Navigating The Creative Process:
6 Steps to Creative Success
By
Steve Nubie
Smashwords Edition
Copyright©2012 by Steve Nubie
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Illustrations ©2012 Steve Nubie
Acknowledgements
To my wife Jan who has somehow put up with 35 years of me in the advertising, marketing and entertainment business. To my kids, Mike, Anna and Danny who have always thought I had the coolest job in the world. To Bob Jones who got me into this business, and Bob Ebel who to this day has guided me through it. To all of those poor art directors who had to work with a writer with a degree in film and color theory: Fred Braidman, Bob Sears, Bill Stone, Walt LeCat, Bob Taylor, and many more. To those brilliant Creative Directors who made my job easier when I stumbled into management as a GCD or Chief Creative Officer: Heidi Schoeneck, Janet Broesch, Brian Lorenz, Evan Peter. To Rob Nolan and Allen Klein who have always been mentors and friends. To Paul Schrage, Roy Bergold, Aye Jaye, Susan Leick, Dave Batt, Sue Cox, Tom Pickles, and John Sanfacon and hundreds of others who made my time at McDonald's extraordinary.
To Dennis Dunlap, Jobe Cerny, Carl Amari, Bill Rosen, Bob Scarpelli, Luis Miguel Messianu, Dick Helland, Tom Charvat, Steve Sauceda, John Sanfacon again, John Kenny, Jerry Ciezslik, Jason Fisher, Dan Lang, Melanie Larson, Jessica Icenogle, Phil St. Aubins, John Gallo, Michael Davis, and others who I'll think of later who showed me so much about this unique thing called creative.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Take it to the Parking Lot and Burn it
Step 1
What’s Up?
Step 2
Where’s the Brief?
Step 3
Techniques for Producing Ideas
Step 4
Effective Presentations & Other Dog & Pony Shows
Step 5
Judging and Commenting on Creative
Step 6
Managing Creative People
Steve Nubie
28 W 560 Lorraine Drive
Winfield, Illinois 60190
630-926-6971
stevenubieco@yahoo.com
Introduction
Take it to the Parking Lot and Burn It!
We we’re in upstate New York. It was morning. It was June. A group of us from the agency were waiting in the conference room. A few creative people, a few account people, and a research person.
The room was nothing special. A big table surrounded by chairs, but the view was breathtaking. There was a large window overlooking rolling green hills dotted with pine trees. It was very relaxing. We should have cherished the moment.
The client came into the room in a bad mood. This was not surprising. He was always in a bad mood.
We did our presentation. The usual ad agency thing:
-Account person blah blah.
-Put the strategy on the rail and read it.
-Creative Director mumbles something about how hard this was and how great the work is.
-Present 3 boards.
-Recommend the third board.
-Have everyone from the agency chime in to further embellish the brilliance of the work including the plant lady and the security guard.
-Wait for the client’s comments.
We we’re actually quite proud of ourselves. But we were starting to get a little nervous. The client wasn’t saying anything. He was staring out the window. You couldn’t blame him. It was such a beautiful view. Except he wasn’t looking at the rolling, green hills. He wasn’t looking at the pine trees. He was looking at something else. We soon found out what it was.
He stood. He looked at us and looked at the creative on the table and said-
“This stuff sucks! I wouldn’t hang it on a bulletin board in a bathroom. Get it out of here! Get it out of here now! Take it to the parking lot and burn it! I want to see smoke! I want to see fire! I want to see security guards chasing your sorry asses through the parking lot with broomstick handles all the way to your rented BMW’s! Now get out!”
We gathered our work and meekly walked out. As me moved down the hallway we could hear his voice booming through the corridors. “I want to see smoke!”
Funny thing is, we didn’t burn the boards. Maybe if he had told us not to we might have thought about it.
We crossed the parking lot without saying much as we headed to our rented Ford Taurus. It was customary to complain long and loud in the car and on the airplane after a bad meeting.
No one said much this trip. The agency resigned the account a month later. Soon after, a couple of us took the boards down to the beach by Lake Michigan and burned them. Too bad. They were actually real good.
I almost quit the advertising business after this episode. No money was worth this. Working in creative was supposed to be fun. Not so when you’re working in the pressure cooker of creative on demand for commercial and industrial use. That’s a polite way of describing anyone who does creative work for money. But hey, you’re getting paid so what’s the complaint?
The complaint is simple. Too many great ideas are lost, discarded or simply missed because there is so little attention paid to the disciplines and nuances necessary for an effective creative process.
