Something from my notes;
Three types of jobs.
Building.
Reacting
Providing.
It seems likely this is a quote, not an original thought. Either way, it feels relevant to something I want to talk about.
But first, a picture.
Ok, with that out of the way, I want to open today by sharing some feedback from Creative Directors1.
What is my purpose?
The latest “Creatives on Strategy” responses are interesting in that they brought something to light that was less visible with fewer responses…
There is no mutual understanding of why strategy exists.
Even accounting for the open response format, there were nearly as many core reasons for our existence as there were responses.
And here’s the thing. Because strategists would rather take a survey than talk to their creative teams to ask a favor, I have a LOT of responses from Strategists as well. These will be removed from the results I use as part of the findings, but interesting to note; there was not a ton of alignment among ourselves as to why we exist either.
A collection of responses to illustrate the point;
Summed up in a few words, what is the purpose of Strategy?
“understand consumers behaviour”
“identify the immediate challenges and opportunities”
“Taking complex data & distilling it to inform marketing decisions”
“A springboard to creativity”
“Thumb on cultural pulse”
“To help creatives start thinking and problem solving”
“Sell ideas”
“To provide insights”
“give background information to product and then the current marketplace, trends and then non-marketing gibberish insights on potential consumers vis a vis what we’re advertising”
“Planning, testing & execution of ideas”
“Someone who tees up creative.”
And here’s the thing…
There really is no reason for Strategy to exist. If the role of a creative director is to oversee the creative output– an ad, part of that set of expertise should obviously be effectiveness, selling ideas, insights, inspiration, and participation in the testing of work.
Most good CDs I know would make great strategists because they already do that thinking as part of the process.
So we don’t need to be here. Why are we?
First of all, I just want to recommend “98% Pure Potato” – gives a great history of our existence as planners.
But I also want to end this segment by being clear; Necessary” and impactful are not the same thing.
We are force multipliers. Our responsibility is effectiveness, but our job is anything that helps the work achieve it.
We’re here to sharpen the knife.
/////////U/N/R/E/L/A/T/E/D/////////////////
////B/A/C/K//T/O//T/H/E//F/I/R/S/T//T/H/I/N/G////////
A two-part rocket
To get to space, shuttles have two sets of rockets.
The first rocket gets the shuttle off the ground.
The second propels it out of the atmosphere
This is how Strategy should operate.
— Now, before I go on, I want to say the obvious disconnect in the analogy2 is that the shuttle doesn’t go anywhere without the rockets. Creative obviously doesn’t technically need us, so the metaphor isn’t perfect —
One of the biggest complaints Creatives had was “stop wasting our time”
[what well meaning habit is in fact frustrating"?]
Taking weeks to "figure it out" and short-changing the time available for creative development.
Here’s how I like to operate.
KICK OFF/BLAST OFF (Powered Ascent Stage)
Give me a day to digest the brief. Then let’s meet up and discuss. Either in the room or within the next 24 hours, I try to give the team enough to “get off the ground”
“Continued Firing Sustainer” - or, for simplicity (probably not technically right) – “BOOSTER STAGE”
My role now is to boost the work however I can. I am still looking for something jaw dropping, and if its good enough, it won’t matter that the team has already started thinking. But I am also sending articles / quotes and facts as I find them. Starting a deck as working doc that can be referenced as the strategy evolves. Interviews or other research to support where things are headed…
~
The uncomfortable truth is that a large part of our job isn’t creative. It shouldn’t take that much time. In light consideration categories, there are clear tasks to accomplish based on the desired outcome. The most creative part of our job is usually reframing the problem. Not to say this is easy, but it doesn’t need weeks.
[Category considerations x Business Problem x Consumer context]
do that math, come out with a clean sentence of an answer, and let the team get to work.
/N/O/W//O/N//T/O//T/H/E//U/S/U/A/L//R/A/N/D/O/M//E/P/H/E/M/E/R/A
////
////
Shamelessly stolen format from Tom Critchlow, who advocates for the concept of “working in public” – which feels important when one doesn’t have an office full of colleagues they see every day.
Anyway, here is the WIP Stratscraps-Morris-Figma-Wiki-Venn-Diagram.
/////
a collection of hard pills to swallow
////
CULTURE DOESN’T HAPPEN IN TIMES SQUARE
“But what we really need is a robust indie environment—in which many arts and culture businesses flourish and present their diverse offerings. Let a thousand flowers blossom.
But the funny thing is that this is actually happening, but without a lot of fanfare.
All the attention is on the downsizing—with layoffs or hiring freezes at Disney, Washington Post, NPR, Facebook, Google, Buzzfeed, and a host of other media and entertainment businesses. But the world of alternative culture is flourishing.
That’s where the future is happening right now. By alt culture, I’m referring to things like podcasts, Bandcamp albums, YouTube channels, Substacks, and various other emerging platforms. Some of these aren’t just growing, they are growing exponentially.”
via
////
KINDLE CLIPPINGS
“that suggests our culture of abundance robs us of satisfaction…
However, that problem is not what I'm talking about, because I don't worry about stress. What I worry about is something The Paradox of Choice only touches on tangentially-the loss of shared experience.
In the short term, choice improves our lives, and we're completely aware of that. The problematic rub is that—over time_ choice isolates us.”
- Chuck Klosterman, “On Media and Culture”
///
“Automation could free us to use our minds in more productive ways—or, in this case, it could remove thinking from our actions altogether.”
- Alec MacGillis
///
“We have a greater sense of where we are going than where we are.”
- The Story of Looking (Mark Cousins)
////
////
SOME OTHER NOTABLE ANSWERS FROM THE CREATIVES ON STRATEGY SURVEY
if it tells me nothing new, it's not good
~
Tbh, maybe try to STFU sometimes and not bore everyone with something you've read.
~
You are only as good as the people that can understand you
~
You need us more than we need you. Sorry. Not sorry.
~
The most annoying strategist I knew though of himself as a philosopher. He just spoke in long-winded vagueries about higher order ideas. Never gave concrete direction on anything.
~
Don't be a twat like him.
~
Your job is not done when the brief is presented, your job is also not to punch holes in the creative. Work to continue to find ways to support creative.
~
charts are awful. brainstorms are useless. there is too much focus on the "inspirational" language in a brief. Be clear.
~
Strategy is job function. It's like being a plumber. It's not a demarcation of your intelligence. You're just a big dummy like the rest of us.
~
fuck off. really. stop trying to be a creative. stop trying to impose your thinking on the work. stop judging the work against the brief, start judging it against the world
~
A great ad without any strategic derivation is still a great ad.
~
A great strategy director and creative director partnership is worth its weight in gold. If you're true collaborators, you'll sell more, better work.
PLEASE ASK CREATIVES YOU KNOW TO FILL OUT THE SURVEY. LINKED HERE
(STRATEGISTS, STOP FILLING IT OUT YOURSELVES.)
////
Let’s end with an ngram screenshot sent to me by Joel Stein.
WEEKLY MONSTERS
trying to get outside more. So I’m trying to collect a picture of every number between 1 and 100.
I’ve got a long way to go.
I’ll be saying “creative directors” here for simplicity, but in reality, there were an array of creative titles represented.
metaphor, analogy, simile… I don’t know. does it matter in this case?
So many great nuggets in here. 👏🏻