by Brad Smith
One of the hardest things an account manager is asked to do is the same thing we turn right around and ask our clients to do – judge the agency’s creative efforts.
Take an ad, for example. At this agency the presentation of an ad is preceded with a review of the situation, the audience and the objective(s) of the ad. Given today’s market characteristics, who is the audience we want to communicate with, and what do we want them to do after reading our ad?
So we create an ad from the perspective of the audience, and then we ask our clients to put themselves in the audiences’ shoes and evaluate/judge the power of the concept and its ability to do the job we’ve all agreed upon.
And then there’s the presentation, and that magic moment of the first impression. The client sees the concept – the headline and the visual (the text is read later). Will it grab my prospect’s attention and interest? Will they get it? Is this the way my company should be portrayed?
This is an emotional judgment. Combined with an intellectual business decision. When you’re judging the creative, never forget that first impression…because it’s the first impression your prospects will likely have, too.
The tendency is to start to over analyze. To try and improve. To start the “what if we changed this” thinking.
Don’t do it. Trust your emotional instincts. Remember the power of your first impression.
It took a brave client to approve “Just Do It” as a positioning statement. Or “Got Milk?” as a campaign theme, using famous people with a white moustache as a visual. Or “Lemon” as a headline for a car manufacturer’s ad.
So how do you judge an agency’s creative concepts? How brave should you be – or have you been? Let me know what you think, and share an experience or two.
Nike "Swoosh" symbol and "Just Do It" slogan are trademarks of Nike Corporation
One of the hardest things an account manager is asked to do is the same thing we turn right around and ask our clients to do – judge the agency’s creative efforts.
Take an ad, for example. At this agency the presentation of an ad is preceded with a review of the situation, the audience and the objective(s) of the ad. Given today’s market characteristics, who is the audience we want to communicate with, and what do we want them to do after reading our ad?
So we create an ad from the perspective of the audience, and then we ask our clients to put themselves in the audiences’ shoes and evaluate/judge the power of the concept and its ability to do the job we’ve all agreed upon.
And then there’s the presentation, and that magic moment of the first impression. The client sees the concept – the headline and the visual (the text is read later). Will it grab my prospect’s attention and interest? Will they get it? Is this the way my company should be portrayed?
This is an emotional judgment. Combined with an intellectual business decision. When you’re judging the creative, never forget that first impression…because it’s the first impression your prospects will likely have, too.
The tendency is to start to over analyze. To try and improve. To start the “what if we changed this” thinking.
Don’t do it. Trust your emotional instincts. Remember the power of your first impression.
It took a brave client to approve “Just Do It” as a positioning statement. Or “Got Milk?” as a campaign theme, using famous people with a white moustache as a visual. Or “Lemon” as a headline for a car manufacturer’s ad.
So how do you judge an agency’s creative concepts? How brave should you be – or have you been? Let me know what you think, and share an experience or two.
Nike "Swoosh" symbol and "Just Do It" slogan are trademarks of Nike Corporation
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