Watch a large company institute an initiative related to an operation process or manufacturing process and you will see tremendous resources, process steps, time and energy devoted to guiding, nurturing and managing the output.
Be a witness to how most companies and organizations manage creative output for communication and innovation and you’ll sometimes wonder if anyone cares.
That’s not to say there’s any shortage of opinions on the creative as it’s produced and developed. One thing you learn quickly working in the creative business is that everyone loves to show up late in the game and talk about what they don’t like. In a nutshell, that’s the fundamental behavior that has done so much to kill innovation, discourage inspiration and dilute the potential power of great ideas.
It was something I was bound and determined to change and I had the chance when I left the ad agency business and went over to the client side.
This was strange. Creative people don’t go and work for clients. But I figured this was my chance to atone for the sins of the crazy parking-lot-guy. A chance to maybe get it right and bridge some gaps. And there were quite a few gaps.
In fact, the widest gap is in the rapid pace of change in industries on a global scale. The impact of technology and the emergence of a new consumer and new audience has created a sea of challenges that has left some ad agencies adrift, most brands and client companies guessing, while some seem to have figured it out. Understanding what they’re all coping with and the underlying reasons behind the shift is the first step outlined in Chapter 1.
One of the largest gaps continues to be the inconsistency of creative briefings both inside organizations and out. A good creative briefing gets a creative team off to a good start, and the chance that they may actually find a solution the first time. Too often a briefing is non-existent or in the form of a wish list of objectives, agendas and talking points rather than an insightful and inspiring description of what the idea is supposed to accomplish.
It seems there is an assumption that creative people have a magic ability that not only allows for the creation of ideas, but mind-reading skills, precognition, clairvoyance and prophecy. We managed to prove on numerous occasions that little of that was true but it didn’t matter. If the creative wasn’t right it was all our fault. All the time. Step two in the second chapter is a creative person’s wish list for the elements of a good brief.
Step three is all about ideas. How to put a great team together and how to give them the fuel they need to succeed. Ideas seem to have become elusive or recycled and the need for relevant, insightful ideas has never been more critical to a business and a brand’s success. How to coax, cajole and encourage teams to find their best ideas is covered in chapter three.
But even the best idea is meaningless if it’s poorly presented or positioned. Advertising agencies have a remarkable ability to ask for months to create the perfect idea, and will often fall flat on their face in the few minutes they have to present it. Why agencies can’t find the time to sell their ideas effectively is the conundrum of marketing. “Trust us to sell your product and brand to the world, but forgive us if we can’t sell ourselves or our idea to you.” It’s a miracle many people in the Ad industry are still in business. With some shame, and a bit of wonder I’ve capsulized some proven presentation techniques that work in any business and that I’ve witnessed as a client and remember to this day. Keys to effective presentation and selling are covered in chapter four as the fourth step. There are also a few traps explored that presenters fall into all too often.
Another gap is the inability of most people to provide clear if not coherent direction on creative. Every creative person has endured this “meeting of a thousand cuts” both internally within their company, and externally with their clients.
The comments typically fall in the category of complaints, concerns and issues rather than an objective critique with any positive insight on what was right as opposed to all that was wrong.
The telegram to anyone commenting on creative is tell them what’s right before you tell them what’s wrong. The benefits to all involved that emerge from that simple behavior are remarkable and identified as the fifth step in chapter five.
Another gap that seems to be growing is the general lack of enthusiasm in many creative endeavors. Enthusiasm is the fuel that drives the creative process. Remove the fuel and the engine stops. That’s where I’ve seen many clients and creative managers make a critical mistake. They killed the enthusiasm. Squashed it like a bug. Burned it in the parking lot. That’s why managing creative people and the way they work, think and proceed are so critical to success. The greatest barrier to great ideas is the pyrrhic pursuit of consensus. Someone has to be in charge, responsible, capable and empowered to clear the decks, grant final approval, and ensure that creative people know they are respected, valued and appreciated. Most importantly they need to know when they’re done. They need someone with the final authority to grant that final approval that will permit continued investment and development of ideas without interference or second-guessing.
Great companies have taken this step. Companies that have not remain not-so-great. Step 6 in the sixth chapter identifies the ingredients, process, protocol and kind of person who can make the difference.
I’ve written this for everyone engaged in the development, approval and execution of creativity and innovation. There are numerous references to the marketing and advertising industry as a benchmark for creative development. I’ve worked both sides of the creative equation, and both have a growing set of challenges that I can at least acknowledge if not help to solve. No one wakes up in the morning as says, “I think I’m gonna really screw up today.” But we still manage to do it. It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s not hard to make great ideas happen. It just takes hard work, fair play and an honest dedication to finding and doing what’s right.
