Advertising can get full of itself. Full of “innovations”, “world-firsts”, “game-changers”. Full of new.
Is it doing any better than when advertising was simpler? That’s something to think about. Rob Morrison is:
When the industry (and the world, frankly) is moving this fast it’s tempting to get seduced by what’s new, bright and shiny. New media. New structures. New techniques. Let’s break the writer/art director pairings and work “organically”. Let’s launch the brand with a meme on social. Let’s go viral.
Trouble is, we’ve done this dance before. And failed.
When direct marketing arrived in mainstream agencies. When digital changed everything again. When social became a viable first choice media. Each step change arrived with fanfare, buzzwords and the inevitable cowboys ready to bluff their way into client hearts and budgets. In reality, one element in adland will never change.
People.
Behind every TARP, every click-thru, every open-rate, every measure we have is a human being. Someone we’re trying to get the attention and then action of. Behind every process, every written brief, every presentation? Yep, people.
So, here are ten ways back-to-basics can get us going forward.
1. Fish where the fish are
I’m always gob-smacked by media choices being made without the most basic information. Clients use the “Well I watch it so everyone else does too” rationale. It’s nonsense. I say this with all due respect to my media friends but, media should be a non-emotive decision. Either your target audience is engaged in that world or they’re not. I’m still seeing so much wastage on weird media choices.
2. Shorter is always better
In a time-poor world, why are we still producing volume? Just this year I’ve had clients cram 30-seconds of content into 15-seconds. I’ve had a 200-word landing page blow out to over 1000-words. I’ve had a tight, punchy 0:59 video end up at 2:30. Why? Our clients love to talk about themselves, but our audiences will never engage for that long. We need the discipline to talk them off that ledge.
3. No one outside advertising cares about advertising
This hurts to admit, given I’ve spent all my working life writing advertising but we’re hated. We’re an interruption. A distraction. Our audience wants to enjoy the content of the show or video or article they’ve chosen. They tolerate the ads to get them that. I was recently asked, “If you ask someone in the next generation what’s their favourite ad, what would the answer be?” I suspect they’d have no idea what that means. So, we need to work even harder to connect with them.
4. Is the work still yours if you cover the logo?
I mentioned this “old-school” trick in a meeting the other day and there was an audible gasp. They’d never heard it before. Modern marketers seem to confuse “brand” with “logo”. But what if you take the logo away? The tone of the idea and the execution should be so distinct it simply couldn’t be for anyone else. Particularly not for the direct competitor.
5. An execution is not an idea
When I did AWARD School in nineteen-mumble-mumble, most creative director lectures involved showing brilliant ads to us budding students. Fair enough. But the memorable lecture came from the CD who brought in a bunch of movie clips – scenes from Alien, Withnail & I and other films. His message was, if you think you can use technique better than Hollywood directors, you’re kidding yourself.
6. Weekend work is (almost) never needed
It’s the scourge of the industry. Burning out good people with long hours and endless days. But when you’re organised it’s simply not needed. I was reminded of this recently when having a conversation with an industry legend. He’s written some of this country’s iconic campaigns. He’s led brilliant agencies all around the world. He’s never worked on a weekend. Not once.
7. Pitches are not won on ideas
Again, this pains me because, as a creative, we like to think our work is crucial in every setting. But the older I get, the more I realise most of the heavy lifting is done by those building relationships. Before the pitch. During the pitch. After the pitch. Understanding the criteria. Working the room. I’ve seen average ideas win pitches. I’ve seen brilliant ideas lose pitches.
8. Tighter briefs lead to better work
There’s still a perception, particularly in specialist agencies, that if you give creative more latitude you get better ideas. Not true. We just end up confused if an idea is right or not. Propositions need to be simple. No “and”. No commas. No double-headers. No multiple thoughts. No smooshing together disparate sentences to appease the client.
9. Juniors make mistakes, that’s what makes them juniors
This is the biggest fundamental of them all. In the race to shed wages from the bottom line, agencies have employed more and more junior talent. Nothing wrong with that. Top-heavy can mean you topple over. But we cannot be overwhelming those juniors with responsibility they’re not trained to handle. They’ll leave the industry and won’t come back.
10. “We sell or else” are still the smartest four words
David Ogilvy was right. That’s what the industry was about in the ‘70s and it’s what we should be about now. Many industry icons feel we’ve lost our way in the hunt to “do good”. We’ve seen so many worthy ads purporting to change society as we know it. “Selling” has become a dirty word. But truth is, without selling product, all the other social changes simply can’t happen. Without convincing consumers that our products solve their pain-points then the accountants will quickly close the doors.
Agree? Disagree? Write me off as an old man yelling, “Get off my lawn”? Ultimately, the judges of our work will remain, as ever, the customers we’re trying to impress.
People.
Rob Morrison is a rarity in advertising – a grey-haired creative. Rob’s experience includes time as a Creative Director at Ogilvy, BWM (now BWM Dentsu), George Patterson Y&R (now VMLY&R), Campaign Palace and Wunderman. He now runs his own consultancy – morrison.collective.
Here are two more opinion pieces from Rob Morrison:
