Bring the Brief

This might seem like a small point to post about, but I think it's important. When you go to a meeting to present creative, bring the strategic brief along. Ideally, you should set up your work using the brief, but at least have it with you.

Inevitably, the creative director, or account person or the CLIENT will ask to be reminded what the net takeaway on the brief is. It's okay to whip the brief out and read it (usually, an account person or planner will be all over this). What doesn't look so good (and believe me, I've seen this happen) is if all the creatives just look at each other, hoping that someone remembers the main thing their work is supposed to communicate. This puts a bullet in the work before it's even been presented. It says that there's a good chance your work will be off strategy, because you don't even know what the damn strategy is.

I tend to lose things easily, so I started making a 3/4-sized photocopy of the brief and pasting it in my sketchbook. That way I always know where I can find it quickly. Just in case.

In Memoriam

We don't usually post industry news on this blog. But it's a sad day in advertising.

Elevator Pitch, Part 3: Your Book

You need your own elevator pitch. In fact, you're probably working on it right now. It's called "your book."

I can't stress how narrow the window of opportunity is for your book to make an impression on a creative director. I know one award-winning CD who literally flips through student books like he would a magazine. If nothing causes him to stop, he doesn't stop. May not seem fair. But it's how he hires really talented people.

So if your book really is your 30-second elevator pitch, here are a few suggestions for making the most of it:

1. Don't introduce each campaign with a set-up page explaining the strategy. It bogs things down. I've never seen an ad in any medium that was preceded by a paragraph explaining the strategy and target market. Most agency people are smart enough to figure out a strategy from the work itself. (At least the ones you want to work for.)

2. Keep the pages as clean as possible. Just show the ads. If it's an ambient piece, or some other execution that warrants explanation, keep it to no more than a couple lines.

3. It's nice if you want to credit your AD or CW. But don't do it on every page or with every campaign. (See #2.) If you are really so full of appreciation, give a collective shout-out at the end of your book. (Although even that isn't necessary.)

4. Don't try to be cute or clever with your book. I'm not a fan of cute themes because I've seen so very few of them work. I've seen some great ones. But I've seen a mountain of them come off as mediocre arts and crafts projects.

5. Ditto for resumes. I know very few creative directors who are fans of clever resumes. Keep it simple. Save your thinking for your ads.

Elevator Pitch, Part 2: Your Agency

So elevator pitches are used to sum up a campaign or an idea. But what about an agency itself?

If you were in charge of a pitch, what would you tell a client about your agency that makes it different from the competition? What's the agency's elevator pitch? (Hint: It isn't "We are a full-service agency, dedicated to breakthrough creative marketing solutions.") If you're a student or a junior, you may be a few years away from having to answer that question. But why not ask it while you're interviewing?

Next job interview you have, ask the CDs, creative teams and account people "What's the best thing about this agency?" Or something like "What does this agency offer that others don't?" You might even ask, "If I were a client, why would I go with your agency?"

I think they're important questions because they'll tell you a lot about the agency culture. Some answers will indicate that everyone's striving to do amazing work. Others will show you they're just there to get a paycheck and be home by 5:30. Some will be able to answer without hesitation. Others will say, "Um...Do you mean like free bagels on Monday?"

Elevator Pitch, Part 1: The Work

An "elevator pitch" is a term ad folks often use to describe the condensed version of an idea. Say you're in the elevator with a potential client. What are you going to say to that person to get them interested in the 20 seconds you've got before they reach their floor.

The reason elevator pitches are important isn't so much because you'll find yourself in these situations. But because it helps you strip away all the blah blah from your idea. If it's simple and concise, chances are it's either very boring, or very powerful. And you'll probably know which.

If you watched the Luke Sullivan video, you remember the elevator pitch for E.T. was something like "lost alien befriends boy to get home." You could probably figure out the elevator pitches for Lost, True Blood, or all seven Harry Potter book. You could also figure out the elevator pitch for the Mac/PC ads, Whopper Sacrifice, and Boone Oakley's new website.

So what's the elevator pitch for the project you're currently working on? It's a worth while exercise. Before you jump into execution, and start talking layouts or photography or long copy vs. no copy, figure out what your elevator pitch is. It's not really extra work, because if it takes you longer than 5 minutes for you to crystalize your idea into a sentence or two, it's probably not an idea that's going to go very far anyway.

The Perfect Brief

The Martin Agency tweeted this: The Perfect Brief. Couldn't let it pass.

Illustrated by Copywriters

Sometimes it's nice when an art director can write. Sometimes it's nice when a writer can draw. A lot of writers can draw. Not all, but some.

If you're a writer, and you've ever doodled anything, good or bad, please consider submitting it to Illustrated by Copywriters. It's a little side project I'm working on.

Thanks.

Performing is investing is selling

Recently, Jim was writing about audiobooks, and it got me thinking.

A few years ago, I listened to Tom Wolfe's book, A Man in Full on tape. (Yes, cassette tape.) It was read by David Ogden Stiers. Great actor. Great book. But having him read it to me was a little dull. As Jim wrote, it kind of felt like cheating to be listening instead of reading.

Last week, I finished listening to another audiobook. This one was The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. A cast of actors performed for about 10 different characters. The production was complete with Foley effects from background music on the radio to doors slamming. When someone was on the phone, they sounded fuzzy. When they were in the other room, they sounded distant. When they interrupted each other, you actually heard. It less of an audiobook and more of a radio play. They weren't the best troupe of actors, but the whole experience was far superior to famous Steirs reading famous Wolfe.

The Tom Wolfe book is like the creative team that says, “This idea is so good, it speaks for itself. Feast your eyes on this brilliance.” No one’s questioning the talent or the substance. But outside of the creative team, no one’s really invested in it either.

The Goldratt production was the creative team who took a great idea, sold it, and got it produced.

(In Tom Wolfe's defense, the jacket design for A Man in Full - and just about anything else - beats the cover of the Goldratt book.)

Quotes I found in a cook book, part 2: Enthusiasm in a brave new world

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.

-Aldous Huxley

Quotes I found in a cook book, part 1

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.

-Carl Jung