Chapter 1
What’s Up?
Change is dominating many industries. Companies are driven by ROI, quarterly comps and the average life cycle for a CMO is now 11 months.
Products on demand have resulted in the expectation for marketing on demand, instant creative and production while you wait.
Just-in-time manufacturing has led to just-in-time marketing and instant innovation.
Cost effectiveness driven by Wall Street, low-cost alternatives from emerging markets, and a weakening global economy have reduced marketing and R&D budgets while increasing expectations for marketing and new product success.
Consumers are more cynical, jaded and skeptical about authority, government and advertising than ever before. Advertising clutter has accelerated to a blur. TV has become a sea of commercials delivering tired storylines to a skeptical and highly fragmented audience.
General market agencies are struggling to reinvent themselves, and marketing service agencies are struggling to grow from an already limited billing base. Integrated Marketing continues to be the mantra of the marketing business, yet after 20 years it’s still more talk than walk from most agencies.
Every agency touts a vision and mission yet few agencies seem to know the difference and most are saying the same thing, or promising the obvious wrapped in the black box process du jour.
Clients are moving more and more marketing services in-house, and moving accounts from agency to agency with greater frequency.
Consumer Generated Marketing or CGM is emerging as an opportunity and a possible threat to traditional creative approaches. The consumer is taking control and word-of-mouth has become the only trusted marketing medium.
The bottom line is that the challenges facing the marketing and advertising industry are unprecedented. Consumers have become expert at avoiding marketing messages. They use DVR’s to pre-screen programming and remove commercials. They look to satellite radio for the promise of “commercial free.” Magazines are turned upside down and advertising inserts are tossed and removed. Their mail is opened between a garbage can and a shredder, and they wouldn’t think of going online without a “popup-blocker” and “spam filter” installed on their computer.
New products can't rely on the assumed benefit of "everyone will at least try it once."Both the product and the promise have to deliver and any discrepancy between the two will cause both to be seen as irrelevant and not worthy of purchase.
Yet, consumers still cling to certain brands, and are quick to adopt new and emerging brands. They read about them, talk about them to their friends, and buy them with pride. It’s left many marketers wondering and too many agencies guessing. Yet, the opportunity is great. Where there’s chaos, there’s money to be made.
As general market agencies struggle to shake free from TV myopia, marketing service agencies are finding that their emphasis on consumer relationship marketing, rapid turnaround, one-to-one thinking, and historical cost effectiveness give them the foundation to respond effectively to the current set of challenges. The key is making the transition from short-term sales drivers typically associated with marketing services agencies, to the long-term brand drivers associated with general market agencies -while maintaining the sales results necessary to a successful brand.
And through it all, there are voices of reason. There are companies, brands, agencies, marketers who are embracing change and finding new solutions that are both exciting and rewarding.
Exciting in the sense that the marketplace changes daily. The Internet is now the landlord to millions of storefronts, and wireless devices have democratized creativity to create two billion+ personal networks.
Smartphones and smartpads have put computers in our pockets and purses and the mantra of "right message to the right person at the right place at the right time" finally has the potential to be truly delivered.
The result is that a new consumer has emerged to become more elusive, selective and empowered than ever before. They come from new and exotic tribes called blogs and wikis. Some speak in TXT, or tweet or iapp or MP3 and 4 and 5G. All reside in a global village called the social network where they provide their own entertainment and generate their own marketing. They talk with their feet and will not hear us unless we listen.
They interact with their world through 3 screens. Television, computer and wireless mobile.
Past, present and future.
All present and still accounted for.
Soon all 3 will be one and your customer’s renewed empowerment will change us all, yet again. Or maybe the 4th screen of the smartpad will take it all in a new direction we're just beginning to notice and suspect.
This is not a problem. It’s a new solution driven by customers defining themselves as personal brands, and redefining all brands in the process. Brands that they wear with pride, eat with relish, drink with gusto and touch with appreciation. It’s a pride they share, and understanding how they share is the solution to any brand’s success. Ignore them and marketing becomes the white noise of clutter surviving only through the outrage of louder shouts. Listen to them and they may grant you the trust they uniquely reserve for word-of-mouth.
All you need to do now is to become a solution zealot and media agnostic.
Embrace technology, become a new student of human nature, and accept that the customer is the ultimate arbiter of the truth. Use insight as your foundation, customize strategy as your framework, and remember that true integrated marketing is nothing more than an expression of common courtesy and common sense.
