IDEAS: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?
Of course you are. As a marketer, you'll take any competitive advantage that's available. Well, here's the opportunity.
Add good ideas to your marketing communications.
Huh? Isn't that why every marketer consults an agency? Ideas that are better than what you could come up with yourself? Well, yes. But that doesn't mean it happens. No. Fresh, standout ideas are fragile things these days, susceptible to being crushed in a number of ways. Let's look at what you can do to preserve great thinking and make your competitors' ads look like yesterday's news.
Fresh has no history.
When presented with an idea you've not seen before, bite into it. It may taste different, a little green. It may be an acquired taste. Just keep an open mind and do a strategy check. Does the idea address your business problem? If so, is this approach in line with the brand's values? If it is, don't be shy. A great campaign may be right under your nose.
Unique? That usually means your competitors are not doing it.
You are reviewing a proposed campaign. Your reaction is, "This doesn't feel right for my industry. My competitors are all doing something else." Now consider some other possibilities. That what your competitors are doing is stale or just plain wrong. Or you've got your hands on something unique that has yet to be discovered. Most supermodels do not get noticed at 22 years old, cat-walking down Broadway, dressed in Valentino. They are noticed at the mall, shopping with their moms, sans makeup. Lesson. The greatest ideas take intuition, vision, risk and nurturing.
The best ideas elicit the response, "We can't do that!" Unique ideas, by design, challenge the rules, even the fuzzy, unwritten ones in our subconscious that give us pause. But don't worry. That pause is just a natural reaction to new things. And it's in our DNA. Fire was a brilliant idea that surely scared the heck out of our hairy relatives until one of them said, "Hey, we could really use this." Other scary things that were risky: Impressionism, women voters, the Internet. Another way to think of it is to remember when a particularly bold or risqué song or novel - or ad - first came out. Then, when you encountered it again a short while later, it seemed as tame as a kitten. "Can't do it" immediately should trigger a "sit on it" strategy. Revisit the idea a couple days later.
First impression is the most important impression.
You are in your position because you have a ton of experience, great instincts and a knack for pulling the trigger when everyone else is gun shy. Great. Next time you are presented with an idea and get goose bumps or a good laugh from it, don't ignore those instincts because it seems edgy or different. How rare is it to get a laugh these days? Instead, imagine rewarding your customers with a laugh. Humor is still the best icebreaker in the business.
Tactics can be cheap substitutes for ideas.
We have so many messaging options at our disposal these days, from tattoos to chalk drawings on sidewalks. Anything electronic, embedded into programming or user-generated, sets marketers' hearts aflutter. Heck, the term "new media" is nearing its silver anniversary! With so many tactics, we certainly could spend all our time talking about this topic. In fact, we do spend nearly all our time talking about tactics. What's lost in the meantime is the art of the idea. The crafting of an idea takes time because creativity requires some degree of spontaneity, which by nature is difficult to schedule. Tactics, however, can quickly be amassed like a list of groceries, suggesting that progress is being made. Canned peas? Check. Toothpaste? Check. Viral YouTube video? Check. As in the cereal aisle, it's easy to get fixated on variety rather than quality. Whether you're considering marketing plans or creative work, don't lose focus due to too many options. Always ask, "Where's the idea? Does this fit with the idea? What's the glue that binds all these tactics together?"
History is the operative word in Case History.
Thanks in part to the Harvard Business Review, business decisions often are fueled by case histories. These provide a necessary context for marketers to reduce risk, forecast outcomes and develop plans. But advertising thrives in the here and now and must be a few paces ahead of the past to appeal to the public's insatiable appetite for innovations and trends. Admittedly, to fly in the face of history also is to fly in the face of what history can offer us in terms of "Don't step in that." But keep in mind that marketing, like finance, engineering or administration, comes with risk. Focus on becoming a future HBR case study, not on copying one.
Epilogue: This article was written following a visit to an advertising award show preview in a major metropolitan market, and the judging of an another awards show in a separate region. Nearly 800 projects were displayed, yet only a fraction of those had unique ideas behind them, prompting these thoughts about the state of great ideas in advertising. Perhaps nervousness about the economy, the war and oil prices has taken its toll on gutsy marketing. Maybe some of the theories above were in play. I don't know. But if I were a marketer, I'd smell opportunity like a fox smells a hen house.
