My friend and former boss Kevin Lynch is currently the executive creative director of BBDO South China. Here's his pecha kucha presentation of a full-time side project: using airbnb to stay in different rooms throughout Hong Kong for a full year.
Yearbnb at Pecha Kucha from fifteen ideas on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label presenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label presenting. Show all posts
The Many Tellings of a Story
When you have a story to tell, you usually just tell it. But
in advertising, you have to tell it multiple times—to your partner, to your
team, to your client, to your director—before you finally tell it to your real
audience.
If those first tellings don’t go well, that final telling
will never happen. So don’t overlook those first tellings. Give a lot of
thought to how you’re going to bring the story to life for your client, in
particular. They should be as engaged by your telling of the story as they will
be by the final execution.
Too often I see ideas that could be great fall flat in meetings because nobody gave any thought to how to present the idea. Or maybe they didn’t think the idea needed anything more than to be read from a paper. Ideas do not sell themselves. Stories sell ideas. So tell a good story, each time you tell it.
Too often I see ideas that could be great fall flat in meetings because nobody gave any thought to how to present the idea. Or maybe they didn’t think the idea needed anything more than to be read from a paper. Ideas do not sell themselves. Stories sell ideas. So tell a good story, each time you tell it.
Setting Up A Premise
In this video, at about the 13:40 mark, Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, and Louis CK are discussing how Chris Rock sets up a premise.
Chris Rock sums it up like this: "A lot of comedians have great jokes, and they don't - like - 'Why isn't this working?' Because the audience does not understand the premise...If I set this premise up right, this joke will always work."
I see the same thing in advertising. In an agency, before work goes to the client, a team will present a random collection of ads. Some of them may even be really good. But if there's no premise to any of them, even the really good ones will eventually fall to the wayside. But if a team comes in with a premise, and all of their ideas are tied to that premise, people start nodding their heads. Because we get it.
A premise could be "Saving money with Geico makes people happy." A series of ads could be ridiculous scenarios of happy people (a camel on hump day, a witch in a broom factory).
A premise could be "Interesting people drink Dos Equis." A series of ads could be biographical snapshots of the World's Most Interesting Man.
A premise could be "Bad things happen randomly." A series of ads could be Mayhem personified.
In other words, ads are like jokes. Concepts are like Chris Rock's premise.
Don't jump into your executions. If you have specific ideas for a spot, fine. Write them down. Share them with your partner even. But go into every meeting with your premise first. And make sure everyone in the room understands how each execution you present ties back to it.
Chris Rock sums it up like this: "A lot of comedians have great jokes, and they don't - like - 'Why isn't this working?' Because the audience does not understand the premise...If I set this premise up right, this joke will always work."
I see the same thing in advertising. In an agency, before work goes to the client, a team will present a random collection of ads. Some of them may even be really good. But if there's no premise to any of them, even the really good ones will eventually fall to the wayside. But if a team comes in with a premise, and all of their ideas are tied to that premise, people start nodding their heads. Because we get it.
A premise could be "Saving money with Geico makes people happy." A series of ads could be ridiculous scenarios of happy people (a camel on hump day, a witch in a broom factory).
A premise could be "Interesting people drink Dos Equis." A series of ads could be biographical snapshots of the World's Most Interesting Man.
A premise could be "Bad things happen randomly." A series of ads could be Mayhem personified.
In other words, ads are like jokes. Concepts are like Chris Rock's premise.
Don't jump into your executions. If you have specific ideas for a spot, fine. Write them down. Share them with your partner even. But go into every meeting with your premise first. And make sure everyone in the room understands how each execution you present ties back to it.
The Theoretical Ad-Like Thingy
"So there'd be like two guys in a park or at the mall of somewhere talking about normal stuff. And then something crazy would happen in the background and one of the guys would be like pointing but it would be the product. And there'd be some copy at the end that says something about how it gets noticed."
"Do you have a tagline?"
"Yeah, and there'd be a tagline."
"What is it?"
"I don't know yet."
This is a reenactment of the presentation of a theoretical ad. For some reason, students present these all the time in class. It wants me to poke my eyes out or, lately, want to poke their eyes out. There is a vague concept here, but this isn't an execution. It's like drawing the first gesture of a circle and saying "What do you think of my portrait?" I don't know. It's not a portrait yet. This concept above, I don't know. It's not a script. It's a vague notion about a script.
Do not present theoretical ads. Do not present vague paragraphs. Your job is not to create MadLibs. If you don't know whether a spot should take place in a mall or a park or the international space station, pick the one you think is best. Create a concrete idea in the mind of your creative director or client (or instructor). Talk about options and alts afterward. But first help them imagine something real and specific.
Two things can happen when you present a theoretical ad. The first is that, because you haven't brought the idea to life, people don't get it or don't like it and the idea dies. The second is possibly worse. Because you have left the idea so open-ended, everyone fills in the blanks with whatever's in their head. Instead of everyone in the room seeing the idea as you envisioned it, you now have six different versions/visions of your idea populating people's brains. Which means that if you push your idea forward to the next stage where you do make it more specific, at least five people will think "Oh, that's not how I was picturing it."
Bottom line--be specific. If you've ever taken a creative writing course, this is something they tell you about your language: be concrete. The same is true here. If you're presenting a spot, present a spot. For a print ad, show a print ad. Not an ad-like notion. Or, as my instructor Coz Cotzias used to say: "That's an interesting thought. Now go do a fucking ad."
This Post Isn't Cool
You will never sell anything to a client by telling them, "It's cool."
Cool is not a reason any client will put their budget and their job on the line. Even if you're doing ads for the new HALO game, a surfboard, or Porsche. In client parlance, "cool" is not shorthand for "it will sell your product, and make you money, keep your job secure, and maybe even get you an interview in Fast Company."
Make your work cool. But before you present it, figure out the real reason it's cool, and sell that.
You'll not only have more success selling your ideas, you'll become a better presenter.
The Art of Presenting
"...It just doesn’t matter how good the idea is unless you can persuade the person on the other side of the table to feel the same way."
-The Art of Presenting
by Peter Coughter, Jr.
Some other great tips on presenting can be found in his article here.
-The Art of Presenting
by Peter Coughter, Jr.
Some other great tips on presenting can be found in his article here.
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.
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.)
Internal presentations
When agencies present work to clients, they go to the trouble of setting up the presentation first. Usually, they read the brief to remind everyone what the purpose of the assignment was. They might explain who they're talking to, what media they're using, and may even reveal the tag line or theme before showing the work.
But when creatives present work to their creative directors, they usually just push a stack of sharpied comps across the desk. And I think more work dies unnecessarily because of this.
I'm not suggesting creative directors need a big, client-sized presentation. But a little context can go a long way. You may say, But my CD is a genius. He's been doing this for 15 years. He knows what my stick figures represent. I'm not going to patronize him by re-briefing him.
But consider that most creative directors have more responsibilities than a junior team does. Just because you've been developing your ideas day and night for the past two weeks doesn't mean your CD has been equally involved. There are client calls, new business developments that aren't announced, senior staff meetings, departmental budgets to consider, review and revise. There are a million other agency-related distractions CDs have to deal with.
So it may help, at least on the initial internal presentation to present to your CD as if he were one of them instead of one of you. I'm not talking about polishing your comps - that's a waste of time. I'm talking about briefly reviewing the brief: Who are you talking to, and what are you trying to tell them and what the client's expectations are. Ninety seconds upfront and you're done.
But when creatives present work to their creative directors, they usually just push a stack of sharpied comps across the desk. And I think more work dies unnecessarily because of this.
I'm not suggesting creative directors need a big, client-sized presentation. But a little context can go a long way. You may say, But my CD is a genius. He's been doing this for 15 years. He knows what my stick figures represent. I'm not going to patronize him by re-briefing him.
But consider that most creative directors have more responsibilities than a junior team does. Just because you've been developing your ideas day and night for the past two weeks doesn't mean your CD has been equally involved. There are client calls, new business developments that aren't announced, senior staff meetings, departmental budgets to consider, review and revise. There are a million other agency-related distractions CDs have to deal with.So it may help, at least on the initial internal presentation to present to your CD as if he were one of them instead of one of you. I'm not talking about polishing your comps - that's a waste of time. I'm talking about briefly reviewing the brief: Who are you talking to, and what are you trying to tell them and what the client's expectations are. Ninety seconds upfront and you're done.
Do this with your account team and planners as well and you'll see less and less work die internally. Not because you've managed to talk them into your work. But because you'll be able to pre-edit ideas that aren't on brief anyway.
Presentation
Here's a good post about pitch presentations. Some of the advice is common sense, but reminders never hurt.
Sometimes it's the Little Things
When I played basketball with my dad when I was young, he liked to post up and, when he got the ball, intentionally step on my foot before making his move. I called it dirty. He called it experience.
There are a million tiny things you can do to help sell your work. Here's perhaps the smallest.
Before you present a campaign idea, do a little setup. Sometimes I put these paragraphs on a board, or hand them out so people can read along. Title or tagline at the top, then a few sentences that walk from the strategy to the execution (in as direct a route as possible--weed out all the tangential stuff). Maybe include a nice mood photo. This is pretty much standard. I have even played music while I read the setup.
So here's the little trick. End the paragraph with your tagline. It's stupid, I know, but think about when you're reading a book, and somewhere in the prose of the book, you come across the title. It jumps out at you, and you start to think there's something meaningful in that sentence. Like a theme. Like something deep. Like an answer, maybe. Sometimes it's the little things.
There are a million tiny things you can do to help sell your work. Here's perhaps the smallest.
Before you present a campaign idea, do a little setup. Sometimes I put these paragraphs on a board, or hand them out so people can read along. Title or tagline at the top, then a few sentences that walk from the strategy to the execution (in as direct a route as possible--weed out all the tangential stuff). Maybe include a nice mood photo. This is pretty much standard. I have even played music while I read the setup.
So here's the little trick. End the paragraph with your tagline. It's stupid, I know, but think about when you're reading a book, and somewhere in the prose of the book, you come across the title. It jumps out at you, and you start to think there's something meaningful in that sentence. Like a theme. Like something deep. Like an answer, maybe. Sometimes it's the little things.
Strategy as a Starting Point
The summer between my first and second years of portfolio school, I interned at GSD&M. (I don’t think GSD&M has hosted interns from my school since. Make of that what you will.)
We knew the agency was involved in a high-profile pitch, so we asked if we could help out. We were given the same brief as the other four or five teams, and went to work.
At the initial internal presentation, we went first. (Whether we were over eager or being picked on, I don’t recall.) About halfway through our stack of paper the group creative director asked us to stop. He’d seen enough. We were a little off strategy.
That was more than a little crushing. But the real insult was when he went next and presented an ad that was simply the strategy statement as a headline with a relevant photo. Not everyone oohed and aahed. But a few did.
We brought in a ream of envelope-pushing ideas, and you just art direct the brief?! Geez, I’ll be a GCD if that’s all you have to do.
I learned two things from this experience:
We knew the agency was involved in a high-profile pitch, so we asked if we could help out. We were given the same brief as the other four or five teams, and went to work.
At the initial internal presentation, we went first. (Whether we were over eager or being picked on, I don’t recall.) About halfway through our stack of paper the group creative director asked us to stop. He’d seen enough. We were a little off strategy.
That was more than a little crushing. But the real insult was when he went next and presented an ad that was simply the strategy statement as a headline with a relevant photo. Not everyone oohed and aahed. But a few did.
We brought in a ream of envelope-pushing ideas, and you just art direct the brief?! Geez, I’ll be a GCD if that’s all you have to do.
I learned two things from this experience:
- Anything art directed is going to have more impact than something drawn with a Sharpie. In group presentations, quality is going to beat quantity. (That said, don’t waste your time laying out concepts when you should be thinking.)
- The strategy as a headline is actually a great place to start. And in retrospect, I think that was what the GCD was trying to do. It keeps you from veering off course. And when you're able to root the execution in strategic thinking, it becomes substantially more sellable internally, to the client, and to the public. (That said, don't use the strategy statement as a headline as anything but a jumping off point.)
World's Best Presentations
Slideshare.net has announced the winners of their "World's Best Presentation" contest. You can view the winner and the runners up below.
The first and third presentations are potentially complicated messages that could have harbored a trove of tangents. Instead, they're clear, simple, and very engaging.
Next time you're mocking up your ads, ask yourself if they do as good a job as these presentations do at communicating. Don't confuse that with minimalism. Done correctly, long copy can be crystal clear and very engaging. But if your ad isn't as lucid and as smart as these presentations, try peeling back a few more layers.
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