Not surprisingly, there is little sweeping consensus among CMO, COO’s and Marketing futurists on the current state and future state of marketing and advertising. If there is agreement, it’s that a newly empowered consumer is redefining their relationships with brands and how and when they choose to interact with both content and advertising. The proliferation of media channels, the segmentation of targets and the growing resistance to advertising messages has created a new landscape that is still loosely defined and not entirely understood. However, the emerging trends and patterns bring some perspective to the growth of interactive ad spending, the renewed value of public relations, and the on-going need to establish one-to-one relationships with customers and their developing communities. There are solutions emerging, but many are as yet untried and most still in the formative stages.
It’s a strong message to agencies that more marketers are repeating. It’s not about the creative “silver bullet” anymore. It’s about consumer insights and highly targeted messaging. It’s what the next chapter is all about.
Chapter 2
Where’s The Brief?
It was surprising to walk into a room for a business meeting that was so dimly lit. There was more mahogany in the walls, ceiling and furniture than an Irish Pub. Drinks would definitely not be served. At least not beer. This was strictly a bottled water and iced-tea affair. It was a meeting to develop a vision and mission for one of our client companies. A strategy for success. I worked for the agency and was a bit intimidated by the whole thing. I felt like I was in a men’s club in Singapore.
A tall woman who appeared taller due to her 3-inch heels towered at the front of the room. She was backlit by a dim spot light. I couldn’t see her face. I could only hear her voice. She thanked us all for coming and began to speak.
“Our objective today is to identify the key matrices that will serve to revitalize our brand foundation and our sub-brands as enablers. Preliminary indications following an audit of brand platforms extant contraindicate a new framework unless there is significant erosion across recently prioritized demographics. To maximize the relevance of the vision as it evolves we’ll need to consistently quantify and qualify the measurable objectives of the mission.”
I ran out of the building screaming.
The Creative Strategy is often held up as the document that will guide and direct the creative. Wouldn’t that be great? Unfortunately, all too often it’s not written by creative people. More to the point, it doesn’t seem to be written for creative people. Not that the words are too big like the mahogany meeting I was in. Besides, most copywriters could write circles around the double-speak of contemporary business. No. It’s something else.
It’s the curious and sad fact that so many people in the communication business fail to communicate. My dimly lit boardroom experience may be partly at fault. Too many people in business have fallen in love with the challenge of verbal gymnastics. Maybe they’re bored. Maybe it reassures them and helps them to feel smart and in control. Unfortunately, you can control very little when you’re misunderstood and speak in riddles.
I don’t know why companies and brands don’t mandate that the language of their company should be the language of their customers. If your customers are English Professors with PhD’s knock yourself out. If your customers are doctors and lawyers you better learn Latin. If your customers are everyday people you better come back down to earth real quick. It’s hard enough for organizations to clearly communicate without making it worse. What we have here is failure to communicate, and that failure all gets down to one word: Expectations.
If you think back to the first day of your first job the first thing you probably said to your first boss was, “What do you want me to do?” Why is it that for so many of us, that’s the last time we ask that question? Why do we rarely think to answer it before it’s asked? We just don’t do a very good job of managing expectations. We assume too much and often hope and pray that someone else gets it, or at least knows what we mean.
Today it’s even harder to communicate given that most business people live with a daily flood of a few hundred emails, 20 to 50 voicemails, a foot of regular mail, a growing number of text messages and tweets, a dozen notes on our chairs, and a daily calendar of wall-to-wall meetings.
How many of us swerve through our daily commute struggling with buttons on a cell phone as we try to navigate voicemail, and then spend an evening of real quality time wading through that endless sea of red called “new emails?”
It almost seems like more lines of communication have led to less effective communication. We’re overloaded with information and in that regard; we’ve created our own internal clutter. Viral clutter. It’s spreading and it’s everywhere. Some days it’s a miracle anything gets done and how often do we succeed in spite of ourselves?
And what tool do we use to clearly communicate expectations about advertising creative and marketing communication in this flood of opinions, information and change? The Creative Strategy. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Yet, too often what poses as a creative strategy is simplistic, un-insightful and more of a checklist of copy points with a generic description of a target, and an uninspired promise.
Copy points that must be included in all creative materials regardless of the medium.
Copy points that are meaningless to most consumers who have become so bombarded by marketing messages it’s gone from clutter to a blur. Very frustrating.
Imagine this behavior in another business! Suppose for a minute you are talking to a contractor. Suppose you’re giving him a job the same way some clients give an assignment to an agency. You say to the contractor: