Stratscraps v167.
the flavor of influence.
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pre-brief, do this:
What’s being asked?
Ok but what’s the actual problem?
Is it a problem advertising can solve?
If yes, how? —> That is the foundation of your brief
Post brief, do this:
What’s being asked?
Ok but why is it being asked?
Does it need solving?
Can the problem be solved by changing the creative?
If yes, how? —> That is the foundation of your feedback.
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^ This so completely misses the point. A name is part of your brand whether you design for it or not.
And it likely isn’t a coincidence that the category leader of a hyper technical category has a tech oriented name. “Claude” et al make the technical feel less threatening, but the threat is also tied to perception of capability.
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Here’s something I made way back in ~2014 or so:
A drastically over-designed version of the Strategy Double Diamond1.
But I want to call something out in the first bit.
in this part, we often default to looking outside the brief for the research. We “diverge” by bringing new information in.
In reality, it is less of a “research” phase as it is a “discovery” phase.
Part of that is research, sure. But it also includes unpacking the brief comprehensively.
info like “why now” or “what are the stakes/influences or motivators?” or “what do we mean by…”
then you can get to the rest of the stuff:
→
I include all the above because I was reminded about it myself while gathering thoughts for this week’s newsletter.
I wanted to write some thoughts about the role of freelancers in opposition to the Peter Principle that is so pervasive in our culture of work.
But after mapping out my thoughts, I realized there was a more interesting story that was far less commonly discussed.
“We find meaning in work that allows us to become enough of an expert that we are able to add our own flavor.”
I find this far more interesting than “managers should be trained to manage” or “what if we were paid for our experience”
…But it’ll have to wait because I spent all this time explaining how I got there in the first place.
Classic strategy.
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We think of “digital is forever” – the internet essentially an ever expanding universe of information.
but… paper lasted longer than digital information
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A thought:
there should be a followup to James Web Young’s "Technique for Producing Ideas” called “a technique for communicating ideas”
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McNamara Fallacy: A belief that rational decisions can be made with quantitative measures alone, when in fact the things you can’t measure are often the most consequential. Named after Defense Secretary McNamara, who tried to quantify every aspect of the Vietnam War.
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Which is more important?
Where we are
Where we’re going
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One for all the parents out there. If there is one single thing I’ve read that has shaped me as a dad, it is this sentence:
“Parenting is a relationship. It’s not a set of strategies.”
And you know what – I think that’s true for most things.
In ad land we are tasked with making things. But what matters most is the relationships that birth those things.
The output matters, but nothing matters more than how we treat each other in the moment.
(And, do it right and you get both)
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I meant to share this last time around, but stumbled across something I totally forgot about:
the strategy quote generator that I made a few years ago.
helpful in any way? unlikely. Neat? yea I think so.
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While “Selfie” remains my favorite work of his, Will Storr also wrote “The Unpersuadables” – a book about the types of who deny evidence and can’t be persuaded of their believes, no matter how batshit. Feels relevant given this is likely th last newsletter I’ll write before the election and whatever that brings.
WEEKLY MONSTER
I made my own halloween mask (ok I had the help of a template)
“borrowed” from the design double diamond.