, based on it driving $24 million in incremental sales and garnering $52 million worth of media exposure, all on a budget of just $925,000."</span></a></span></blockquote>
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<i style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">June 5 2014, Adweek </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Great - that's sorted then.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Let's make creative ads!</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Only problem is it's quite hard. Remember that only 0.01% of all ads actually wins an award! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">David Droga, Founder and Creative Chairman of Droga5, explained why it's so hard going great work, in this interview when his agency was named AdAge's Creative Innovator of 2015: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Breaking through the clutter is just part of the Droga5 M.O. Solid strategy supports all of the agency's work -- something Mr. Droga said that for him, has not necessarily always been the case. "There's no question in my younger days, I'd think you could just blink and creative would solve everything. But now it has to be creative on strategy. What's hard is trying to be responsibly creative, versus just creative."</span></span></blockquote>
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<i style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://adage.com/article/special-report-agency-alist-2015/creativity-innovator-year-droga5-york/296730/?utm_source=daily_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1422845308">Adage</a></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Probably my favourite work of theirs is this one for a cereal, Mondelez HoneyMaid. Watch it and think of the cereal ads you've seen lately.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Summary?</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's tough. And sometimes we try too hard. Sometimes we're too picky about getting every word in the body copy right, when the ad isn't any good.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 33px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Most advertising isn’t good. Let alone great. Consciously or unconsciously it assumes its role to bludgeon the consumer into submission. It tries to argue the consumer into purchase. It tries – with varying degrees of heavy-handedness – to reason the hapless audience into some kind of Damascene-like conversion. It has no interest in speaking to what interests the consumer. Its starting point is itself, rather than the passions, concerns and inclinations of its audience. It is, I suspect, born a prisoner of marketing superstition."</span></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://martinweigel.org/2013/06/10/the-liberation-of-magic/">http://martinweigel.org/2013/06/10/the-liberation-of-magic/ </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It requires the right skills, on the marketer side and an on the agency side. It requires the right relationship between agency and client. It requires courage. Fundamentally it requires an unwavering belief that creative advertising is effective.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's worth it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The latest work from <a href="https://ipa.co.uk/knowledge/publications-reports/the-long-and-the-short-of-it-balancing-short-and-long-term-marketing-strategies/">Peter Field and Les Binet for the IPA</a> is even more justification, although they're worried that our obsession with short term activity is endangering effectiveness in general.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A final word from Creative Circle's first <a href="http://creative.loeries.com/index.php/creative-champions/geoff-whyte/">Marketing Champion of Creativity, Geoff Whyte</a>, now CEO of Nandos Southern Africa:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAvzxCh4FH0Zx5ZH0y4O2qpVPvzS3LOfG-tT4jAerJdtthrv5RJLCZGEj2p8SGzvTWzRpunankAK2i4wepGEewgtleOlmg-2fYwbGXH3ZxdavqL9theGMgh4Le9nTlePsywglCndxHsw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-28+at+12.43.47+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAvzxCh4FH0Zx5ZH0y4O2qpVPvzS3LOfG-tT4jAerJdtthrv5RJLCZGEj2p8SGzvTWzRpunankAK2i4wepGEewgtleOlmg-2fYwbGXH3ZxdavqL9theGMgh4Le9nTlePsywglCndxHsw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-28+at+12.43.47+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Off you go then. No-ones waiting for you, unless you give them something worth waiting for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">________________________________________________________________</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Adtherapy works with Marketers and Agencies to help them work together better so that they create better work. Contact Gillian Rightford on <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a>, +(27)(0)832659099 or visit our website <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/">www.adtherapy.co.za</a> if you want to know more.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-14159147924908917972019-08-12T13:28:00.003+02:002019-08-12T13:28:23.165+02:00You've written your Brand Plan. Now it's time to write your brief.<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.75); counter-reset: list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0; cursor: text; line-height: 3.2rem; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
I have written a few top tips on how to write a great brief, as you head into execution season.<br />
Here is the link: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/youve-written-your-brand-plan-now-its-time-write-brief-rightford/?published=t">https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/youve-written-your-brand-plan-now-its-time-write-brief-rightford/?published=t</a><br />
Let me know if we can help!<br />
<a href="https://www.brieftherapy.info/">https://www.brieftherapy.info</a><br />
Services we offer:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Creative Fitness workshop training</li>
<li>Brief writing </li>
<li>Brief mentoring/finessing</li>
<li>Strategy and Big Idea consulting</li>
</ul>
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<br /></div>
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Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-65221040139800873942019-02-07T12:31:00.000+02:002019-02-07T12:39:53.405+02:00Is a Super Bowl Creative Brief different from a normal Creative Brief?<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now that the dust has settled on the Super Bowl of Advertising (what - there was also a football game? who knew?) the same question we ask every year, is being asked again. What does a Super Bowl ad brief look like and how is it different from the briefs we usually churn out?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One thing that has to be true is that if writing creative briefs is hard then writing </span><i>great</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> creative briefs is extremely difficult. Especially when you have 100 million pairs of eyeballs waiting for you.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The main problems in briefs are usually a lack of clarity of thought and an uninspiring proposition. These arise because sometimes the brief-writer isn't clear why they're really asking for this piece of communication, or what they really want to say, or who they really want to say it to. But, most of all they don't know why anyone should believe them.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So they write briefs that offer their creative teams, and their consumers', too many choices. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then they use the creative offering to whittle down to what they think they should say.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>"Actually, that wasn't really what I had in mind... What I think we really should be saying, maybe, is ....."</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course it's not always that bad. Some creative briefs are perfect.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But now imagine the pressure of the Super Bowl. Not only do we have to think about what to say and how to say it - we have to know that more than 100 million people are going to watch the outcome.</span></span><br />
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</span>
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<h4>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So, how does a Super Bowl Ad Brief differ from the Common Client Ad Brief?</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Is there a different approach to writing the brief for communication that will be watched, and analysed, and talked about by millions?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And, with so many eyes on these ads, why is that some just don't hit the mark, some are bad, and some are amazing?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Many moons ago when I first started pondering this question, I picked up a quote from a Bloomberg's Business Week article entitled "Game on: Super Bowl ads are already playing online". It was from David Lubars, chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO North America, who "advises keeping an ad simple and honest. “It should also be an easy, reductionist message,” says Lubars. “You’re getting a canvas that 120 million people will see. You have to go where nobody has gone before. The ad has to be single-minded, relevant, funny, and emotional. If it’s done right, $4 million (for a 30 - sec spot) is a bargain. I would say 90 percent of the people running ads are wasting their money.” </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a>Now, the average cost is over $5 million. Interestingly, that figure rose by 96 percent over the past ten years, while the average rate for other prime-time ads fell by 12 percent. Mark Riston still thinks it's good value. In fact he closes his article by saying "the only threat comes not from the demise of TV or advertising, but from the precarious state of the game itself. With an increasing amount of scandal attached to American football, and the tragic roll call of head injuries that afflict a growing proportion of the game’s players, it’s the game not the advertising that’s in danger."<br />
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<h3>
<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But back to my question. Is the brief different?</span></span></h3>
<br />
<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Common Client Ad Brief also claims to want to be original, single minded, relevant and emotionally engaging, right? So what's the big difference? Truthfully, having never seen a Super Bowl brief, I have no idea.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Maybe it's because the agencies recognise that this is THE brief and assign their best teams to work on it? But even that doesn't always deliver great work. Even if the Super Bowl Ad brief is perceived by the agencies to be much cooler and high-stakes with more chance of creative risk-taking than the average Common Client Brief, then why do some of the Super Bowl ads come out boring, done-before, irrelevant and imminently forgettable?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It seems that the enormous viewership might have something to do with it. Possibly a bit of stage fright and a trying-too-hard aspect? Or a client wanting to cover all their bases to justify the enormous spend?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm not going to ramble on about the ads we were served this year. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YISTzpLXCY">Microsoft Xbox </a>one spoke to me, I kind of liked the audacity of the <a href="https://youtu.be/WUv0L999FBs">Burger King</a> one except the construct was ruined by the person who said he'd actually asked for a McDonalds (why did you do that?)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/adweek/status/1092249217618399233">https://twitter.com/adweek/status/1092249217618399233</a></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I loved the <a href="https://youtu.be/QoLiRI5swVk">Budd Lite/Game of Thrones</a> mashup and I curiously liked the Ripley Scott mini movie for Turkish Airlines.</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My two cents worth would be that there's too much playing to the masses and too much losing sight of the one person that actually counts - the person who may do something, buy something, think something, as a result of your ad. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Here's what I like to imagine sets a Super Bowl brief apart form a Common Creative Brief:</b></span></span><br />
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<li><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The client (and agency) are aiming for GREAT. You have a much better chance of getting there if you aim for it than if you don't.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">It's presumably agreed upfront that the ad has to be entertaining with </span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">exceptional production values (and the right budget) - great advice for the Common Brief to borrow from.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The ad aims to be memorable, relevant and engaging. Tick, tick and tick.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It simply has to be distinctive. And talk-able, and shareable. And that means some brave decisions need to be made in the approvals process.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The message has to be totally singleminded.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Time has been invested in mining a really strong insight about the consumers motivations or beliefs in the category.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 23px;">A powerful proposition and very clear brand positioning are the cornerstones.</span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 23px;">Maybe we should treat each ad brief like a Super Bowl brief and see what happens to the work?</span></span></h4>
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p.s if you need help with brief-writing, drop me a line on <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a> to find out about our training and coaching options, or check out our new offering <a href="http://www.brieftherapy.info/">Brief Therapy</a>.</div>
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Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-76414902637261491742018-08-02T17:10:00.000+02:002018-08-02T17:12:58.423+02:00Which Advertising Books Should be Essential Reading?I am a big fan of advertising and marketing books. I read all of them. Well, okay not ALL of them, but certainly all the ones that people I respect are talking about, and I have shelves full of them (digital and actual bookshelves).<br />
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BBH recently decided to put together a <a href="http://bbh-labs.com/the-world-cup-of-advertising-books/">World Cup of Advertising Books Tournament</a> on Twitter, so they compiled a list, which was then voted on by nearly 5000 people.<br />
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As with most of these sorts of tournaments, some of the quarter or semi-finals could have indeed been the final, but the winner was a very worthy The Choice Factory, by Richard Shotton. (Follow him too on Twitter - he is a font of information: <a href="https://twitter.com/rshotton">@rshotton</a><br />
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Amazon calls this book "the new advertising essential". I would agree.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZnlSrSugShTFt0WdrmO_ps8Mmq_MXkEH1C6wcI5H35TwqRhouAydDdG00iqqdzRS-5UIyM6udsK-2tJt_OUaFBE789Npc_O-puaR0a4R9OGFYFX_WcrTnfNUW1lg_JK4R3JWZZFfPSE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-08-02+at+5.05.24+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="792" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZnlSrSugShTFt0WdrmO_ps8Mmq_MXkEH1C6wcI5H35TwqRhouAydDdG00iqqdzRS-5UIyM6udsK-2tJt_OUaFBE789Npc_O-puaR0a4R9OGFYFX_WcrTnfNUW1lg_JK4R3JWZZFfPSE/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-08-02+at+5.05.24+PM.png" width="230" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Before you can influence decisions, you need to understand what drives them. In The Choice Factory, Richard Shotton sets out to help you learn. By observing a typical day of decision-making, from trivial food choices to significant work-place moves, he investigates how our behaviour is shaped by psychological shortcuts. With a clear focus on the marketing potential of knowing what makes us tick, Shotton has drawn on evidence from academia, real-life ad campaigns and his own original research. The Choice Factory is written in an entertaining and highly-accessible format, with 25 short chapters, each addressing a cognitive bias and outlining simple ways to apply it to your own marketing challenges. Supporting his discussion, Shotton adds insights from new interviews with some of the smartest thinkers in advertising, including Rory Sutherland, Lucy Jameson and Mark Earls. From priming to the pratfall effect, charm pricing to the curse of knowledge, the science of behavioural economics has never been easier to apply to marketing. The Choice Factory is the new advertising essential." via <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Choice-Factory-behavioural-biases-influence/dp/085719609X">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Choice-Factory-behavioural-biases-influence/dp/085719609X</a></span><br />
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Having said that, I think that the last 16 in the tournament are all essential building blocks; all the books in the quarter finals should be compulsory reading; and there are still many that aren't on there.<br />
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It's a worthwhile list to study and to stock up your digital or actual library. And, of course, they would love to know which books are a must-read that they have missed. Let them know via their twitter account:<a href="https://twitter.com/BBHLabs"> https://twitter.com/BBHLabs</a>. Let me know too <a href="https://twitter.com/grightford">https://twitter.com/grightford</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDZCElyJ2CZy5FaBOB9-yjxCs2MZnnQRMHhqNejDpC9WXCOvKIigdlJx9OzSTFgFgCUUEMuFf19y7kYX6RY1I9fngXOZiw7VPNA8IOFkIRwPgBB8R9g1OFKiB36O0pKqjjPERP6T8KcU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-08-02+at+4.58.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="1600" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDZCElyJ2CZy5FaBOB9-yjxCs2MZnnQRMHhqNejDpC9WXCOvKIigdlJx9OzSTFgFgCUUEMuFf19y7kYX6RY1I9fngXOZiw7VPNA8IOFkIRwPgBB8R9g1OFKiB36O0pKqjjPERP6T8KcU/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-08-02+at+4.58.34+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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(<a href="http://bbh-labs.com/the-world-cup-of-advertising-books/">click</a> to see the full chart)</div>
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<br />Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-90313903849062986212018-07-04T10:42:00.000+02:002018-07-04T10:47:15.946+02:00Creative advertising works better. Now, how can I get it?<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Every now and then an article pops into one timeline or other and it's like switching a light on. And then, in very special circumstances an article pops up and it's like someone switched the light on, and a loud "hallelujah" echoed forth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In this case, it was this article by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanwallman/">Ryan Wallman</a> in <a href="https://www.marketingweek.com/2018/06/26/marketers-loosen-grip/">Marketing Week</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So what did Ryan say?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the afterglow or glow of cynicism following the <a href="https://www.marketingweek.com/focus/cannes-lions-2018/">Cannes advertising festival</a>, he poses this simple question to marketers, : "<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">How much should you concern yourself with the creative work that supports your marketing?"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Of course the answer is as simple as the question. A lot. You should concern yourself a lot. Marketers get the agencies they deserve, and they get the creative outputs they deserve. You and I know this. But incredibly there are some marketers that still doubt the effectiveness of creativity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ryan helpfully shows us some research:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. <span style="background-color: white;">Admap research, based on an analysis of more than 1,500 case studies, which r</span><span style="background-color: white;">anked the top 10 factors that drive advertising profitability, </span><span style="background-color: white;">showed that <u><b>c</b></u></span><span style="background-color: white;"><b><u>reative execution</u> was the second largest contributor to advertising profitability after market size</b>. Read more <a href="https://barbanouille.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/admap_top-10-drivers-of-profitable-advertising__paul-dyson-data2decisions_september-2014.pdf">here</a></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">2. A 2</span><span style="background-color: white;">017 Nielsen analysis of advertising effectiveness, based on nearly 500 campaigns across all media platforms proved that </span><span style="background-color: white;"><b>creative quality was easily the most important factor for generating sales</b>, contributing more than double the next highest factor (reach).</span><span style="background-color: white;"> In fact, Nielsens says that<b> </b></span><span style="background-color: white;"><b>"</b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><b>creative remains the undisputed champ in terms of sales drivers"</b>. Read the report <a href="http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2017/when-it-comes-to-advertising-effectiveness-what-is-key.html">here</a>.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">3. He references </span><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.ipa.co.uk/page/effectiveness-learnings#.Wzt2dxIzYnN">Les Binet and Peter Field’s work for the IPA</a>, that demonstrated how creatively awarded campaigns are more efficient at driving market share growth than non-awarded campaigns. He also acknowledges some recent criticism of the "Survivorship Bias" of the survey which of course might be valid. However, the results are borne </span><span style="background-color: white;">out by other research institutes such as Ehrenberg-Bass and Nielsen who have reached similar conclusions.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Highly creatively awarded campaigns are more efficient and more effective.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The main point of Ryan's article thus far is this: </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>"To state what may seem obvious, marketers can benefit from good creative work – and can benefit even more from great work."</b></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But how to get it? </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You might think that research is the answer. Turns out that sometimes gives you the exactly wrong answer. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>"</i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><i>Peter Field has demonstrated a negative correlation between the use of quantitative pre-testing and the success of IPA award entries. This implies that if you use quantitative methods to pre-test your creative work, you might be doing the opposite of what you intend thereby reducing its likelihood of success."</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's where Ryan gets to the "hallelujah" part.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Loosen your grip on the creative process.</span></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Creative work is like a rebellious teenager – the more you try to control it, the less it will do what you want.<br />With that in mind, the first step is to give your agency some space. Brief them well, then let them do their thing.<br />Second, remember that it doesn’t really matter whether you ‘like’ the creative work or not. What matters is how your customers respond to it.<br />And third, don’t analyse the work to death. It will inevitably lead to compromise, and the end result will be anodyne (or worse)."</span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm going add some of my own magic dust onto his hallelujah. Here are my simple steps to achieving great creativity.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Understand, and believe in, great:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Take the day off, in fact take one day off every month, and truly understand what makes great work great, and how it is an undisputed competitive advantage. If you really believe in its efficacy, maybe you'll try harder to make sure you and your teams deliver great, not mediocre-but-meets-the-deadline.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There are hundreds of resources: get your popcorn out and start with this one: <a href="http://www.ipa.co.uk/page/effectiveness-learnings#.Wzt2dxIzYnN">The IPA - effectiveness learnings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Write inspiring, tight briefs:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Briefs are a strategic document - not a process document. And tight doesn't mean prescriptive, it means absolute clarity in terms of the job to be done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Briefs are way harder to write than anyone thinks and like most chefs can tell you: bad ingredients in, bad meal out. There are a few key tips to writing good briefs - but most important is to understand that it's not something to be banged out in ten minutes, or cut and pasted from last year's brief. Get the right training, get the right people to write them, give enough time for them to be inspiring. Remember also the three drivers of great briefs: <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/ewarwoowar/creative-brief-workshop/6-BREVITY">Brevity, Clarity, Fertility</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Learn how to evaluate and give constructive feedback:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Again, this is harder than it looks. Get your own opinions out the room. Use a tool if it helps to distance yourself. I invented one which I'll give you here for free. I call it R2OI2. (Trips off the tongue doesn't it?) Simple: R = Relevance and Resonance. O = Originality. I = Insight and Idea. and there's ROI = will it deliver against investment and objective?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Biggest wins - a powerful insight and a big idea. If you spend time looking through any Cannes winners' case studies (which you should, after you've done the IPA site backwards), you'll start seeing that insights and ideas are essential. When you evaluate work - if there's a gigantic idea there but you don't like the execution - keep the idea and work on the executions. Mostly, the execution is thrown out with the bathwater. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And lastly:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Up-skill your team.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Many people land up in marketing or advertising with considerable skills, just not these ones. I'm not being facetious and I'm not saying it because our <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/">Creative Fitness </a>and <a href="http://www.businessmarketingacademy.guru/">Business Marketing Academy</a> courses could change your life. I mean they could. But, this stuff is difficult and it's risky and it's expensive, yet many people don't know how to do it, and even fewer of then don't know how to do it brilliantly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's worth investing the time and money into building these skills. If you don't want to call me to do it, spend some time reading the work of <a href="http://beloved-brands.com/blog/">Beloved Brands</a> - there more tools and tips in Graham Robertson's blog and Linked in feed than you can use in a lifetime. He is immeasurably generous with his knowledge.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In the end</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We all know creativity works harder and is a competitive advantage and delivers more bang for same buck. In fact the less creative dreck that surrounds us every minute of every day (something above 3000 messages every 24 hours), that we ignore, is often more expensive, takes more time and breaks agency-client relationships.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">If you remember only one thing from all of this it's this: <b>Mediocrity is Expensive</b>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Someone clever said it, and the story of the quote is in itself a lesson. Read about it <a href="http://www.e-ohagan.com/mediocrity-is-expensive/">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Make the rest of your year about aiming high. Because your business deserves it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">___________________________________________________________________________</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Contact Gillian on <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a> or +27832659099 to help you figure out how to find this holy grail. It's not easy, but it's not hard once you know how.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-48952840334135277682018-03-01T15:45:00.000+02:002018-03-01T15:49:22.490+02:00Trend spotting in the Adbiz, 2018: It's not on top, it's inside.<div style="height: 0px;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Every year I am asked to write something for <a href="http://www.bizcommunity.com/"><span style="color: blue;">BizCommunity</span></a> on
a trend I foresee, you know, in my crystal ball.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwJcLsTH3dH2d_woJJIidhZ6tJHf-wq_mVspbwEhc4Kfl7BtxUTbeZcdoUw2IrJoAVx-37NH0PUczdBjak7w7FO9WGBTtH-gUt0JmCNZKNfTWMKBBBDSEkfATI4mcd8gokkg_YLhvD_E/s1600/ID-10067808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="400" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwJcLsTH3dH2d_woJJIidhZ6tJHf-wq_mVspbwEhc4Kfl7BtxUTbeZcdoUw2IrJoAVx-37NH0PUczdBjak7w7FO9WGBTtH-gUt0JmCNZKNfTWMKBBBDSEkfATI4mcd8gokkg_YLhvD_E/s320/ID-10067808.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy of Jannoon028 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Most years it's a variation on a theme. More data,
more insight, customised communication, the power of mobile...</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This year - it's something
completely new.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Here's my 10 cents worth.</span></div>
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If I close my eyes and picture the world of marketing in 2018, two words come
to mind.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
They are <a href="http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_watershed_moment" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">Watershed Moment</span></b><span style="color: blue;">:</span></a> “<span style="background: white;">a critical
turning point; a moment in time where everything changes; a point in
time when nothing after will ever be the same.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref1"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftn1"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref1;"><span style="color: black;">[1]<br />
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref1;"></span></a></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref1;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">But doesn’t everyone say that every year?<br /><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Yes, there are changes, and things have changed, so what would make 2018 a
watershed moment, a critical turning point? Is it not simply a case of the more
things change, the more they stay the same?<br /><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">No. Because the truth is that almost everything has changed in the world of
marketing communication.<br /><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The only thing that hasn't (enough) is how agencies and marketers work together.<br /><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">And that’s where I believe the watershed is happening.<br /><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">We all know that marketers are chasing increasingly tough numbers, and they are
searching for innovation, efficiencies and integration to help deliver their
goals. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Unlocking the full benefits of technology is challenging (and full of
opportunities) for marketing teams. Same for data. But a major blockage to
increasing efficiencies and integration is how they work with agencies and how
agencies work.<br /><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Marketers have always needed agencies to create the link between the business
and the people who need to put their hands in their pockets. They needed
agencies to unlock insights to create ideas to change behaviour. They needed
agencies to decide where to place the messaging, to buy the space, and to
implement the sometimes hundreds of elements across numerous channels. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">They
still need a central concept (a big idea) which can be simply communicated
based on insights and barriers and whatever will drive consumer behaviour. But
more and more of the pieces of the puzzle could be done, and might make more
sense to be done, in-house.<br />
<span style="letter-spacing: -.05pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="letter-spacing: -.05pt;">To quote industry commentator and guru,
James Cannon-Boyce, in his article on <a href="https://medium.com/@jamescannonboyce/i-can-cure-your-adsanity-in-three-easy-steps-a9d40f20fa97"><span style="color: blue;">curing your adsanity</span></a>: </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"><i>“There is the
famous old adage about the CEO who said that they knew half their money was
being wasted in marketing — they just didn’t know which half. That was from
over a century ago — these days, the answer is that it’s not half that’s being
wasted — it’s close to all of it. More and more, I feel that I am in the same
meeting — it’s a bit like Groundhog Day if the Bill Murray character was a
frazzled over-whelmed marketing executive and not a weatherman.”</i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Marketers already have their own insights departments (although sometimes
generating more information than insight). They have their own
relationships with specialized production houses, or in-house production
capabilities. They already have or are building their own social media and
community management teams due to its always-on, strategic and tonality
requirements.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
There’s a growing sense that whoever owns the data has the power. </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">As the CMO of Booking.com said recently, "We
have way more data than the agency has. I’d make a very strong case that
anything that generates data, you need to own as a business. You cannot have
anyone else be the expert."<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref3"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftn3"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref3;"><span style="color: #222222;">[3]</span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftn3"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref3;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br />
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref3;"></span></a></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref3;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">This seems especially true
for brands born on the internet, as they have no “advertising legacy” and have
direct relationships with their customers.<br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Take a look at the credits for the creative team listed by Adweek, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/creativity/spotify-unearths-more-hilarious-user-habits-in-global-outdoor-ads-for-the-holidays/#/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">i</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="http://www.adweek.com/creativity/spotify-unearths-more-hilarious-user-habits-in-global-outdoor-ads-for-the-holidays/#/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">n this latest campaign by Spotify</span></a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fnjHzmMha-ug31NhS6tQdOy5JNTGQPHyTmO5PTSY9_9n73JgwZIYAd7qJaBatgJY6dCHZnmvzLaJtO855pEIAhj0VCxhUvmf9rLun47tVmLC0RQN6fje0qUQYjX5uD8QGzXktrr8HM4/s1600/spotify.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="451" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fnjHzmMha-ug31NhS6tQdOy5JNTGQPHyTmO5PTSY9_9n73JgwZIYAd7qJaBatgJY6dCHZnmvzLaJtO855pEIAhj0VCxhUvmf9rLun47tVmLC0RQN6fje0qUQYjX5uD8QGzXktrr8HM4/s400/spotify.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">They look different because they are all in
house. </span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftn4">[4]</a></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftn4"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Yes, but
that’s there, in the USA. How will this affect brands in SA, with historical
relationships with agencies? Simply, there has to be change, on both sides.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
The structure within corporates isn’t yet optimal either. They, as well as
their agencies, will need to restructure to unlock the siloes, open the flows
of insight and information, to reduce wastage and duplication (and cost).<br /><br />
</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The challenge to agencies is that as the outside bits are being eaten away,
what happens to their business model? As John Mandel from Mediacom says,
<i>"They are still set up for fighting the last war. They haven’t really set
themselves up for the future war. Instead they are trying to eek out gains from
a model than needs to change, while always trying to upsell clients on
services."</i></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref5"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-are-cutting-out-ad-agencies-and-going-in-house-2017-6?IR=T"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref5;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">[5]<br />
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref5;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref5;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">I’m not
proclaiming the death of agencies yet as there are a few stumbling blocks in
the in-house agency vision. Marketers have not yet figured out how to properly
integrate all the sources of insight - obviously digital (big, or rich
data) but also from places like the sales/customer channel. The
creative piece remains essential and ever more vital. Unless you hire in this
talent, it’s going to have to remain outside. Hiring issues, like BEE and to
creative culture remain a concern. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Here’s where a </span></span><a href="https://za.oliver.agency/news/a-new-way-of-working-with-agencies/"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">new agency
model like Oliver </span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">can play
its part. They build agencies inside companies. One of their White Papers
quotes research that</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: #f4f4f4; color: #383736; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> the shows the number of brands bringing
digital in-house increasing at a staggering rate, and that by 2020, “54% of
brands think they’ll bring previously outsourced functions back in-house to
match the need for more agile marketing efforts”.</span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref6"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftn6"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref6;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: #f4f4f4; color: #383736; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">[6]<br />
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref6;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref6;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">Will
agencies still play a role in the idea development – using insights to create
powerful brand stories and platforms? I think they should. There is now an even
more pressing need for cut through creative. But agencies have to be reimagined
and reinvented if they intend to survive. And the reimagining of the business
model is the most important aspect.<br /><br />
</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">The watershed moment could actually be a good thing. Marketers are driving this
conversation because they have to – the model is not working. But it’s also not
working for agencies. It’s time that people own what they are good at, so that
everyone in the value chain benefits.</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
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Footnotes:<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftn1"></a></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftnref1"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn1;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">[1]</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn1;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn1;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_watershed_moment"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_watershed_moment<br />
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftn2"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftnref2"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">[2]</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn2;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn2;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><a href="https://medium.com/@jamescannonboyce/i-can-cure-your-adsanity-in-three-easy-steps-a9d40f20fa97"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">https://medium.com/@jamescannonboyce/i-can-cure-your-adsanity-in-three-easy-steps-a9d40f20fa97<br />
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftn3"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftnref3"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">[3]</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn3;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn3;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-are-cutting-out-ad-agencies-and-going-in-house-2017-6"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-are-cutting-out-ad-agencies-and-going-in-house-2017-6<br />
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftn4"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftnref4"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn4;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">[4]</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn4;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn4;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.adweek.com/creativity/spotify-unearths-more-hilarious-user-habits-in-global-outdoor-ads-for-the-holidays/#/"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">http://www.adweek.com/creativity/spotify-unearths-more-hilarious-user-habits-in-global-outdoor-ads-for-the-holidays/#/<br />
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftn5"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftnref5"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn5;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">[5]</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn5;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn5;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-are-cutting-out-ad-agencies-and-going-in-house-2017-6"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="background: white; color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-are-cutting-out-ad-agencies-and-going-in-house-2017-6<br />
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftn6"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3136206173752149932#_ftnref6"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn6;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">[6]</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn6;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftn6;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><a href="https://za.oliver.agency/news/a-new-way-of-working-with-agencies/"><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://za.oliver.agency/news/a-new-way-of-working-with-agencies/</span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _ftnref4;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-24253542475360142062017-02-15T02:30:00.000+02:002017-02-20T09:47:27.609+02:00Why Agencies Must Fight For The Right To Be Creative<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ten years ago, I made the decision to open a new business after watching three bad (TV) ads in a row and having a EUREKA moment:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I needed to rid the world of bad advertising.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But how?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I thought of the great campaigns I'd been involved with in my 20 years experience ("great" meaning very creative and astonishingly successful for the brand and business) and tried to isolate what made them possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Brave work? Tick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Brave client? Tick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Strong Relationship? Tick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Okay, good.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But what MADE those things possible?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Brave work needs to be sold. Brave work can only be sold by a team that has taken into account the possible risks the brand and business faces, and has mitigated those risks based on the strong possibility of success. This takes skill and wisdom and strategic ability. Equally, a brave marketer needs to have astute evaluation and feedback skills and the ability to hear their instinct over their fear. A strong relationship is based on trust, based on a true belief that the other person knows what they are doing. Look up the word <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/trust" target="_blank">"trust"</a> and you get words like:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to rely on</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to depend on</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to believe</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to expect confidently</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to rely on the integrity, strength, ability of...</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This trust goes both ways. The agency has to trust the marketer as much as the other way round. You trust each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's not a blind, stupid, trust. It's a trust based on cumulative experience and knowledge and track records and understanding business.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So the concept of <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/" target="_blank">Adtherapy</a> was born: to help marketers and agencies work better together to get the best possible work, because it works better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm not going to rehash the argument of why this is so, (if you want more, you can read my <a href="http://adtherapy.blogspot.com/2015/01/just-how-risky-is-creative-advertising.html" target="_blank">previous post here</a>.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just quickly, here's a repeat of some of the cogent points:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jameshurman/the-case-for-creativity">The Case for Creativity</a> reported on a research study commissioned by the <a href="http://www.ipa.co.uk/">IPA</a> (Institute of Practitioners of Advertising) and <a href="http://www.thinkbox.tv/">Thinkbox</a> in the UK and conducted by acclaimed researcher Peter Field in 2010, entitled "<a href="http://adage.com/article/global-news/ipa-report-ads-win-awards-11-times-effective/144942/">The Link Between Creativity and Effectiveness</a>". Some key findings were:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Only about 0,001% of advertising wins a creative award, yet among highly effective campaigns (in this case winners of an IPA Effectiveness award), 18% are awarded. This means that there's on "over-index of 128,500" of how likely creative campaigns are to be effective.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In an analysis of "Excess Share of Voice" (ESOV, which correlates a brand's share of advertising with its share of market, Field found that the "Return On Investment (ROI) for a highly creative campaign is on average 11 times higher". ie... "you need to spend 11 times more on media for an uncreative production" to achieve the same result.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And, here's the kicker: Creatively awarded campaigns are more certain to achieve a higher rate of effectiveness by a "degree of confidence of 99.9%" as opposed to to non-awarded campaigns' degree of confidence of 87%.</span></li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzaV2iUcjqBdwfG7fbJkB2ueYRq2cFrjThzvCX07ttdIB85S0v8DxeFU9GFDxeWfzbdASPkMK0k3g5uKF0g97rDzl-bKP28LN8Gpw7BDTgZxIJRbdeON0jmWImElJSgLo3wR4nRZa9uIc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-27+at+4.37.53+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzaV2iUcjqBdwfG7fbJkB2ueYRq2cFrjThzvCX07ttdIB85S0v8DxeFU9GFDxeWfzbdASPkMK0k3g5uKF0g97rDzl-bKP28LN8Gpw7BDTgZxIJRbdeON0jmWImElJSgLo3wR4nRZa9uIc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-27+at+4.37.53+PM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jameshurman/the-case-for-creativity"><span style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;">www.</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;">slideshare</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;">.net/jameshurman/the-</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; white-space: nowrap;">case-for-creativity</b></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"What this implies is that less creative campaigns are not only less efficient, but also less predictable than creatively-awarded ones - something of a departure from the perceived notion that a more creative approach is a less certain one"</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">James Hurman, Author of the Case for Creativity</span></i></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In short, creative advertising is much less risky than boring advertising.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But "things have changed in the last decade".</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Digital is all pervasive. The word Advertising is a no-no. Content is King. No, Distribution is King. No, CONTEXT is King. There is constant debate about what is King, or Queen or the most important thing in communication today. They're all interesting points and all add to the ongoing evolution in this industry. But to me there is a simple point that's missing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Luckily, today, two articles addressed this point, albeit in different ways.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Creative is King.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"COO Sheryl Sandberg and her team have been relentlessly experimenting with how to make ads more compelling despite the limitations of small screens. "Creativity’s never been so important," Sandberg says. "When TV ads [first appeared], people thought the creative was important. Then when you moved into online, what really mattered was the targeting. What we’re [now] seeing on the Facebook platform is that it’s both."</span></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3067461/most-innovative-companies/why-facebook-is-one-of-the-most-innovative-companies-of-2017" target="_blank">Why Facebook is one of the Most Innovative Companies of 2007</a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Or this one:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Why have modern marketers shunned what will make them stand apart and define the new century by becoming cold, calculated, and analytical to the point where creativity has been ostracized?<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In this creative age (in which) we are crossing the chasm and entering, creativity is the main differentiator."</span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.brandquarterly.com/curing-new-marketing-personality-disorder-human-less-analytical" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Brand Quarterly: Curing the new Marketing Personality Disorder: Be More Human, Less Analytical</span></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the article quoted above, by <a href="http://www.brandquarterly.com/author/geoffreycolon" target="_blank">Geoffrey Colon</a>, he imagines the characteristics of people he would hire for his own agency, that would define the "new century marketer". They will probably not surprise you. They are:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Intellectually curious</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Always listening</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Empathetic, inclusive and ethical</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Learns, unlearns, relearns</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And these wonderful attributes will help solve the problem he raises of marketers becoming more analytical but less interesting. As he says, "</span><a class="inline-twitter-link inline-tweet-click" data-slimstat-async="false" data-slimstat-callback="false" data-slimstat-clicked="false" data-slimstat-tracking="false" data-slimstat-type="2" href="http://www.brandquarterly.com/curing-new-marketing-personality-disorder-human-less-analytical#" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #44b4ff; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;" title="Tweet This!">machines can do analytics better than any of us will be able to do. But empathy? That’s more difficult <span class="dashicons dashicons-twitter dashicons-inline-tweet-sharer" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-family: "dashicons"; font-size: inherit; height: 20px; line-height: inherit; text-align: center; vertical-align: top; width: 20px;"></span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">for machine learning to mimic."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But wait. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Agencies HAVE these types of people don't they?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So why are they not allowed to do what they're good at; creating empathetic work that differentiates the brand and connects to consumers' deepest motivations?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That's sadly an easy one to answer. Marketers often under perform in this critical area, that of unlocking the creativity of their agency partners for their own business success. Why?</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They are disconnected from their consumers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They lack insight.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They are prescriptive.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They issue terrible briefs due to all of the above.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They are not brave. In fact, they are terrified by the stresses of shareholder delivery, Quarter-itis, and internal politics.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They lack of evaluation and feedback skills.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And so they lack confidence.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The effect of all this on agencies?</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Complete demoralisation. Many of the best people I know in the industry feel bowed down, crushed, by their lack of "professional freedom". By which I mean, crushed by clients forcing them to do work they don't believe in, based on their considerable skills, experience and expertise.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The upshot? Good talent will leave the industry. And the industry, and its clients, will be the poorer for it. Or the good agencies will end those oppressive client relationships. Those marketers will get the advertising they deserve. And the true giants, true leaders, will continue to nurture creativity, to innovate and break barriers. And soar.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">That's why agencies need to fight for the right to be creative. And when I say fight, I don't actually mean fight! I mean persuade, convince, inspire. Great agencies have to produce great creativity to keep their souls from self destructing. It's their lifeblood. But it's a win-win because it turns out that great creativity is also a key driver of brand success. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course, they shouldn't have to fight. But the fight is real and fight they must.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Adtherapy works with Marketers and Agencies to help them work better together so that they create better work. Contact Gillian Rightford on <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a>, +(27)(0)832659099 or visit our website <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/">www.adtherapy.co.za</a> if you want to know more.</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-9663801549616019152017-02-13T15:56:00.000+02:002019-10-05T10:11:32.508+02:00Better Client-Agency relationships lead to better Commercial Creativity. And that's a good thing.<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some time back I wrote a blog based on a report called "A is for Alliances", published by the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising), in the UK. (Images below are from the report. Download it <a href="http://www.ipa.co.uk/document/a-is-for-alliances">here</a>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In it, they provide real justification for the age old saying that Clients get the agencies they deserve.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSW_ROiA85nj6iM3R3fMZQJd5cno_vmrO8A5UI4fhzEjLP_sGJm-4LvN_QoNc8uMk6qxOnMgpYHrX6x_s3RrsaF9RFRcIjMXctyYDAVKdrxw9IKZh3JNswXpK4T5Z1zqYdRDBnzUEKlY/s1600/better+client+agency+relationships+jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSW_ROiA85nj6iM3R3fMZQJd5cno_vmrO8A5UI4fhzEjLP_sGJm-4LvN_QoNc8uMk6qxOnMgpYHrX6x_s3RrsaF9RFRcIjMXctyYDAVKdrxw9IKZh3JNswXpK4T5Z1zqYdRDBnzUEKlY/s1600/better+client+agency+relationships+jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.aprais.com/">Aprais</a>, a renowned Business Relationship Management Consultancy, reckons that there is as much as a 37% differential in the quality of creative output between poor and good client-agency relationships.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVKKYNR6XCizMNwnGS3ksWgxHv3szCyLXrMxNFXBhHnI_LQ_aVa6kD2ItSFV2Abz2y3uhbHpDlYufkB4mVpk5OQAUyVMSXfYlbruWE4TcWhBYI7SjdCdLNsVWvZ2_94pjKmmpSWv5Fbg/s1600/37%25+better+creative+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVKKYNR6XCizMNwnGS3ksWgxHv3szCyLXrMxNFXBhHnI_LQ_aVa6kD2ItSFV2Abz2y3uhbHpDlYufkB4mVpk5OQAUyVMSXfYlbruWE4TcWhBYI7SjdCdLNsVWvZ2_94pjKmmpSWv5Fbg/s1600/37%25+better+creative+copy.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unless you've been under a rock you know already that <b>better creative is a better business building tool</b> - more effective, more efficient, better ROI. (If you're still unconvinced, please read <a href="http://www.caseforcreativity.com/The_Case_for_Creativity_-_Download_the_Slideshow.html?utm_source=GraphicMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=NewsletterLink&utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_content=">The Case for Creativity</a>. Again, if need be).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So adding the Apprais research and The Case for Creativity findings together, we get a simple equation:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Good relationship = good work = better results.</b></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />Scientifically proven, even!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My mantra when I started Adtherapy ten years ago was similar:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: purple; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Better skills = better relationships = better results.</b></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How I got to this piece of intuitive brilliance? By working back from the great campaigns I'd been involved with, and realising there was always a strong client-agency partnership behind them. And when I unpacked what was at the root of those partnerships, it was obvious. Skills. Other things too - chemistry, culture compatibility, bravery, fun. But skills meant that each party respected each other and had confidence in each other. That <b> 'trust' </b>thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of my clients told me that she would jump off a mountain, that our Executive Creative Director was like her parachute; that was the extent to which she trusted him (and us). The work we did for her </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">got her death threats and </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">nearly got her fired, but catapulted their business into the stratosphere, so she knew what 'brave' meant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What drives successful Client-Agency partnerships?</span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The IPA has come up with 4 basic drivers of good partnerships. They are:</span><br />
<div class="p1">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Transparent and effective approval processes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mutually agreed and maintained timing plans</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Honest and open briefings with clear business objectives, budget, timing and brand guidelines</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Respectful and collaborative behaviours built on shared goals and rewards.</span></li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So simple. And yet, and yet, and yet...</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many briefs are terrible. Lacking in information, too long, no clear thinking, prescriptive, pedantic, clumsy, no insight.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many times the business objectives and the brand objectives are muddled and are not clear.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Consumer understanding is limited and basic or super surface-level.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These horrible briefs are often emailed; not even presented in person.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Agency sometimes questions the briefs, but this creates a disharmony - "why are they being so argumentative"?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Deadlines bear no resemblance to reality - they are imposed from the outside in, because of an internal deadline.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then the work that comes back is used as a guide to what the client team doesn't want, doesn't like.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are few evaluation skills, few skills that help in giving constructive feedback. B.t.w. - "it makes me want to vomit" is not a good one.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Approvals become about second guessing the bigger boss, and then the next bigger boss, because many of the corporate marketing teams operate in a culture of fear and 'what would s/he like'?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And would you believe it, because of all of this to-ing and fro-ing, deadlines are missed.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And the agency is "useless".</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many of these marketers and agencies willingly submit to relationship audits, every month, twice a year, whatever, to 'measure the relationship'. Issues are raised, concerns are flagged. Until the next audit, when the same issues are raised and concerns are flagged.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What to do? *wrings her hands*</span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back to Adtherapy maths formula.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: purple; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Better skills = better relationships = better results.</b></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What to do? Put the skills in place to make it work. Then, get some <a href="https://www.blogger.com/The%20key%20pledge%20to%20come%20out%20of%20the%20day%20was%20the%20concept%20of%20a%20%C2%ADrelationship%20contract%20signed%20by%20both%20parties.%20Agencies%20and%20clients%20have%20legal%20contracts%20as%20well%20as%20annual%20fee%20agreements,%20but%20no%20agreed%20contract%20on%20how%20they%20work%20effectively%20together.%20Th%20Read%20more%20at%20http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/1218179/creating-new-principles-client-agency-partnerships#7fflRlZLxASvC6wH.99">Partnership Principles</a> in place. And move forward happily - or don't. You may both be wrong for each other. Acknowledge it and move on instead of perpetuating an unsuccessful relationship.</span><br />
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<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What are Partnership Principles?</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The work done in the IPA exercise highlighted the concept of a Relationship Contract. Agencies and clients have lengthy legal contracts (which are often not signed because they spend so much time bouncing between lawyers) and detailed fee agreements but no real contract on how to work together. An example from Avis and DDB from the 1960's shows us how it's done.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipszNX4SfqliNb6mmmwd51a-ca7hBCcXDsKNAF1REY0ZczAPnwooYKhdfudLn_Yh7TgBuOjxBwhZtZoVtyN8KMMJoiiOAWdBG5fl9dpAAVtlnWoSeBYe8Bgl8r9f3LsnGIVlgWTohgBWM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-13+at+2.58.21+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipszNX4SfqliNb6mmmwd51a-ca7hBCcXDsKNAF1REY0ZczAPnwooYKhdfudLn_Yh7TgBuOjxBwhZtZoVtyN8KMMJoiiOAWdBG5fl9dpAAVtlnWoSeBYe8Bgl8r9f3LsnGIVlgWTohgBWM/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-02-13+at+2.58.21+PM.png" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8DeiLpBda53REh4TFhUc05ueVU" target="_blank">A is For Alliances, IPA</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To get you started, you could consider the advice given by </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi6zdJg7SIk&feature=share&list=PLPK7IMSQmJP-Gx6-u4uG9MR-krju5DtEF"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">Gotz Ulmer</span></span><span style="color: #221f1f; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">,</span></a><strong style="color: #221f1f; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </strong>Executive Creative Director at Germany's best agency, Jung von Matt. He said they have three simple rules for working with clients. They ask:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1. Are we making money?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2. Are we doing great work?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3. Are we having fun?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If they can't answer 'Yes' to at least 2, then it's not the right agency-client partnership for them. </span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Then make sure you and your client have the right skills.</span></h4>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What are these magical skills, I hear you cry? Interestingly, I believe the same set of skills is required by both parties at the coalface - namely the agency account manager/strategist team, and the brand/marketing manager. They are the fulcrum of the relationship and need to manage up, manage resources, manage conflict and manage the risk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some of the skills are 'hard', some are 'soft'. This is not a complete list, but here are some:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hard: Brand strategy, positioning, segmentation, consumer behaviour, real insights, writing exceptional briefs, evaluating creative, integrated media options (including digital), budget management.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Soft: Giving constructive feedback, being inspiring, managing conflict in a positive way, selling up the organisation, effective communication, body language, building teams, presenting well.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Honestly, if you are managing clients , or are managing an agency relationship without being super skilled in these areas, you are wasting other people's time and money. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The whole point of having an agency is that they are able to bring to the business a degree of commercial creativity that will drive your business forward. A little like the man with the ladder in this picture:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKYsA7W-7qZ3y5zpfJT9GDjx5rr7XZfgIOfZKxBnA_ysgQjLmvG3LYxfRTQO9JpYc5CITFK16X0Fh0HnK65PMO_LyqKxzGTfLabM3JwbMVIpc0wYr1_rhrqkEjD8u8rGwbxVDqSPdC4o/s1600/man+with+ladder+leadership+by+jesaphorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgKYsA7W-7qZ3y5zpfJT9GDjx5rr7XZfgIOfZKxBnA_ysgQjLmvG3LYxfRTQO9JpYc5CITFK16X0Fh0HnK65PMO_LyqKxzGTfLabM3JwbMVIpc0wYr1_rhrqkEjD8u8rGwbxVDqSPdC4o/s1600/man+with+ladder+leadership+by+jesaphorn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Work together well, and both your businesses will thrive. Work together badly, and both your businesses will suffer. Or at least not do as well as they could. And you will get the advertising, and the agency, you deserve.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">_________________________________________________________________</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i style="background-color: #ead1dc;">Adtherapy is premised on helping agencies and marketers work better together to develop better quality creative output, because it is better for business. We have numerous training options from <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/?p=553" target="_blank">Creative Fitness</a> for marketers </i></span><i style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">to <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/?p=165" target="_blank">Account Leadership</a> for agencies, </i><i style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">to a fully fledged suite of modules for up-skilling marketing teams in our new <a href="http://www.businessmarketingacademy.guru/" target="_blank">Business Marketing Academy</a>. And we consult too! </i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i style="background-color: #ead1dc;">Browse our offerings on <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/">www.adtherapy.co.za</a><u>, </u></i></span><i style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">or <a href="http://www.businessmarketingacademy.guru/">www.businessmarketingacademy.guru</a> or email me on <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a> or talk to me on </span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i style="background-color: #ead1dc;"><a href="http://grightford/">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://za.linkedin.com/pub/gillian-rightfo">LinkedIn</a>, </i></span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #ead1dc;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adtherapy/162543160455637?v=wall">Facebook</a>.</span> Or just stop me in the street.</span></span></i></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Ladder man image courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net by JessaPhorn)</span></i></div>
<br />Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-16781215340930534332017-02-06T14:31:00.003+02:002017-02-06T14:34:50.746+02:00Would your brief for a SuperBowl ad be different from how you usually brief? <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Every year I adapt a post I've written over the years asking what makes a brief for a Super Bowl ad different from the briefs we usually write, everyday briefs?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are my thoughts in a 2017 world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If writing creative briefs is hard then writing </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">great</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> creative briefs is extremely difficult.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The main problems are a lack of clarity of thought and an inspiring proposition. These arise because sometimes the brief-writer isn't clear why they're really asking for this piece of communication, or what they really want to say, or who they really want to say it to. But, most of all they don't know why anyone should believe them.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So they write briefs that offer their creative teams, and their consumers', too many choices. Then they use the creative offering to whittle down to what they think they should say.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>"Actually, that wasn't really what I had in mind... What I think we really should be saying, maybe, is ....."</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course it's not always that bad. Some creative briefs are perfect.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But every year, the Super Bowl ad-fest inspires me to ask this question:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How does a Super Bowl Ad Brief differ from the Common Client Ad Brief?</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And, with so many eyes on these ads, why is that some just don't hit the mark, some are bad, and some are amazing?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 2013, when I first wrote an article on this question, I picked up a quote from a Bloomberg's Business Week article entitled : "<a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-02-01/game-on-super-bowl-ads-are-already-online#r=hp-ls">Game on: SuperBowl ads are already playing online"</a>. It was from <span style="line-height: 23px;">David Lubars, chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO North America, who "advises keeping an ad simple and honest. “It should also be an easy, reductionist message,” says Lubars. “You’re getting a canvas that 120 million people will see. You have to go where nobody has gone before. The ad has to be single-minded, relevant, funny, and emotional. If it’s done right, $4 million* (for a 30 - sec spot) is a bargain. I would say 90 percent of the people running ads are wasting their money.” (* now $5million)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So back to my question. Is the brief for BIG work different from your common and garden version?</span></span></span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Or is the work different because maybe the agencies recognise that this is THE brief and assign their best </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">teams to work on it? But even that doesn't always deliver great work. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Even if the Super Bowl Ad brief is perceived by the agencies to be much cooler and high-stakes with more chance of creative risk-taking than the average Client Brief, then why do some of the Super Bowl ads come out boring, done-before, irrelevant and imminently forgettable?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It seems that the enormous viewership might have something to do with it. Possibly a bit of stage fright and a trying-too-hard aspect? Or a client wanting to cover all their bases to justify the enormous spend?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My two cents worth would be that there's too much playing to the masses and too much losing sight of the one person that actually counts - the person who may do something, buy something, think something, as a result of your ad. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Is there a different approach to writing the brief for communication that will be watched, and analysed, and talked about, by millions?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The usual Client Ad Brief claims to want to be original, single minded, relevant and emotionally engaging, right? So what's the big difference? Truthfully, having never seen a Super Bowl brief, I have no idea.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are some ads that I thought were interesting.</span></span></span></h3>
<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A few ads I thought hit the mark are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZmlRtpzwos">Budweiser</a> Immigrant ad (totally coincidentally spot-on from a political consciousness point of view), the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPo2B-vjZ28">84 Lumber</a> ad (ditto, very topical and bound to polarize both ways, they also gained huge traction from being "censored"), the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dQ9a5EFZeI">Kia</a> ad with the inimitable tree-hugging Melissa McCarthy and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7n-GxJBw1k">Hyundai</a> live shoot ad living up to its promise of making things better, and showcasing tech in all its storytelling magic. I also loved It's a 10 Hair care, for being hilariously political while strongly selling their brand benefit.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BH2bCJ5xm9I/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BH2bCJ5xm9I?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="background: rgb(255 , 255 , 255); border: 0px; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All these are fresh, </span></span><span style="line-height: 23px;">single-minded, and totally relevant. They all hit an emotional chord. One is funny, one is deeply chilling, one makes you want to cry and one makes you laugh. They </span><span style="line-height: 23px;">speak to the truth of their brand message. And all of them address, in totally different ways, an interesting insight. The Kia ad for me tapped into an interesting insight: being an eco-warrior is hard, but you can still do your bit by driving a Kia Nitro: the target consumer cal still do her bit to save the planet without going full eco-warrior. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These ads have managed to create an ongoing dialogue, online, offline, in people's hearts and minds, about what their message. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And the interesting shift this year, coincidentally or not, is the political nature of the messages. There was an apparent rejection of the right wing shift in American values and the need for big brands to continue to honor diversity. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This ad for Airbnb is case in point - based on a really strong insight and business challenge. I would have guessed that the message was aimed as much as consumers as Airbnb hosts.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5qUTYHnLz2g/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5qUTYHnLz2g?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Interesting side story: the ad space was bought on Thursday and shot on Thursday night (using Airbnb people as actors). Reading this article though, the ad claims that</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Airbnb "</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/technology/airbnb-super-bowl-ad-trump-travel-ban.html?_r=0"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">was using the Super Bowl to </span></a></span><span style="color: #326891;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/technology/airbnb-super-bowl-ad-trump-travel-ban.html?_r=0">highlight its commitment</a></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/technology/airbnb-super-bowl-ad-trump-travel-ban.html?_r=0"> to provide short-term housing for 100,000 people in need over the next five years, including for refugees, victims of natural disasters and aid workers.</a>" </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm not sure it achieved that, although <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/5/14517708/airbnb-super-bowl-ad-donation-aid">CEO Brian Chesky</a> tweeted additional information.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There were many more, and many more opinions. Watch them all <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/all-the-ads-that-ran-during-the-super-bowl-in-order-2017-2">here</a></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Whether the ads were a hit or a miss, here's what I like to imagine sets a Super Bowl brief apart form a common Creative Brief:</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<ol><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<li>The client (and agency) are aiming for GREAT. You have a much better chance of getting there if you aim for it, than if you don't.</li>
<li><span style="line-height: 23px;">It's presumably agreed upfront that the ad has to be entertaining with </span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">exceptional production values (with budget allowed for) - great advice for the Common Brief to borrow from.</span></span></li>
<li>The ad aims to be memorable, relevant and engaging. Tick, tick and tick.</li>
<li>It simply has to be distinctive. And talk-able, and shareable. And that means some brave decisions need to be made in the approvals process.</li>
<li>The message has to be totally singleminded.</li>
<li>Time has been invested in mining a really strong insight about the consumers motivations or beliefs in the category. </li>
<li>The brand has a strong point of view, which may or may not please everybody.</li>
<li>A powerful proposition and very clear brand positioning are the cornerstones.</li>
</span></ol>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 23px;">Maybe we should treat each ad brief like a Super Bowl brief and see what happens to the work?</span></span></h4>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-5894225719824497502016-04-21T17:29:00.000+02:002016-05-18T14:59:12.541+02:00Dear CEO, we need to talk about "integration"<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">As you know, there
is much pressure to cut costs, everywhere, all the time. One of the areas
consistently in the spotlight is the communications budget. Just how much are
you paying your ad agency, digital agency, media agency, PR agency, media
buying agency, social media agency, internal comms agency, shopper marketing
agency, direct marketing agency...? And come to think of it - DO YOU NEED all
those agencies? That's a lot of duplication right there. That's also a lot of
meetings, confusion, lack of integration for your harried and harassed
marketing team to deal with. Right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">So integration
makes sense. Somehow you'll find a way (or ask your Lead Agency) to build a core team of big thinkers and
surround them with excellent implementation specialists and get the agencies to
build a simple yet complex workflow process that gives you the best talent you need, across disciplines, in one team. Not only will you cut down on
duplication, you'll save money, you'll cut down on the time creative takes to get out, and everyone will be
happy. Right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Because what's
actually eating up your agency fee and killing your creative product stone dead
(along with a few of the creative talents working on your business) is your own
processes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Integration is the
only way forward in order for marketers to make sense of every increasing
channels and agency specializations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">But there is no
point getting your agencies to integrate if your own business isn't.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Here are some
thoughts to ponder (and with each one, please </span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://soundbible.com/tags-down-the-drain.html"><span style="color: blue;"><span id="goog_870149675"></span>imagine</span></a><span id="goog_870149676"></span><span id="goog_1978300012"></span><span id="goog_1978300013"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> the
sound of money going down the drain):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Your
junior marketing team is most likely briefing the agency on work that has
not yet been agreed between your various silos.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The integrated agency team will start work, and sometimes </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><a href="http://soundbible.com/tags-down-the-drain.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">do considerable work</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">, and
present to your junior team </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><a href="http://soundbible.com/tags-down-the-drain.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">many many times </span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">before
the presentation moves up to a more senior layer, at which point
someone (possibly from one of those silos) will say: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><a href="http://soundbible.com/tags-down-the-drain.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"why are we doing this?</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">That
might <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>require a debrief or a
re-brief and so </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><a href="http://soundbible.com/tags-down-the-drain.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">the cycle will continue</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">. This
time there is possibly a more aligned brief. This is good, although time
and energy and money have been wasted.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">After
the agency has got through this stage, the work will be presented to the
CMO, or the CFO, or the CEO, at which point someone might say: "I
don't like it", or "why are we doing this?" And thus the
agencies </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><a href="http://soundbible.com/tags-down-the-drain.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">go back to the beginning</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">. <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Or the
C-Suite are dabblers. Or everyone in the team is a dabbler. And they
dabble with a bit of this, and move that to the right, and upweight this
and can’t-we-also-mention that. An agency I was with recently was on </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://soundbible.com/tags-down-the-drain.html">revert 56 for a print ad</a>.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> How different
was it from revert 55, or 54, or even revert 21? Had it been materially
improved? Would the consumer notice or care? What was the cost of that dabbling?<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">And worse than the
fact that your team has literally </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://soundbible.com/tags-down-the-drain.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">flushed gajillions down the drain</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> through this process,
that's not the only cost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhgkuX1oxzzcMg-teK5-hKI612ch07EpUgF42PoUhYRcgJ_ZapFDWMi_t5oCszz4BGcEKacNPN08qaYy00jGb_P_D8sk7xrAKV4PVg_oeCobOxgrHy00aV0jT-QIEuQQxI-rWOZscJq80/s1600/tap+ideas+drawing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhgkuX1oxzzcMg-teK5-hKI612ch07EpUgF42PoUhYRcgJ_ZapFDWMi_t5oCszz4BGcEKacNPN08qaYy00jGb_P_D8sk7xrAKV4PVg_oeCobOxgrHy00aV0jT-QIEuQQxI-rWOZscJq80/s400/tap+ideas+drawing.jpeg" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The cost is the “creative
tap closing". </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">At a certain point creative teams, generally optimistic and
determined to help you, will simply say the worst words imaginable if you're
paying. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">"Just. Give. Them. What. They. Want". </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Those are expensive
words. Because you are paying for talent and then forcing them to give you
mediocrity. Which they will, eventually, just to get your job out the system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">This does not make
them happy and it should not make you happy either. You may ask why agencies
don't try and change your system to make it work better. Truth is they try, but
often end up being bullied by the junior marketing teams to curry favour with
their bosses. Once in a process workshop, a brand manager
admitted to briefing an agency to develop a promotion off a creative big idea
that had been bombed. What? Yes, that poor promo agency worked for a month on
work that could not possibly ever be approved. Why? Because the brand manager
had a meeting scheduled with his boss in a month and needed something to
present. Do I need to play you the </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://soundbible.com/tags-down-the-drain.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">sound effect </span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">again?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">What to do? *wrings
hands*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Get
your stakeholders to agree briefs and communication needs from a
business point of view, before the agencies are briefed;<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Give
fewer but better briefs;<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Give senior
input early in the process;<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Approve
the big ideas early, before the agency has developed the full campaign;<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">And -
and I love this - institute a Wastage Report. Anyone in your Marketing
Team that goes over a maximum of 4 reverts has to sign off the
responsibility for it. They have to answer whether it was really
really necessary to move the logo to the left and change the type to blue?
These reports must be evaluated at the end of each quarter/6-months/year. It's dead easy to see who's costing the company money, time and good work. If
someone is repeatedly going over 4 reverts, then they are either not
briefing well, or the approval process is flawed, or they are a frustrated
creative director. All costly habits.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia";">The result of these simple changes?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Gajillions saved.
Happy shareholders. Happy creatives. Good work. Happy consumers. Jingling
tills.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia;">Now we're talking.</span></div>
Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-41879862374575830842015-03-04T15:02:00.000+02:002015-03-05T13:19:34.302+02:00Marketers' Aha moments reveal the pressure points in Agency-Client Relationships<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Adtherapy runs a series of workshops with Marketers called "Creative Fitness." </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is a programme designed to help marketers to get the best out of their agencies, by understanding the process and the key components in getting from good to great advertising. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We look at the briefing process. We interrogate how to generate insights. We look at what happens to a client brief once inside the agency (the creative brief). </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We talk about the creative 'tap' - how we want it to be open as that's when you get the best value for money - when the best creative brains <i>want</i> to work on your business. The 'creative tap' closes when there are too many reverts or when the feedback is too prescriptive and it becomes ' give them what they want so we can get it out of here'. That's not good use of your money. The hourly rate is the same whether the tap is open or closed! </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So we talk about building relationships and </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">learning how to evaluate ideas/executions in order to give feedback that is constructive and inspirational. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All good stuff, right? <i>(</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You can read more about the programme <a href="http://www.graphicmail.co.za/creativefitness">here</a>.) </span></span></i> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Having run a number of them this year, I thought it might be fun to reflect on the Aha! moments that come of the exercises we ask the delegates to do. These usually come out when we ask our Monday Question: so, what are you going to do differently on Monday?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibdscFBC5U0FhGVBKAIvVii52DcpCHDNFERObvhdqI2K12xbO32_CUxBZ6as8G_-MOFMDjxmN6cHkQCxeFA4YJWU9rb1TRdXQy7ln_K8hxI6EMx3xjWkm9kTpyuZlfOsNTZabrNsUuQ7k/s1600/Garfield+Monday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibdscFBC5U0FhGVBKAIvVii52DcpCHDNFERObvhdqI2K12xbO32_CUxBZ6as8G_-MOFMDjxmN6cHkQCxeFA4YJWU9rb1TRdXQy7ln_K8hxI6EMx3xjWkm9kTpyuZlfOsNTZabrNsUuQ7k/s320/Garfield+Monday.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>(Source: <span class="url">www.<i class="queryKeyword">garfield</i>.com)</span></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In no particular order, here are the most often uttered Aha!s:</span></span></span></div>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to give my agency more time. </span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to spend more time planning, and writing, my brief.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to keep my briefs shorter.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to look for the good in a creative presentation, not just look for what's wrong.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to 'market marketing' inside my organisation.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to look for deeper consumer insights.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to spend more time talking to consumers.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to make time to do the brand work that isn't clearly articulated at the moment.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to make my briefs inspiring.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to learn how to evaluate ads so I can have the language to give constructive feedback.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to set up what the brief was and who the target market is before I ask someone in the corridor whether they like the ad.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to collate feedback from everyone involved so we limit reverts.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to spend more time looking at great work so I understand what it looks like.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to be less prescriptive.</span></span></span>
</li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm going to build a stronger relationship with my agency. </span></span></span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcd7WSPVCYexAeAaYP4whaY4SMUDO0GaW9OXb7LgnPNIEu5sFLGYn_0lnfTbw1Dtk8I3eKFkPCgBMbJuF3wzjaNz-nEqA8WTAWPNFuqBjx1bvOegdnzljI3nAFNH86dLmy0qnYJH7xZH8/s1600/ID-10088844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcd7WSPVCYexAeAaYP4whaY4SMUDO0GaW9OXb7LgnPNIEu5sFLGYn_0lnfTbw1Dtk8I3eKFkPCgBMbJuF3wzjaNz-nEqA8WTAWPNFuqBjx1bvOegdnzljI3nAFNH86dLmy0qnYJH7xZH8/s320/ID-10088844.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a>And there are more. Marketers realise how hard it is when confronted by a brief and a blank page. They realise how much harder it is when given too little information. They also have an aha! about how difficult it is to choose the best option when presented with a pile of ideas. That shows them the value of the Creative Director, the job he or she performs and the unique skill-set they have.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image courtesy of adamr/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.</i></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At the end of the programme, we find that there is a renewed sense of excitement about their ability to do great work. A renewed commitment to their role in providing the inputs to the agency that will lead to that great work. And a renewed promise to work with their agencies in a way that will no doubt prove invaluable to the most important person in the process: the consumer.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What these learnings also show me is the pressure points in this tricky space between logic and magic, between expectation and delivery, in an area that is super subjective. Maybe if marketers used these Aha's as a How To list, things could work a whole lot better?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><i>For more information about the Creative Fitness Programme, or to find out more about Adtherapy's other training, mentoring and consulting programmes, visit <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/">www.adtherapy.co.za </a>or better yet contact Gillian: m: 0832659099 or email <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a></i></span>Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-66308100291042971662015-01-26T13:56:00.001+02:002015-01-27T08:59:42.695+02:00Now's The Time To Sort Out Your Client-Agency Relationship<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white;">It's 2015 and already the year is galloping by. The relationship with your ad agency or client that might have started wearing thin towards the end of last year, may now be basking in the ever fading glow of the summer holiday. But as the tan fades, and you both start feeling crushed by the relentless torrent of work, so too may the renewed desire to play nicely. It might just be time to do a Client-Agency intervention. </i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1srwBMUOqQi-d6z78NP4FUMdF1sDB4LT5ksO2WRAqOr2Kh86ZY0AZpgphnHv3bNBUYn3zbOxvftQxwAKV2Ar18EfsyjbA5sy8AK0ScZMH07Xra2K_IzqTEbhZi53EIn_pEp6F22PLAE/s1600/+Crushed+by+books+ref+holohololand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1srwBMUOqQi-d6z78NP4FUMdF1sDB4LT5ksO2WRAqOr2Kh86ZY0AZpgphnHv3bNBUYn3zbOxvftQxwAKV2Ar18EfsyjbA5sy8AK0ScZMH07Xra2K_IzqTEbhZi53EIn_pEp6F22PLAE/s1600/+Crushed+by+books+ref+holohololand.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #3a3a3a; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Image courtesy of holohololand at FreeDigitalPhotos.net</span></strong></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white;">An Adtherapy Client-Agency Relationship Intervention is a positive and constructive process that aims to review and learn from the challenges that are getting in the way of doing great work. And to then ensure the right processes and partnership principles are applied for each party. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white;">The ultimate aim? A successful business partnership that produces great creative work for the brand. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The relationship between a Marketer (Client) and an Agency is often compared to a marriage. Although procurement people have tried to muscle in on the dating and wedding processes, the truth is that the relationship is between the people in the bed together, so to speak. This relationship has its ups and downs, and the primary reason for the “marriage” analogy is that it veers from moments of great joy to the depths of despair; from compromise to utterly unreasonable; is prone to emotional and subjective responses, blame and above all, is always high risk.</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are a number of companies offering tools (e.g. </span><a href="http://www.yardstick.co.za/products/agency-relationship-management" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Y-Care</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><a href="http://www.relationshipaudits.com/?page_id=7" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">RAM</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">) to help ad agencies and their marketing clients assess the status of their professional relationship. These are usually survey based and can be done on an ongoing basis, a few times a year or even just once a year as an annual assessment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fGRuGPGbuz_qFG48QvUkbB0eHUcne4uPENTOOPronKflWq14vtnDkFkVjEI1YD5y-8xW6X9szn8GBNnHM_vZx_sL6XhQX6TYcf-AupAWGI3pSDyIl-zHicmQPHKmB3vSOOgNSxSEI64/s1600/yes+no+man+by+pakorn+freedigitalphotos.net.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fGRuGPGbuz_qFG48QvUkbB0eHUcne4uPENTOOPronKflWq14vtnDkFkVjEI1YD5y-8xW6X9szn8GBNnHM_vZx_sL6XhQX6TYcf-AupAWGI3pSDyIl-zHicmQPHKmB3vSOOgNSxSEI64/s1600/yes+no+man+by+pakorn+freedigitalphotos.net.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The assessments are usually mutual – agency scores marketing team and marketing team scores agency. The assessments flag areas of high and low performance and hopefully shed some light on those areas that one or both parties need to continue, or need to improve, if the relationship is to be the best it can be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The assessments will highlight key success areas, and urgent issues that need to be addressed. Unless the agency and the marketing team take immediate steps to address these issues, the relationship is heading for the rocks. A friend I once worked with was married to a divorce attorney. He said this: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>“once a divorce file is opened, it’s never closed”</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once doubt settles in, frustration builds, trust falls and the divorce file is metaphorically opened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, it's a no-brainer that both marketing and agency teams would assign the highest priority to getting the problem areas sorted, right? Although it sounds simple, sometimes these areas are not improved, or even addressed. You may well wonder why this happens, when improving these areas has such important ramifications for both businesses and such dire consequences if not done?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who knows, but I’ll hazard a few guesses:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because it falls into Steven Covey’s <a href="http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm">Important but Not Urgent</a> box? No-one will be harping on this on a daily basis and so it slips through the cracks while the urgency and noise of the day job takes priority?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because addressing the issues might rock the boat and the agency thinks it might destabilize the relationship and they might lose the business?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because the parties don't know how to fix the problems?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because one party expects the other party to change completely while they change nothing?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because no. 4 is allowed to happen because of no 2?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because one or both parties don’t take the measurements seriously, or thinks its all the other party's fault anyway?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's why Adtherapy starting offering Agency-Client Interventions, running successfully since 2007. The current relationship's appraisal 'score', and the key issues that have been identified, are only the starting point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A client once asked what the ‘success rate’ was in Agency-Client Interventions. Interesting question. In all those that I have done, I have only recommended one partnership to split, as the relationship had deteriorated beyond what I felt was salvageable. Was that a failure? I think not – maintaining a destructive client-agency relationship is toxic for all parties and especially destructive for the end creative product. That agency and that client went on to find new partners with whom they have done great work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The reason why Client-Agency Interventions are like marriage counseling is that they examine whether it’s possible to improve the relationship to save it, and how. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A recent study by the <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><a href="http://www.ipa.co.uk/document/a-is-for-alliances">IPA suggests that the costs for pitches are extremely high – for the agency and for the client.</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So we ideally want to keep the relationship intact but make it commercially and psychologically viable for both parties. We want to look at the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">drivers for successful relationships </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and what the drivers are for the relationship under duress. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just so you know, the IPA recently concluded that four drivers of successful agency-client relationships are:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Transparent and effective approval processes</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mutually agreed and maintained timing plans.</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Honest and open briefings with clear business objectives, budget, timing and brand guidelines.</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Respectful and collaborative behaviours built on shared goals and rewards.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The most important thing is this: like the divorce lawyer’s sad observation, the sooner this counseling takes place the better for the eventual outcome of the partnership.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My advice? Don’t wait till it blows up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Deal with it urgently. Get stuck in. You can do it yourself, or you can let us help. We can add a qualitative and interpretive (and totally objective) layer to what you already know but might not think you can do anything about. Let’s scope some Partnership Principles and deal with any process or people issues. Let’s be proactive rather than defensive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And let’s all live happily ever after.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">_________________________________________________________________</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i style="background-color: #741b47;">An Adtherapy Client-Agency Relationship Intervention is a positive and constructive process that aims to learn from the relationship challenges and ensure that the right partnership principles are applied for each party. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i style="background-color: #741b47;">The ultimate aim? A successful business partnership that produces the best work. A recent client described the process as 'part agony aunt, part freedom fighter'. We like that.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i style="background-color: #741b47;">Mail <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a> or phone on 0832659099 to chat about how we can help you.</i></span></div>
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Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-85364703300550121142015-01-26T12:00:00.000+02:002015-01-26T12:43:15.024+02:0010 Lessons For Agencies & Marketers, From 3 Ad VeteransI read <a href="http://rstm.ogilvy.co.za/">Wallop</a> recently, the recollections of Bob Rightford, Brian Searle-Tripp and Roger Makin about the ad agency they built: Rightford Searle-Tripp Makin (RSTM). The agency became Ogilvy Mather-RSTM and is now simply called <a href="http://www.ogilvy.co.za/">Ogilvy</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.kalahari.com/Books/Wallop_p_49166716"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSuaB7-cxwdEJFvjnlGpVWcoo6MjTw1wLRUPrhdHJhyCZ-Ltvg49kNLzHOKtVkeKGd3cX_yKPGIpMSuohYr8XSX6sgTtW5vqzctpmWr-E_sltwPvZIUYkiayzca2S_9AAfMe5Uv3TphQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-01-23+at+10.52.42+AM.png" height="320" width="233" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kalahari.com/Books/Wallop_p_49166716"><br /></a></td></tr>
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Disclaimer - Bob Rightford is my father in law.<br />
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In my 25+ years in the ad business, I didn't ever work for the company, either during Bob's tenure or after his retirement. I did however work for a few of their competitors. So reading the book was like peering in through a window. It was fascinating to look inside, from the outside.<br />
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What is also fascinating is to use the book as a then and now comparison.<br />
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No-one can deny they not only made great creative ads, they also helped their clients build strong brands and strong businesses. If you go to the Golden Oldies page of the <a href="http://rstm.ogilvy.co.za/">website</a>, it truly is a chronicle of the foundations of some of our biggest and most loved brands.<br />
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<b>What? Creative ads that also built business? </b>I cringe when I hear marketers expressing surprise or cynicism in that notion. Firstly, a creative ad is only great <i>if</i> it achieves the objectives set out in the brief. And secondly, there is more than enough evidence (see the research in <a href="http://www.caseforcreativity.com/The_Case_for_Creativity_-_About_the_Author.html">The Case for Creativity</a>) that creative ads have a far better chance of achieving better commercial results. So it should be a no-brainer for businesses to want the best creative from their agencies. And for agencies to constantly strive to provide groundbreaking ideas.<br />
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And yet, at the nub of so many agency-client relationship issues is this notion of the agency not "adding value", not bringing "thought leadership" nor "business building ideas" to their clients. Many marketers feel that their agencies simply don't understand their business and aren't business focused enough. Bear in mind that CEO's of businesses even feel their CMO's aren't business focused enough! (see this <a href="https://www.fournaisegroup.com/ceos-do-not-trust-marketers/">Fournaise research</a>). So the disconnect from CEO to CMO to agency, and ultimately to the creative output and the agency-client relationship, is massive.<br />
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What <b>Wallop</b> shows us is that RSTM managed to connect rather than be disconnected. They formed deep relationships with their clients, many of which persist to this day, long after Bob, Brian and Roger retired. They built a company culture, one which the current Ogilvy team respects and builds upon. They attracted great people. They did great work. The work they did created foundations for brands that grew from strength to strength. And because of all that, and a few other things they got right, their agency grew from strength to strength.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So how did they achieve this holy grail?</span></h2>
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I took some lessons out of the book - looking at what they did then, in the light of some of the challenges the industry faces now. Sure, the industry is different and remuneration models are tougher and client structures are harder to crack and people are busier and labour law is more stringent and.... There are loads of reasons why it could be said that it is much harder to succeed in advertising now than it was then. And yet. And yet... There <i>are</i> agencies that are succeeding. And I would hazard a guess that the lessons I gleaned, listed below, will be old hat to them. Different era, same principles.<br />
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Here are the lessons, in no particular order, I digested from the book. I think they're important for the industry of today - both marketing side and agency side.<br />
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1. Strong connection with the CEO and Marketing Director</h3>
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The relationship between Bob Rightford and the CEO's of their client's companies, as well as the Marketing Directors, was strong, close and even bordered on brutal honesty. There was no kowtowing and second guessing. The depth of these relationships allowed for difficult conversations, allowed for respect to grow, and allowed for the right work to be produced.<br />
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Over the years an insidious culture has crept into the industry that CEO's are too important for marketing issues, and particularly advertising issues. Agency MD's and CEO's bemoan they have lost their seat at the Top Table. So, the relationship has been pushed further down and it lands somewhere at Marketing Manager-Account Director level. This is fine on a functional, timeline, project management basis, but it certainly won't build the kind of business successes that a strong relationship further up, or right at the top, will.<br />
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Another odd notion amongst agency account management or MD's that their job is "to keep the client happy", to not rock the boat, in case they lose the business. The irony is if they continue with that approach, they will lose the business anyway.<br />
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An agency is not there to keep the client happy. The agency is there to do great work which helps the client company achieve their marketing objectives. Sometimes, because of the subjective nature of creativity and innovation, that requires some boat rocking. And Wallop tells plenty of stories in that regard. All with happy endings.<br />
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2. Absolute loyalty to client's products.</h3>
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Bob Rightford retired in 1995. Twenty years later, to this day, he remains fiercely loyal to his former clients' brands. And this brand loyalty was expected from everyone at RSTM.<br />
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Of course, not only is this polite, but it turns agency staff into consumers. The insights gleaned, the selling cycle, the product highs and lows are experienced by the people working on the business. It also takes you further into the clients value chain, into the real understanding of issues that might affect the consumer. You will seldom get this in a brief. The example in the book about VW's dealers and the campaigns they developed to help them as businesses too, is a great example, particularly as the agency had to fight hard to get it made.<br />
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3. A deep understanding of the client's business, on every level and in every channel. No lines.</h3>
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This follows on from the point above. But it was more than that. A slavish devotion to understanding every aspect of the client, from factory visits to store visits, competitive analyses (actual, on foot, not just Google), speaking to other channels in the selling cycle, like Dealers in the example above.<br />
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This built the ability to develop powerful insights. It allows the agency to access insights into the purchase behaviour of consumers that clients may be too close to, to see. Great campaigns usually have a cracker insight at their core. Also out of insight comes proactivity. Insights inspire new product concepts, new angles to address problems, new distribution options. And here's the thing - far from losing the business by forcing your clients to confront unpleasant truths, you not only help build their business, but also build the agency's business. In effect the VW Dealers became a new client, with additional revenue opportunities for the agency.<br />
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Too many agencies rely on their clients to give them insights. Too many marketers rely on their "Insights department" to give them insights, which is often just information. Too many of us are using the internet, or big data or third party research to tell us what people are doing. If you as an agency member are actively using, buying, driving, drinking your client's product every day, and making sure you watch others who do too, you'll be certain to stumble across an insight or two, way quicker than from behind your desk.<br />
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This deep understanding of the business your client is in, is also so critical in today's multi-channel communications era. No longer is it simply above- or below- the line. Now we have a million more silos. Digital. Social. Experiential. Activation. Shopper. Retail. Online, offline. Third screen. Fourth Screen. And you know what - the consumer doesn't see it that way. There is no line. Only a consumer wanting, or not, to buy something.<br />
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4. Proactivity is not a cute tactical ad. It builds value for the client company. Business value.</h3>
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The best example of this in the book, and there are many, was the creation by the agency of the Citi Golf concept. Like the VW Dealership campaign, the agency fought for this, based on a real understanding of the market and a nose for opportunity. Asking "What if?" Not only did it build immense value for the client over many years, it again built a new revenue and creative opportunity for the agency. Oh, and created a brand that South Africans adored. Watch how consumers said an emotional goodbye when eventually VW discontinued the Citi Golf, in the link below.<br />
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5. They looked after their most important assets - their people.</h3>
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Bob says they liked to say that their most important assets went down the elevators and out the front door at night. Wallop tells the story of a company that looked after their people. Were they relentless? Yes. Were they demanding and did they fire people? Sure. But it seems they did a few things right.<br />
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One, they created a culture where mavericks wanted to work. They attracted them and then they hired them when no-one else would. Agencies are not "corporates" and despite the best efforts of global holding companies and accountants in trying to turn them into corporately behaved businesses, they can't be, shouldn't be and won't ever be. <br />
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More than this they looked after their people - one example was when they fired a big big big Client because the junior marketing person was slowly sucking the life out of the creative department refers. Your people are your assets. And if they're depressed, your asset loses its immense value.<br />
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In my <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/">Adtherapy</a> work, I see people in agencies dying in the trenches without management support. I see Account Management being mowed down by rude and disrespectful (and unskilled) clients; I see Creatives with hunched shoulders, working till 3am night after night and being expected to be creative the next day. This cannot be. The success of any agency lies in keeping your talented people inspired and motivated (and employed by you not your competitor). Sometimes this means you have to go to war for them.<br />
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RSTM helped their people grow too. They invested in training. They ran successful workshop programmes which not only allowed people to bond and create friendships but also to hone their skills. Sadly in many agencies this is an expense that has been cut. Talk about not doing the cost-benefit analysis properly. Better skills make better business.<br />
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Another aspect of looking after their people was building a culture in which every person felt they played a part. An open attitude to where ideas come from. A shared interest in the campaign being sold and working well. Too many agencies use polarising language that put people in siloes. Like Creatives talking to Account Management about "Your Client", and Account Management discussing "Your Work" with Creatives. This book highlights a time and a culture where everyone was invested in the client getting the best work. Everyone cared. So the Clients did too.<br />
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6. Strong, focused (and aligned) leadership. </h3>
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This was an interesting one, because it plays out so well in the agencies that are successful today. Strong leadership is required in order to have the difficult conversations that are so necessary in this business, both internally and with clients, suppliers and others. But aligned leadership is even more important. The leaders at the top being on the same page. <br />
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Bob says "we knew the type of work we wanted to do, and worked together to make that happen". It was never about the money, or keeping business, or meeting budgets. It was about the work. And that was across the board. Too many Account Management and MD's in my opinion believe its okay to throw the work under the wheels and rather do what the client wants. "Keep the peace and collect the cash". Short-term thinking.<br />
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7. A company wide commitment to aim higher than you ever thought was possible.</h3>
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This comes through in the commitment to "the work, the work, the work". It was quite simply all about the work. And the question was asked - is it good enough? Work was developed, it was crafted, it was made better. Always. And the best suppliers, the best film makers, the most impossible ideas were made possible. Which made them great.<br />
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Somehow in this era of time-sheets and budget cuts and reduced margins, this commitment and passion for excellence falls by the way. Work is "okay" enough to leave the building. There's an air of compromise. Suppliers are chosen based on staying in budget. And maybe that's just the way of the world. But funnily enough, big ideas generally make big returns that make up for the expense upfront. Not just in advertising - in business. But it takes courage to motivate for that upfront investment. Lesson: be bold and brave. Be courageous.<br />
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8. An ethical compass - politically and personally.</h3>
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The book starts with how Bob got fired from a previous company for what was deemed to be a 'bribe'. This drove his unwavering enforcement of ethics in the company that he, Brian and Roger sought to build. Their ethics came through in how they treated people, it came through in wanting to do the right thing politically, it came through in ensuring that the agency was above board in everything they did.<br />
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What agencies don't always understand is that their clients are distrustful of them anyway. Advertising is expensive. Clients imagine that agencies are crooking the books. Dodgy business practices seek only to weaken the industry and have no place in the relationships that need to be built in order to get great work.<br />
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9. Fun, more fun and then more on top of that.</h3>
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People who have never worked in advertising think it's one long party. In fact I had a rule never ever to hire anyone who started an interview with "I've always wanted to work in advertising". It's a relentless, tough, ego-smashing, challenging, sometimes impossible, sometimes soul destroying, job, and it takes a certain type of person to thrive and excel in that space.<br />
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It involves long hours and lots of arguments and tempers and yet there is also lots of laughter. People who work in advertising generally have great senses of humour (thank heavens). Part of RSTM's success was creating an environment where people could have fun. Where they could let their hair down, and laugh or cry and run naked across the rooftop, then dust themselves off for another great day at the office.<br />
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10. They made money.</h3>
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Agencies have a tough time these days in between being told what their hourly rates can be, what deliverables they can and can't charge for, how big the logo should be, in addition to marketing budgets being divided amongst more and more specialist agencies or going in-house. Applying all of the nine points above would be pointless without making enough money to pay your talent well, have decent premises, invest in training and inspirational activities and grow a great business.<br />
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What comes through in Wallop is that their mission was never "how do we get rich"? There was never a plan to build a great culture because that would make them money. Instead there was a fanatical obsession with making the very best advertising they could for their clients, and an obsession about helping their clients solve their business challenges. And that, in the end, helped them make money.<br />
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Valuable lessons.</h2>
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So, those are ten thoughts from three veterans who were part of putting South Africa on the international map of advertising, that I feel are useful to ponder. I'm sure there are more.</div>
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Read the <a href="http://www.kalahari.com/Books/Wallop_p_49166716">book</a>, reminisce about ads you (or your parents) might remember <a href="http://rstm.ogilvy.co.za/">on the website</a>. </div>
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But above all, think about the basic principles: </div>
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Agency: Focus on the creative product and look after your people. </div>
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Marketer: Invest in relationships with your ad agency at the top and let them be creative.</div>
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Both: Be courageous. </div>
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All else will follow.</div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: #c27ba0;">Adtherapy's mantra is better skills, better relationships, better results. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #c27ba0;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We have a number of ways in which we work with agencies and marketers to make that happen. Read our website <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/">www.adtherapy.co.za</a> to see some examples. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #c27ba0;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Better yet, ma</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-small;">il <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a> or phone 0832659099 to chat about how we can help you</span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">.</span></span></span></div>
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<br />Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-10010361857055450632014-09-03T15:13:00.001+02:002014-09-03T15:13:59.341+02:00Bitching about pitches? Here's a new approach.I recently ran a pitch for a company that was seen as a highly desirable account in the industry because of the calibre of the work they had done. I don't often run pitches, mainly because I hate the standard pitch process. But I told the client that I thought there was an opportunity to do one differently - especially as their brand had a certain cachet, but more importantly because their company culture was refreshingly uncluttered and open, and the partnership with an agency was something they regarded as extremely important.<br />
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So the first thing we did was to call it an "Agency Engagement Process", not a Pitch. Semantics yes, but getting engaged, or engaging with someone, just feels like a more appealing prospect than 'pitching" which, let's face it means throwing a ball at someone's face as hard as you can.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">image courtesy vectorolie | freedigitalphotos.net</span></td></tr>
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Then we designed a Request for Information (RFI) that was one and a half pages long. No realms of financial information required, no hourly rates per each employee, no names of pets previously owned. Just simple questions, and even an emotional one: what is it about our account that makes you think you would be the right agency to partner with us? We asked whether there were any interesting facts about the Agency that we might not know, and then we asked them to submit the creative work of which they were most proud.<br />
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Oh, and when I say 'we' designed, I mean the client was deeply involved in the design and application process. This was no 'cut and paste' tick-box process.<br />
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We outlined the process we were planning to follow, and we agreed upfront that we would be transparent and open with all the agencies involved throughout the process. We also agreed the criteria, and the level of importance of each one.<br />
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Interestingly the winning agency's MD referred to it as an "empathetic pitch process". Yes it was.<br />
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Another feature of this "empathetic" pitch was that we were determined to give each agency detailed feedback, and to answer as many questions as they wanted to ask.<br />
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When we had gone through the submissions, we communicated (quickly) with the successful and unsuccessful agencies. The unsuccessful ones who wanted to know why they hadn't made it could ask, and I would tell them. Many of them said it was the best (if not, only) feedback they'd had during a pitch, and it was really useful. Pitches are time consuming and expensive. Why shouldn't agencies be able to use them as a learning process? Even though each client or prospective client and pitch situation is different, there may be some simple things that are screwing up the agency's chances of winning the business. For the work that agencies put in to pitches (usually free, or for a pittance), the absolute bare minimum should be some constructive feedback. IMHO.<br />
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After evaluating the RFI's from the long list, we selected five agencies for a short list. They were each invited to a Chemistry Session. The first date.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">image courtesy Stuart Miles, freedigitalphotos.net</span></td></tr>
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Before the meeting, we sent the five shortlisted agencies some thought starters in terms of areas they might want to research and have an opinion on. We suggested that they stay away from PowerPoint and bring the people that would work on the business.<br />
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The chemistry meetings were illuminating! I'll talk about the 'don't's' below, but overall it gave us an excellent way of discerning who to take into the next round.<br />
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After evaluating the agencies against the pre-agreed criteria (and after a rigorous, open and fair debate amongst the key stakeholders), we selected three agencies. There was no "done-deal". Each stakeholder had a different ranking of the 'favourites'. What made this process so unique too was that the key stakeholders in the business, right to the top, were involved in all the debates and meetings, from the beginning to the end, and each had an equal say. The Marketing Director, who was running the process, had a casting vote, if needed.<br />
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The brief to the last three agencies was to work towards a Tissue Session, off a detailed brief. We wanted them to suggest a possible "creative platform" that the client could build their next campaign around. We stressed that they were not to develop 'ads', but that this was a test not only of their strategic and creative abilities, it was a test of how they worked with the client in the three weeks leading up to the tissue session.<br />
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Why do it this way? </h3>
Because if creative work is presented, the <b>client might buy the right idea on the day, not the right team</b>. And given that most work presented in pitches never sees the light of day (I reckon it's about 99%), and it's done totally in isolation of the marketing team, why choose a team on the pitch work? Beats me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>image courtesy of pakorn freedigitalphotos.net</i></span></td></tr>
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During this Tissue Session process, the client had many working sessions with each agency, got an inside view of how they worked with their clients, and worked with actual client service people (who are almost invisible in the pitch process, yet so vital in the running of an account). The client also flew to see offices in other cities, and had the opportunity to meet production teams and other support staff. Again, the process was transparent, and questions were asked and answered as they came up.<br />
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Finally, the Tissue Session day was upon us. The responses to the brief were different and interesting and gave us all food for thought. It was clear on entering each agency's meeting room, that there was already a relationship between the client team and each agency - it wasn't a case of meeting people for the first time on the pitch day. Even the senior execs in the room had met the agency team at the Chemistry meeting. The meetings felt comfortable even though there was a lot at stake.<br />
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In the end, in my opinion, the best fit for the client was the agency that won the business. And funnily enough, the thing that probably swung it was a conversation about the client's business away from the traditional advertising space - the agency had researched all aspects of the business and was able to comment on an activation concept and provide insight that excited the client.<br />
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So, why write this post? A number of learnings made themselves clear to me - what the client did right, and what agencies should try not to do in pitches. As I said above, every pitch is different, but hopefully these can help.<br />
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Things I think worked well</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEnW1z5CyM6LQzBR9YK4bcCMyPGR0j9gf07Kf1ukRM_OGSQE_qCboWoQoHkcPm6VwU_kHHzQp-jEOqfK0Im9NkUIq1JnGdPtMfa5DQtTKI-Xr8lxxv4lwDG4NP_gp66d-1VwOGQXtEE8/s1600/thumbs+up+by+iosphere+freedigitalphotos.net.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEnW1z5CyM6LQzBR9YK4bcCMyPGR0j9gf07Kf1ukRM_OGSQE_qCboWoQoHkcPm6VwU_kHHzQp-jEOqfK0Im9NkUIq1JnGdPtMfa5DQtTKI-Xr8lxxv4lwDG4NP_gp66d-1VwOGQXtEE8/s1600/thumbs+up+by+iosphere+freedigitalphotos.net.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image courtesy iosphere freedigitalphotos.net</span></i></td></tr>
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Care was taken <b>not to waste people's time</b> with the RFI. It was kept short for a reason: why waste agencies' (valuable) time when they might not make it through?<br />
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<b>Enough time</b> was allocated to each step - there was plenty of time to complete RFI's, prepare for the Chemistry Sessions, and for the final Tissue Session. Yes some pitches may be urgent, but what can a marketer possibly gain by rushing this process?<br />
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The process was <b>open and transparent</b> - most questions asked, were answered. To help the client find time to do his day job, I was given the task of handling these - and was happy to give advice, guidance, and talk people off window ledges. I've been in huge pitches were no contact with the client was allowed between a group briefing, with all the competing agencies in the same room, to the presentation - horrible. And unconstructive.<br />
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<b>Detailed feedback</b> was given to both successful and unsuccessful agencies, which I hope (given some of their comments) will help them learn and improve in upcoming pitches.<br />
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<b>Evaluation criteria were shared</b>, and feedback was given according to those criteria.<br />
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<b>Top management involvement was key </b>- in each and every meeting, even internal debates, from the beginning to the end. The most senior executive expressed amazement that there are pitches in which the CEO doesn't get involved. "Why would they <i>not</i> want to be involved, when it's such an important decision for the business?"<br />
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A lot of <b>additional research</b> took place - the client and I spoke to many other people about the agencies - TV directors, other clients, staff, other suppliers.<br />
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The <b>incumbent agency was involved</b> and gave advice to other agencies and to client and me. This was a bit weird and probably wouldn't work in the case where a pitch is called because of a breakdown in relationship between agency and client - but it worked in this case - the best interests of the client were top of mind.<br />
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Things I think agencies should bear in mind for their next pitch</h3>
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<b>Answer the brief (even if it's a brief for a meeting), creatively</b>. The winning agency devised a technique for directing the flow of conversation in the Chemistry Meeting that was clever, simple and creative. The impression created was that if they can think that strategically and creatively for a meeting, then they've got to be good.</div>
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<b>Follow the instructions - they are there for a reason!</b> We said 'no PowerPoint", as the client is allergic to PowerPoint's. What happened? Two out the five 'dates', in the Chemistry Sessions - plugged in PowerPoint. I also use PowerPoint, but here's what I learned - it changes the dynamic in the room. It stops people talking to each other as they turn to look at the screen and they listen without engaging with the speaker. Most interesting for me, was that when they plugged a laptop in, it lowered the lights in the room. Then when the PP was done, the discussion took place in a gloomy light. The effect on the 'chemistry' in the room was staggering.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Cartoon courtesy of the remarkable Tom Fishburne @marketoonist</i></span></td></tr>
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<b>Consider carefully who to bring with</b>. One of the agencies had someone present something (see how discreet I'm being) which somewhat annoyed one of the clients. When I gave them this feedback, the agency said "oh no, but he's leaving anyway'. What would have happened if he was the star of the show, only for the client to find out at the end of the process that he was leaving? Bring the best people, but make sure if the brief says "bring the people who will work on the business", that's who you bring. If you have to hire to handle the business, say so. Keep the group small. Make sure everyone has a role in the meeting. But make sure the core team in the meeting will be there for the client afterwards.</div>
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<b>Make sure your credentials are relevant to the needs of the Client's business.</b> If you are linked to a global network and have offices in 300 countries and several small planets, consider whether that is in fact relevant, impactful and interesting to the client. I find a lot of agency credentials talk about the agency - yes that's a good thing - but do what you do best. Craft a persuasive message. Define your benefit. Find an insight about your target audience (the prospective client), ask what will encourage them to appoint you. I promise you a standard credentials show ain't going to do it. Bear in mind too, that by the time the client sees you, if he's done his work properly (as was the case in this one), he (or she) knows all that stuff anyway. They've read your submission, they've been on to your website etc. Your job is to answer the WIIFM* question (*What's in it for me?)</div>
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<b>Do your research. Introduce some category or brand insights.</b> But and this is a big but. Don't tell them what they already know. Because, worst case, you might get it wrong. If it's about competitors - they probably already know what their competitors are saying and what their positionings are. Add a layer to it that they won't know. Frame it differently. Bring consumer insights that will surprise them, rather than the obvious ones that they may have worked with. I realize this is difficult - because as Donal Rumsfield said "there are things we don't know we don't know". You don't know what they know - but be sensible about it. If you there marketing person of that company, would you know this - or do you think it's an Aha observation?</div>
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<b>Find a role for account management.</b> Almost every agency had a 'tag on' account management person, yet the client had rated this is a very important part of the search criteria. Especially in a process like this, the client wanted a sense of how compatible the account management person was with the key members of the team. If the account management person sits in a corner with a mouth full of teeth, that's hard to gauge. And yes Creative Directors, I'm looking at you on this one. Let them play a role - a team role, not a support role. The client wants and needs to see it, because as much as they might love you, they aren't going to be speaking to you 87 times a day.</div>
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<b>And - show your soul</b>. The question we asked "what is it about our account that makes you think your agency is the right agency to partner us" gave us some hilarious answers ("because it's nearly awards season"... seriously) but also showed us some incredible insight from agencies that might not have otherwise been considered. It's an engagement process - be engaging.</div>
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And finally...</h3>
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Make sure that you want the client for the right reasons. Is it right for <i>your</i> business? Does it suit your team's expertise, what you love doing, the type of work you want to do, the categories you know and love. Because if it's just for the money, chances are the whole process is going to have to be redone too soon.<br />
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Call me if you want to discuss finding a new agency. I'll probably start by asking you if you can make the current relationship work better, and may help you with that. But if you can't, then I'd be happy to work through a process like this with you. Bear in mind though - the success was partly the process, and mostly the involvement from the client. So you'll have to work with me.</div>
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<br />Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-49418631028514085142014-06-23T10:24:00.000+02:002014-06-23T10:24:19.515+02:00The Cannes Festival is over. Is the winning work any good?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, what a relief that the endless stream of sun-dappled beach and cafe pictures, with the obligatory cocktail or glass of pink Chateau Quleque-chose in the foreground, are over. Back to the real world for the lot of you.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqDWgmCFQiPepUVWktRuQ0ZSTcHGGTlpKcZ6Xy_bOqEfhS-cmaSpqb2TnVc9yaSkolsQoLujArUQnEymtcrx1tilQXyVY0kTdYnhJsDbD4qeJjnK1Z0Yt59vedEh3AZYwl9nM_WwwQdI/s1600/cannes+beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqDWgmCFQiPepUVWktRuQ0ZSTcHGGTlpKcZ6Xy_bOqEfhS-cmaSpqb2TnVc9yaSkolsQoLujArUQnEymtcrx1tilQXyVY0kTdYnhJsDbD4qeJjnK1Z0Yt59vedEh3AZYwl9nM_WwwQdI/s1600/cannes+beach.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Pic Courtesy Arlene Donnenburg. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not that I'm envious at all. I managed to save my South African Rands, and still watched some great seminars from the comfort of my heated office in freezing Cape Town. And I didn't have a hangover once.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So given that I was a virtual voyeur of the Festivale, which used to be called the International Advertising Festival and now is known as the somewhat loftier International festival of Creativity, I have a few <b>learnings, observations, musings, mutterings</b>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZEiTfYZji5O0OY8tz-WmJ1Xa440kljLa7lZ8X-aqDvvJ82wIPpqEq0DoA6lAHFNA9b-biqLUTH8OZUFjkp5D7KH3DdpIJcQopPc8UL-R4NGhWNq7eL3xT3brnyrAlvnu1d7gYyInJ48/s1600/canne+in+festiv.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZEiTfYZji5O0OY8tz-WmJ1Xa440kljLa7lZ8X-aqDvvJ82wIPpqEq0DoA6lAHFNA9b-biqLUTH8OZUFjkp5D7KH3DdpIJcQopPc8UL-R4NGhWNq7eL3xT3brnyrAlvnu1d7gYyInJ48/s1600/canne+in+festiv.jpeg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The <b>first</b> is the mobile is where it will be, and the developing world has the most opportunity. Watch Keith Weed from Unilever's views <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2014/jun/20/unilever-keith-weed-mobile-phone-marketing-video">here</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The <b>second</b> is that ideas still matter. More than ever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The <b>third</b> is that the name should revert to the Festival of Advertising, not Festival of Creativity. Just because it's a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZvUe5UTtB8#t=62">3-D billboard</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDYFMgrjeLg">a prosthetic arm</a>, or an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgXrTGIiFV8">App that looks after your kids on the beach</a> doesn't mean that somehow it's stopped being advertising. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIUUHuC1RniaKHN6OUNmc_uHJQA14mqjBSWToRRMrtoCqVICbkYSEx-JCmpB36Jba9V9vmgjyJcZhBOF8AxDdiERyHkMNDGNa_3ne4W18nv0gsZ0NAWDBlp8g1teml3vR3k7WArQJrWI/s1600/megafaces.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">MegaFon's MegaFaces <a href="https://iart.ch/en/-/die-kinetische-fassade-des-megafaces-pavillons-olympische-winterspiele-2014-in-sotschi">Billboard</a> at the Sochi Olympics<br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is not a festival for pure creative, because that would then encompass art, and graffiti and music and film and books and a whole bunch of other creative pursuits. This is creativity in service of business. It's creativity that is helping brands grow. And that, in my humble view, is called Advertising.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2014/jun/20/bbh-john-hegarty-digital-messiahs-video?CMP=twt_gu">Sir John Hegarty</a> said it best - listen to his view on this point <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2014/jun/20/bbh-john-hegarty-digital-messiahs-video?CMP=twt_gu">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2mxlqDAf-ZV5Q1GTLugiZcfC2WeskJ92N8A1wF-IQQ-mY_51MVa1vi9a_OrQ51qSd_nl4J-KBbaNQ4RYXnQDktTNfb_GsZGcNsCQfwLc-T2Lb7gh5uJeizsH0UEqJ5fVfW2fkM59qYQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-23+at+9.50.18+AM.png" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another point is that many of the winners were familiar work, already. Both the Grand Prix Winners for Film had already been seen many times; in the case of Volvo Trucks <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FIvfx5J10"> over 73 million times</a>. <b>Fourth </b>learning: great work gets shared. Great work is amplified. T'was ever thus, but so much more powerful today.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmiwKImxfDbl2OaWNHMpPL4_3iXbK2IMxMzrZ8aKy23ntfLyfV5Oa0dCfg7tzlylxmPJm0uNy1EWmKM6RBG-B0bOIB9xGd6WmoprrI3tBnsiFAPheBhgZsoEbvTwnNseAHTL5cCG-JY0/s1600/volvo+trucks.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmiwKImxfDbl2OaWNHMpPL4_3iXbK2IMxMzrZ8aKy23ntfLyfV5Oa0dCfg7tzlylxmPJm0uNy1EWmKM6RBG-B0bOIB9xGd6WmoprrI3tBnsiFAPheBhgZsoEbvTwnNseAHTL5cCG-JY0/s1600/volvo+trucks.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But for my <b>fifth</b> and I think most interesting learning, back to my headline. An article in the USA Today had this headline <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/06/21/cannes-lions-top-ad-winners/11213565/">"Incredibly Unusual Ads take Top Cannes Awards"</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Which got me thinking - why are they unusual? Awards shows are always controversial, but unusual? Are the winners any good?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And that's the beauty of Cannes. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whatever the festival is called. Because it forces those of us in the pursuit of great advertising to challenge our notions of what great looks like. And to share in the choices of experienced judging panels. And to ponder and wonder what they saw in those pieces, and why the mood of the winners feels quite different to the winners last year. And whether we personally think they're good or great.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And that's the greatest learning of all. Everyone in the business of marketing communication needs to constantly review, question, discuss, have a point of view. Watch the seminars. Learn. Listen. Grow. That's the practice needed to constantly get better at this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Btw, the journalist of the "Unusual Ads win Cannes" story, quotes:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGc_2aGhpqARmPwmyY_adAxr1PuC1VGMkTquOw_9lCleaI0lU-bwg8pBc7a2SJRnMcZydoBuNwBruiChkz0DyXvpJMotqvvArsplKPxj4lIb9XaI1FctcRuvJHLiHc22qL8-J8D5cwJA/s1600/harvey+nics+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjGc_2aGhpqARmPwmyY_adAxr1PuC1VGMkTquOw_9lCleaI0lU-bwg8pBc7a2SJRnMcZydoBuNwBruiChkz0DyXvpJMotqvvArsplKPxj4lIb9XaI1FctcRuvJHLiHc22qL8-J8D5cwJA/s1600/harvey+nics+2.jpeg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lbbonline.com/news/harvey-nichols-sorry-i-spent-it-on-myself/"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Harvey Nichols Christmas Campaign</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Harvey Nichols "Sorry I Spent It on Myself" campaign focuses on people who buy their loved ones inexpensive holiday gifts, such as rubber bands and paper clips that come in Harvey Nichols-branded packaging, so they can spend more on themselves.<span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The retailer actually sold the cheap, unusual presents featured in its ad — and sold out in just under three days.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9eTjvLqZBqWwEgzv3QWNTBYPN5f5GHdB1_FOBOyHY1OCMm9qF4kOAT1MNE-MMUZY6QDumn2unDvqhti5-I5Fhd0q5amGLLad8B4jHsAzA9I2HdABG8fXXMwUD47YFZ_EsaZo4LnK3_A/s1600/harvey+nics+1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL9eTjvLqZBqWwEgzv3QWNTBYPN5f5GHdB1_FOBOyHY1OCMm9qF4kOAT1MNE-MMUZY6QDumn2unDvqhti5-I5Fhd0q5amGLLad8B4jHsAzA9I2HdABG8fXXMwUD47YFZ_EsaZo4LnK3_A/s1600/harvey+nics+1.jpeg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Harvey Nichols' advertising approach was "brave" and "flew in the face of convention around holiday advertising," said film jury member Pete Favat, who is the chief creative officer at ad agency Deutsch LA, in Los Angeles. "For a retailer to take their highest-selling season and do something like this is remarkably bold."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brave, bold, convention-breaking, successful. Those have always been hallmarks of great advertising. So not really unusual at all. The only unusual bit is that so few marketers will make this type of work.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3pJHzCh7hwaa9q5nYEr-fE8RIK-G3ximec4SO6xJ22etOJgklhbKcKNAaJslxg0nS2AygtADdubyuAKnKgVGezPjsMHFPtQWA9diwEyqBfLBKk_5U5erVbNzINcF0feL9cCX629M1G8/s1600/heart+decisions+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3pJHzCh7hwaa9q5nYEr-fE8RIK-G3ximec4SO6xJ22etOJgklhbKcKNAaJslxg0nS2AygtADdubyuAKnKgVGezPjsMHFPtQWA9diwEyqBfLBKk_5U5erVbNzINcF0feL9cCX629M1G8/s1600/heart+decisions+.jpg" height="320" width="277" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To summarise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My brain is full. My heart is inspired. Onwards brave warriors. Do your best. Because in the end, everybody wins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Adtherapy is a consulting and advertising skills-building company that is on a quest to #ridtheworldofbadadvertising</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Contact Gillian on <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a> if you want to join the quest, or want some advice on how to make better advertising.Or you can follow, chat on Twitter @grightford<a href="http://www.twitter.com/grightford">@grightford</a></i></span></div>
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Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-19228560226679574582014-05-09T11:42:00.001+02:002014-05-09T11:48:07.605+02:00Are ad agencies becoming commoditised?A fascinating debate took place on Twitter last night, initiated and facilitated by the team at <a href="http://www.adlip.com/">Adlip</a>, on the subject of whether "agency services have become mere commodities".<br />
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It was short, sweet and full of as much insight as one can get across in 140 characters. (Read the full #Adlip Talk Twitter TL <a href="https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=adlip%20talk&src=typd">here</a>)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7xB0J3Zuo4vj9Gd4ZIbHDcmtAaLs4dcA_P_bFK_x4nIDk4gxkYl_8chwKl7DSrIUj3-xg1VvE_Qe6myx08ovJn7A99bvlFSwctXW5y83UclWT7_deRi9IejV1JFO653JD1z6fZN2jdL8/s1600/Chris+Gotz+adlip+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7xB0J3Zuo4vj9Gd4ZIbHDcmtAaLs4dcA_P_bFK_x4nIDk4gxkYl_8chwKl7DSrIUj3-xg1VvE_Qe6myx08ovJn7A99bvlFSwctXW5y83UclWT7_deRi9IejV1JFO653JD1z6fZN2jdL8/s1600/Chris+Gotz+adlip+copy.jpg" /></a></div>
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The general answer, was "no, well, maybe, but.." It was an industry view, and missing the voice of the one person who really can answer: the marketer him or her self.<br />
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Of course there is no Yes or No answer to this question. Frankly, a lot depends on the agency's abilities and on the marketer's skills. But the question that does have a simple answer is "has the business changed"? Yes it has. There are a myriad options available to marketers - but that in itself is not necessarily a good thing for them.<br />
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What is happening, especially given South Africa's small market, is that each agency wants to capture as much of the pie as possible, so that many agencies are trying to do all things for all people.<br />
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But if we all do the same thing, we do become commodities, and it does become a case of "well, I can get exactly the same thing from those guys, for cheaper. Cool."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqC4k8DHM3-f4tm2BfuGYD_XWpJYLMeI4yW-BUqeTxz_X4PFB_ckOuMODQ1nq2PnLmWPyB1Vs_kuhJwx1pacvOEjfS7xnr9E35FhhluKGlus6S_e2pL-D1I8Ijtlm4LzoN53Px2RgfTE/s1600/surgeon+adlip+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqC4k8DHM3-f4tm2BfuGYD_XWpJYLMeI4yW-BUqeTxz_X4PFB_ckOuMODQ1nq2PnLmWPyB1Vs_kuhJwx1pacvOEjfS7xnr9E35FhhluKGlus6S_e2pL-D1I8Ijtlm4LzoN53Px2RgfTE/s1600/surgeon+adlip+copy.jpg" /></a></div>
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Agencies spend their days crafting strategic positioning for clients, marking competitive territory and helping clients defend it. When it comes to their own, they are the cobblers kids with no shoes!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_L7mtlRm-5GB1ZN0EH6M4-05P-d1R8lWW6-0nLdq_TiFkNtznqVhXXmS1KP8MqkfsI6QbUqevmrlsp5vamDAiSsmHejgD3ZIwv67EEzWFx6gqGCIB4Ja3jd-BW30LHy9_XlThWz0RtA/s1600/cobblers+children+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_L7mtlRm-5GB1ZN0EH6M4-05P-d1R8lWW6-0nLdq_TiFkNtznqVhXXmS1KP8MqkfsI6QbUqevmrlsp5vamDAiSsmHejgD3ZIwv67EEzWFx6gqGCIB4Ja3jd-BW30LHy9_XlThWz0RtA/s1600/cobblers+children+copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There is even a <a href="http://www.agencynewbusiness.com/2011/11/rswus-agency-new-business-the-cobblers-children-the-comic-book.html">comic book</a> on it! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
There is no marked differentiation among the major players. The ones that do have a differentiated spot soon begin looking over at the others and wanting to be more like them. The reason that there is commoditisation is that the clients perceive all agencies to look the same, and do the same.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5AAiBqlFXCKug214aAKpgVQU6Y1SXM6TWTscxbTaywvR-joriwowty4JxaFaolrfY-v8Tej-6N21_8GSkQSCzsMhFvxMfIBNk69AJM_4p1KvkvzGchsx5SBf4TrO-iRW4L7rh7ejRKQ/s1600/clients+on+agencies+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5AAiBqlFXCKug214aAKpgVQU6Y1SXM6TWTscxbTaywvR-joriwowty4JxaFaolrfY-v8Tej-6N21_8GSkQSCzsMhFvxMfIBNk69AJM_4p1KvkvzGchsx5SBf4TrO-iRW4L7rh7ejRKQ/s1600/clients+on+agencies+copy.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ignitiongroup/auditing-your-agencys-business-model">Auditing Your Agency's Business Model</a> - see below</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
To makes sense of it all, I came across this slide show by the hugely insightful Tim William, on how to really decide what your agency is and does, for whom, in which channels. It's called <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/ignitiongroup/auditing-your-agencys-business-model">Auditing Your Agency's Business Model</a>. Take a moment to read it, and even better, take a moment to run through the exercises and charts with your Exco.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tALeBKZTjDOtDWpsIBqT9pT8PkrnIPsxikI2U2R16eeQgLTI9NXikhWDdpiMwgxkwfQkys2NCXJDj4Tl0vEfg6yn7ofRzuyP8s200lVyllK79c03QvQi-_SRUTYGiXK5WrMOYtXxu-I/s1600/GR+adliptweet+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-tALeBKZTjDOtDWpsIBqT9pT8PkrnIPsxikI2U2R16eeQgLTI9NXikhWDdpiMwgxkwfQkys2NCXJDj4Tl0vEfg6yn7ofRzuyP8s200lVyllK79c03QvQi-_SRUTYGiXK5WrMOYtXxu-I/s1600/GR+adliptweet+copy.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
Then - make a stand that creates a differentiated, desirable, defensible (and profitable) positioning in the market. Stick to it. And better yet, communicate it and deliver it. Commoditisation gone.<br />
<br />Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-45760396533281344872014-04-04T09:05:00.001+02:002014-04-04T09:10:34.735+02:00Marketers -> Creative Fitness in Nairobi - last minute seats available<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-Kk0vDd-y01c7MLJCt60G_vPYO5ce7tZ35CQBLmtcfqRBgS1ufIWej9ejwFC_3UWgqnzrKJhDAG0tjdGCEQaIpGFg5-lFW2-U7_uUnOhylqLKcsbRzIC67PepcoSS63sEroR4u_XA-Q/s1600/Creative+Fitness+for+Marketers+Kenyan+PDF+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-Kk0vDd-y01c7MLJCt60G_vPYO5ce7tZ35CQBLmtcfqRBgS1ufIWej9ejwFC_3UWgqnzrKJhDAG0tjdGCEQaIpGFg5-lFW2-U7_uUnOhylqLKcsbRzIC67PepcoSS63sEroR4u_XA-Q/s1600/Creative+Fitness+for+Marketers+Kenyan+PDF+copy.jpg" height="640" width="488" /></a></div>
<br />Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-26499698266764275812014-03-05T16:20:00.000+02:002014-03-06T12:57:36.075+02:00Client-Agency Marriage Counseling?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATTLQIl85y9e8BhuYF6iOS-_2S-9BgcRQSQ6NzBP1UPezz-pUQw_4BbaSgkNqIt_jA9U0wM_JcD8qL_k7-v9lgc7cd9CN9IB_3gZStKDpKybnNWU-OkTniPaXVz2uwul_KIY7LdRCgks/s1600/wedding+balloons+FreeDigitalPhotos.net+by+Feelart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATTLQIl85y9e8BhuYF6iOS-_2S-9BgcRQSQ6NzBP1UPezz-pUQw_4BbaSgkNqIt_jA9U0wM_JcD8qL_k7-v9lgc7cd9CN9IB_3gZStKDpKybnNWU-OkTniPaXVz2uwul_KIY7LdRCgks/s1600/wedding+balloons+FreeDigitalPhotos.net+by+Feelart.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The relationship between a Marketer (Client) and an Agency
is often compared to a marriage. Although procurement people have tried to
muscle in on the dating and wedding processes, the truth is that the
relationship is between the people in the bed together, so to speak. This
relationship has its ups and downs, and the primary reason for its “marriage”
analogy is that it veers from moments of great joy to being quite often
unreasonable, it is prone to emotional and subjective responses, blame and above all, is always high risk.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are a number of companies offering tools (e.g. </span><a href="http://www.yardstick.co.za/products/agency-relationship-management" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Y-Care</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><a href="http://www.relationshipaudits.com/?page_id=7" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">RAM</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">) to help ad
agencies and their marketing clients assess the status of their professional
relationship. These are usually survey based and can be done on an ongoing
basis, a few times a year or even just once a year as an annual assessment.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The assessments are usually mutual – agency scores marketing
team and marketing team scores agency. The assessments flag areas of high and
low performance and hopefully shed some light on those areas that one or
both parties need to continue, or need to improve, if the relationship is to be
the best it can be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whilst I believe there can be flaws in the
collection of this data, it often provides the marketing team and the agency with a score – a number – which is either good
or bad.</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“My agency’s an 83, what’s yours?”</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Oh, mine’s terrible,
still a 58”.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ideally if either party consistently scores below average,
or below 'acceptable' levels, then remedial action needs to be taken. Does the
team, or one specific person need training? What sort of training? Capabilities
training or soft skills training like people management, managing conflict or time
management? Are there process issues on one or both sides that need addressing?
Is there a cultural incompatibility? Instead of changing the agency, does the
agency need to be changed?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2pcJMM6zNcAOxwR0y6xwtnHCRo6wyYCeA2elBl1xN1D9ceX4xU0KbRlErJTf-X6ZcjdTytEGWUidwfAqYwEu6uL7S-pQkw0RQvneo8QHS0pumDcHGbH7iTg77X8eI9pywMPLRwRmGJI/s1600/FreeDigitalPhotos.net+fotographic1980.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF2pcJMM6zNcAOxwR0y6xwtnHCRo6wyYCeA2elBl1xN1D9ceX4xU0KbRlErJTf-X6ZcjdTytEGWUidwfAqYwEu6uL7S-pQkw0RQvneo8QHS0pumDcHGbH7iTg77X8eI9pywMPLRwRmGJI/s1600/FreeDigitalPhotos.net+fotographic1980.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The assessments will highlight key success areas, and urgent
issues that need to be addressed. Unless the agency and the marketing team take
immediate steps to address these issues, the relationship is heading for the
divorce courts. A friend I once worked with was married to a divorce attorney.
He said this: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>“once a divorce file is opened, it’s never closed”</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And that’s a bit like the 'underperforming score' situation. Once
that doubt settles in, frustration starts building, trust starts falling and the divorce file is
metaphorically opened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, it's a no-brainer that both marketing and agency teams would assign
the highest priority to getting the problem areas sorted, right? Although it
sounds simple sometimes these areas are not improved, or even addressed. You
may well wonder why this happens, when improving these areas has such important
ramifications for both businesses and such dire consequences if not done? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who knows, but I’ll hazard a few guesses:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because it falls into Steven Covey’s <a href="http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm">Important but Not Urgent</a> box? No-one will be harping on this on a daily basis and so it
slips through the cracks while the urgency of the day job takes priority?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because addressing the issues might rock the
boat and the agency thinks it might destabilize the relationship and they might lose the business?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because the parties don't know how to fix the
problems?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because one party is too arrogant to do it and
expects the other party to change completely while they change nothing?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because no. 4 is allowed to happen because of no
2?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Because one or both parties don’t take the
measurements seriously, or thinks its all the other parties fault anyway?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's why Adtherapy starting offering Agency-Client Interventions, running successfully since 2007. The current 'score', and the issues that have been identified, are only the starting point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A recent client asked what the ‘success rate’ was
in Agency-Client Interventions and it was an interesting question. In all those
that I have done, I have only recommended one partnership to split, as the
relationship had deteriorated beyond what I felt was salvageable. Was that a
failure? I think not – maintaining a destructive client-agency relationship is
toxic for all parties and especially destructive for the end creative product.
That agency and that client went on to find new partners with whom they have
done great work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The reason why Client-Agency Interventions are like
marriage counseling is that they examine whether it’s possible to improve the
relationship to save it, and how. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A recent study by the <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><a href="http://www.ipa.co.uk/document/a-is-for-alliances">IPA suggests that the costs for pitches are extremely high – for the agency and for the client.</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So we ideally want to keep the relationship intact but make
it commercially and psychologically viable for both parties. We want to look at
the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">drivers for successful
relationships </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and what the drivers are for the relationship under duress. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just so you know, the IPA recently concluded that four drivers of successful agency-client relationships are:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Transparent and effective approval processes</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mutually agreed and maintained timing plans.</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Honest and open briefings with clear business objectives, budget, timing and brand guidelines.</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Respectful and collaborative behaviours built on shared goals and rewards.</span></li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The most important thing is this: like the divorce lawyer’s sad observation, the sooner
this counseling takes place the better for the eventual outcome of the
partnership.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As this post says with wise words from Vanilla Ice: <a href="http://mittcom.com/stop-collaborate-and-listen-the-client-agency-relationship/">Stop, Collaborate and Listen</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8edrt-EZD71g-SjU55ghsRYxK48QVQzMajKkfMCflSuQRyEmy71rVs1WXtzO06GCRrYu6ODDIrn_0verQtBAYVHoT7FiRw7jZDPIrbBjiu7M0jtd00Mo1h93BF6DWHSY3G3N_6xD5WNY/s1600/Stop+Collaborate+The-Client-Agency-Relationship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8edrt-EZD71g-SjU55ghsRYxK48QVQzMajKkfMCflSuQRyEmy71rVs1WXtzO06GCRrYu6ODDIrn_0verQtBAYVHoT7FiRw7jZDPIrbBjiu7M0jtd00Mo1h93BF6DWHSY3G3N_6xD5WNY/s1600/Stop+Collaborate+The-Client-Agency-Relationship.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My advice? Don’t wait till Terrible Assessment Number 4. or 5.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Deal with it urgently. Get stuck in. If it helps to have an outside party manage the process, then let us add the qualitative and interpretive
layer to what you already know but might not think you can do anything about. Let’s scope
some Partnership Principles and deal with any process or people issues. Let’s
be proactive rather than defensive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And let’s all live happily ever after.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">_________________________________________________________________</span></div>
<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>An Adtherapy Client-Agency Relationship Intervention is a positive and constructive process that aims to learn from the relationship challenges and ensure that the right partnership principles are applied for each party. </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>The ultimate aim? A successful business partnership that produces the best work. A recent client described the process as 'part agony aunt, part freedom fighter'. We like that.</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="background-color: #ead1dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Mail <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a> or phone on 0832659099 to chat about how we can help you.</i></span></div>
</div>
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Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-69097974137611724032013-10-22T11:58:00.000+02:002013-10-24T10:24:50.501+02:00What Do Ad Agencies Actually Sell?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In our workshop on <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/?p=196">The Business of Advertising</a>, I usually start by explaining the basic principles of business. Any business. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are able to produce something, which you think has some value to someone. It is somehow different from what they can currently buy, and so it has some value. The key issues are - what is the value of the thing, how do you sell it, and can you make a profit by selling it at a price that covers the costs and leaves something over for you?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9pTWd4s63TOjxd3s1E5XKqvorU32FLSg6INWRMrClJO_TNcJECyk6dUl4rGwj0Kbch8x5isNIdLvej2z8XNUzQG5TB82VQR5G5g3zkCgevAYW7St75oDmIbzOtH6d96XLsaWQzItBFWA/s1600/Light+bulb+and+flying+money.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9pTWd4s63TOjxd3s1E5XKqvorU32FLSg6INWRMrClJO_TNcJECyk6dUl4rGwj0Kbch8x5isNIdLvej2z8XNUzQG5TB82VQR5G5g3zkCgevAYW7St75oDmIbzOtH6d96XLsaWQzItBFWA/s320/Light+bulb+and+flying+money.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Image by bplanet</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone gets that. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then I ask: so, what do Agency's sell?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The usual answers?</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ideas.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Creativity.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Solutions.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ads?</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These answers just raise more questions:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you sell time, how is your time different from another agency's time?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do you decide on the price for an idea/creativity/solutions?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is an agency a service business or a product business? </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The correct answer, in my view, is none of these. It was perfectly explained in this blog by <a href="http://www.ignitiongroup.com/">The Ignition Consulting Group</a>, called <a href="http://www.ignitiongroup.com/propulsion/entry/are-you-really-in-the-service-business/">Are you really in the Service Business?</a></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #8e7cc3; text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many agencies lament that they have become “order-takers.” But why? Who turned your agency into an order-taker? You did – not your clients. You did it by forgetting what it is you’re really selling. You’re not selling service. You’re not even selling ads or ideas. You’re selling business results. </span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes - what agencies sell is the chance for the marketer to realise their marketing objectives. This is the continuum - business strategy, marketing strategy, communication strategy, implementation, results.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Without the agency providing the stimulus materials in the best channels to persuade the target consumer to think, feel or do whatever it is that they want them to think, feel or do, the marketer doesn't get to deliver the results.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's more from the article:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #8e7cc3; text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fact is that agencies shouldn’t be regarded as professional service firms, but rather professional knowledge firms. Clients don’t just hire you for what you do, but rather what you know.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What this change in emphasis does is empowers an Agency's recommendations. They are the ones with the specialist knowledge. Agencies often compare themselves to other 'professional' firms like lawyers. <i>"Those guys are taken seriously, and their recommendations are listened to. Why?"</i> Because their clients assume the lawyer knows more than they do about the law and the application thereof.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If Agencies are simply "servicing" their clients, then where does the specialist knowledge lie? Is the assumption that the Client has the knowledge, and Agencies are simply implementing it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Research conducted by The Ignition Group underscores this:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #8e7cc3;">Over the many years that Ignition Consulting Group has been conducting surveys of advertising agencies, we have discovered that agencies give themselves the highest ratings in the areas of “Responsive service,” “Listening to clients,” and “Meeting timetables and budgets.” The lowest-rated areas? “Developing proactive ideas and delivering marketing leadership to clients.” </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #8e7cc3;">Service is a commodity. Smart thinking is not. Clients can get good service anywhere, but proactive marketing leadership is in short supply. In fact, most surveys that seek to diagnose why clients switch agencies usually produce the same answer: “Because our agency never gave us anything we didn’t ask for.”</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked delegates in an <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/?p=165">Account Management workshop</a> to define the role of Account Management. One of the answers was "to keep Clients happy".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ4Z2TRsSnPNF6dlkvnJdbAgV99TUQ3Z0bvgPUCucKctK6ypYB_55dQLllSjagGGOCE-8YAn6TRmeQx7PrsCU1f-_MS2CObZXJgG5J_0QpO1uk7UvdJw91f8iXImvg8DAdcOZDJngyS6M/s1600/businessmen+jumping+for+joy+Ambro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ4Z2TRsSnPNF6dlkvnJdbAgV99TUQ3Z0bvgPUCucKctK6ypYB_55dQLllSjagGGOCE-8YAn6TRmeQx7PrsCU1f-_MS2CObZXJgG5J_0QpO1uk7UvdJw91f8iXImvg8DAdcOZDJngyS6M/s320/businessmen+jumping+for+joy+Ambro.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Image by Ambro</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would suggest that the happiest a Client is, is when their marketing campaigns deliver better than expected business results. And Agencies can do that only by protecting their expertise so that they get to prove what they can do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which is not to "service" clients. It's to delight consumers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white;">Adtherapy is a training and consulting business which aims to make your bottom line healthier, and your business happier. We specialise in helping Marketers and Agencies get the best out of each other. Read more about what we do <a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/?p=16">here</a></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i style="background-color: white;">All images courtesy of freedigitalimages.net</i></span></div>
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Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-6607428911555966812013-10-07T18:12:00.000+02:002019-09-12T10:23:48.533+02:00Creative Account Management: the real deal<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Account Management is a difficult job and a much maligned role. It is the interface between the marketing client (the fulcrum of all of the client's own internal politics) and the ad agency's system that produces the creative work: traffic, creative teams, strategy, production, implementation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They are also a human punch-bag.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The client gives them a tough time because they place them in very difficult situations, and expect them to do the impossible, often. Some are downright abusive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Inside the agency, some of the people they work with think that Account Management are "useless". </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx7uIcn17iA6kldWwx0bCmmyxCoGhpgYkz6wZVWJLs6mZ7AN8VSNGg3nArKqRXyv0AIOqFIPOLRPpVh2afcs57nByLFZwpa30G-NnKI3MuzyjRXe_gdUxfhVG6BpWUlFXFiYiU2fsEl-o/s1600/beware+of+dog+freedigitalimages.net+cbenjasuwan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx7uIcn17iA6kldWwx0bCmmyxCoGhpgYkz6wZVWJLs6mZ7AN8VSNGg3nArKqRXyv0AIOqFIPOLRPpVh2afcs57nByLFZwpa30G-NnKI3MuzyjRXe_gdUxfhVG6BpWUlFXFiYiU2fsEl-o/s320/beware+of+dog+freedigitalimages.net+cbenjasuwan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Does your dog bite? Image by cjenjasuwan.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"They just do what the client wants".</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"They don't know good work".</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"They're more like the client than this client is".</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"They don't push back hard enough".</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I attended an Eagles breakfast many years ago when the agency CD from Mother London spoke. "We don't have account management", he said to thunderous applause.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's how Mother London's </span><a href="http://idealstudio.represent.uk.com/studios/20" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stephen Ledger-Lomas explained it recently:</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"We don't have any account managers. The client can call the designer the creative strategist, they can call the chef if they want. That means there's no hiding places - they are the ones that have to explain their ideas to the client directly. there's no pass the parcel".</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Personally - I love that philosophy. Cut down on the layers. Keep it responsive and flexible and accountable. Get the key people close to the client's business. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But funnily enough, many creatives that I speak to actually don't want to take on that role. They want someone to be the 'buffer'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, why the disconnect? Why don't they value this person who's taking the punches for he team?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because great Account Managers are few.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The person who can be the ideal Account Manager is multi-faceted. They are organised, numerate, diplomatic, have good people skills, are problem solvers, can project manage, are persuasive, are manipulative (in that they have to sometimes get stuff out of people that is almost humanly impossible), are motivational, are good marketers, understand media in all its facets, understand production, understand marketing and consumer behaviour, are strategic, and are creative. They aren't left brained or right brained, they are 'whole brained'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And that's rare.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some things have happened to the Account Management role that have worsened their lot. Not just here - globally. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGx1TYbU_EpajDwoeOWs_eUlT85qMhKUs1zY-eTiqODkRDGradjBy751dNpIlCA6rWGPIutsHGg2KBCu5Z67CPsdetv_aqL3M34xJq_LzBpk_MGoVp8z3Ayw8vvKBRoqfv9AC9UMP3Qc/s1600/Tickboxes+freedigitalimages.net+Danilo+Rizzuti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGx1TYbU_EpajDwoeOWs_eUlT85qMhKUs1zY-eTiqODkRDGradjBy751dNpIlCA6rWGPIutsHGg2KBCu5Z67CPsdetv_aqL3M34xJq_LzBpk_MGoVp8z3Ayw8vvKBRoqfv9AC9UMP3Qc/s320/Tickboxes+freedigitalimages.net+Danilo+Rizzuti.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ticking boxes isn't everything. Image by Danilo Rizutti</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I once asked a colleague from Lowe in London what he thought the problem with Account Management was. He said "People have to stop promoting secretaries". Look, some of my best friends were secretaries, and sometimes that was their only way into the ad business, and they have done well. But often, secretaries get promoted into Account Management because of their organizational skills. Project management. Getting things done. Great. Tick. We need that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But that's not all we need.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The vast right brained chunk of what makes a great Account Manager is missing. Enter Strategists.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The strategists became the ones to fill in the gaps between what the project-manager-account-manager could and couldn't do. And great strategists are worth their weight in beluga caviar. But Account Management should not completely outsource this role. As I always say: "strategy is not a person". (As in, "let's call strategy"). It's a way of thinking, and Account Management has to lead, to direct, and contribute to this process, based on their intimate knowledge of the client and the client's business, to which strategists are only exposed every now and then.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So the Account Management role became just a glorious, glorified master of ceremony, bringing in the 'experts' to present to clients, wrapping things up at the end of the meeting and managing the project flow and deliverables.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because of this, they became detached from the creative work - the real product that they are part of producing. They don't "speak creative". They don't consume great work; they don't read or watch what the creatives are reading or watching. If more Account Managers attended events like the Eagles Breakfast, perhaps there wouldn't be such a divide. The creative output becomes something to meet a deadline or a budget.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inspire and lead - not manage. Image by KromKrathog</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another part of the problem is in the name. Account Management. It's boring. It says you manage an account. But you don't. You grow it. You inspire it. You inspire those who work on it. You live and breathe the success of it. The term 'Client Service' is even worse, as it implies that you simply service the client, do their bidding. Some clients want, and even demand this. But, they will never get the best work from their creative resource as a result. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Read my analogy of Michael Jackson and his Doctor <a href="http://adtherapy.blogspot.com/2012/02/doctor-and-pop-star-lessons-for-ad.html">here</a> to see why a client-agency relationship in which there's no respect for each other's skill-sets is doomed).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some agencies have experimented with other titles. 'Brand Leader'. 'Communications Director'. And of course the creative eco-system, from which the account manager is banished through their own lack of organic participation, calls them names like 'Client Serpents', 'Client Surplus" or 'Client Serviettes'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And then, equally polarising, are the terms "Creative Department", and "Creatives". Which means, by inference that other people in the agency are not creative. Which is of course what they should be to work in this business.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Part of the Account Management job is project management, part is marketing, part is strategic, part is creative and part is business, making sure that while the client's business is growing, so is the agency's.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the end of the day a great Account Manager should live and die by great creative. As <a href="http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/colwyn-elder/14/bb0/898">Colwyn Elder</a>, head of strategy for Y&R said to me the other day: "it's rugby, not relay". It's as much your work if you're the Account Manager as it is the creative team's. But because the emphasis is on project management, and on handing over the relay baton, so the silos develop and become entrenched. Work, or client relationships get defined in terms like <i>"theirs"</i> or <i>"your"</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<i>My</i> Client doesn't like <i>your</i> work" - accman to creative. Or "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tell creative that there are some changes to </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">their</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> work" - accman to traffic.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The separateness works both ways: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<i>Your </i>client wouldn't know a good idea if it leapt from behind a bush" - creative to accman.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's not <i>yours</i>, or <i>theirs</i>, or <i>mine</i>. It's <i>ours</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a fascinating article, <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/10/why-conformists-are-a-key-to-successful-innovation/?utm_source=Socialflow&utm_medium=Tweet&utm_campaign=Socialflow">Why Conformists are Key to Successful Innovation</a> in the Harvard Business Review, it shows the impact - good and bad - of too many "conformists" on a team of creative individuals. They are indeed necessary (and helpful) for innovation to be implemented, but they can also be idea killers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Conformists tend to be the people who know how to get along with others. They know how the system works and they adhere to the rules. They have an eye for which ideas will be accepted by others.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As you build your team, be careful not to overdo it on detail people, who tend to be risk-averse and uncomfortable with ambiguity. They can squelch nascent ideas. You don’t want the detail people forming a bloc.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You might get lucky and find creative people who are also conformists. Those people do exist. In our study of 468 people, we found that 7% scored high on two of the three cognitive styles. You might even find creative people who are conformists <i>and</i> detail-oriented. But don’t hold your breath: Just 3% of the people we studied scored high on all three styles.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And don’t overlook the importance of the people who are “none of the above.” I believe that people who don’t score high on any of the three styles tend to be the ones who form bridges among the creatives, the conformists, and the detail-oriented people. They foster understanding among the different types.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What to do?</span></h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An account manager that 'gets it'. <br />
Image by KromKrathog</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seek those rare creatures who are 'whole brained'. Choose Account Managers who are strategically smart and creative and give them project management support. Do this rather than employ project managers, give them strategic support and expect them to go to war for great work. Project managers are always going to be task driven. This is </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a vitally important skill</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in an organisation in which the output is time sensitive and money sensitive. But it's not the essence of Account Management. Pure project managers are never going to grow client relationships and contribute to the creative dynamism that inspires brilliance from agencies. Not because they don't want to, they just aren't wired that way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Find yourself the real deal. The ones that do want to. The ones that consider Creative Account Manager to be the ultimate title.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Adtherapy runs Account Management Workshop and Mentorship programmes for agencies that focus on building leadership capacity in the three most essential areas: Strategic thinking, Creative and Business. Contact Gillian if you need more info on <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>All images courtesy www.freedigitalimages.net</i></span><br />
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Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-79042085349875608012013-09-13T10:00:00.000+02:002013-09-13T13:59:47.678+02:00Brief Writing For Today's Marketer<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I read <a href="http://www.ignitiongroup.com/expertise/about-us/">The Ignition Group</a>'s blog called "A new set of briefs for new times", and I thought - well yes of course.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The reason I particularly liked it was that I had - just that very day - given my Post Grad Marketing Students at UCT an assignment which dealt with one of the key areas in The Ignition Group's <a href="http://www.ignitiongroup.com/cognition/guides/A-New-Set-of-Briefs-for-New-Times/">new briefing template</a>: that being the <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/the_consumer_decision_journey">consumer purchase decision</a> journey, and the touch points a marketer can influence along that journey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I think too often we forget about interrogating this journey from consideration to purchase. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHBNWFMxD7w7UXmKx4kzAcjmv5s4p5u67ew83XSxRJfNxw4VY94WODwd63S3iuRA6_LqOFVq2pVhdVSNMMMyGVmyp7mgSlzy1ozKiImcnsncM-NYoEuGqAy0Y7rCjaaF1_D2aKTBDS9Q/s1600/ID-10033679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHBNWFMxD7w7UXmKx4kzAcjmv5s4p5u67ew83XSxRJfNxw4VY94WODwd63S3iuRA6_LqOFVq2pVhdVSNMMMyGVmyp7mgSlzy1ozKiImcnsncM-NYoEuGqAy0Y7rCjaaF1_D2aKTBDS9Q/s320/ID-10033679.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
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"Image courtesy of renjith krishnan/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net" </i></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We assume it's a kind-of linear one from seeing our communication (whatever that may be) to the store shelf or 'buy' button. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We forget about all the other bits that go into that decision - from memory, motivation and other personal influences, to inter-personal (cultural, societal, family) influences, to factors like time, place and environment. And the enormous impact of experience and learning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Maybe we don't actually forget, but to include this as a standard heading in the briefing template forces you to think 360 degrees, to think integrated, to think across all channels. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It has to be integrated because every single touch-point has to work, and build, along the way. And the journey map may highlight some key influencers that we hadn't thought of including in our integrated comms plan.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Here's their intro: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Part of the reason agencies are stuck in a cycle of producing traditional solutions is because we still rely on outmoded tools. Today, creativity is manifest just as much in how and where the message appears as what it says. Just having a traditional creative brief to guide us is an incomplete solution.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To help us think and work differently, we need several different versions of briefs:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Context Brief</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is a concise summary of key insights about the market, the brand, and the customer.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Contact Brief</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>maps out the customer journey and identifies major brand contact points.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Content Brief</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>identifies the messaging strategy.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So - hats off to them. I think this is useful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Read their new briefing template here: <a href="http://www.ignitiongroup.com/cognition/guides/A-New-Set-of-Briefs-for-New-Times/">A-New-Set-of-Briefs-for-New-Times</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Read McKinsey's view on how the Consumer Purchase Decision Journey has changed and what to do about it here: <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/the_consumer_decision_journey">the_consumer_decision_journey </a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="http://www.adtherapy.co.za/">Adtherapy</a> runs workshops on all things to do with improving the quality of communications outputs. Excellence in brief writing is as critical to marketers as it is to agency account managers and strategic planners. For information on courses and workshops that Adtherapy runs on Brief writing and other key inputs into the creative process, call Gillian on 0832659099 or mail <a href="mailto:gillian@adtherapy.co.za">gillian@adtherapy.co.za</a></i></span></span>Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3136206173752149932.post-35462873512012409752013-09-12T15:55:00.001+02:002013-09-12T15:55:33.248+02:00Adtherapy: Clients' Aha! Moments<a href="http://adtherapy.blogspot.com/2013/09/clients-aha-moments.html?spref=bl">Adtherapy: Clients' Aha! Moments</a>: Adtherapy runs a series of workshops with Marketers called "Creative Fitness." Essentially, it is a programme designed to hel...Gillianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10245342796480311439noreply@blogger.com0