Bringing Value to My Creativity
— by Tomáš Urbánek
I was at a pitch presentation the other day and when the client asked “what exactly delivers the emotions of the campaign”, I realized I was already in a different place.
I’ve been working in 2FRESH for over a year and a half and after this presentation I spontaneously realized how much I’ve changed during that time. And I’ve mainly understood how much my work process has changed as well.
When I first came to 2FRESH, I was a copywriter, an ideamaker, a creative. So many people hate being pigeonholed this way. And so do many people who work in 2FRESH. I don’t really mind these terms, but lately they have ceased to be sufficient when it comes to explaining everything that I do. Lukáš Pitter says that we’re all designers since we design solutions. But when I tell someone I’m a designer, they’ll think I can draw (which I can’t) — they definitely wouldn’t think of me being able to write a text. One client jokingly calls me “The Thinker”, because I come up with solutions to “problems”. These problems can range from a client needing to launch a campaign to someone’s inability to sell as much as they would like to.
“I have evolved from someone who used to bring creative campaigns with lots of pretty pictures, to someone who brings solutions”
And that’s really the key element that I realized at the presentation. I have evolved from someone who used to bring creative campaigns with lots of pretty pictures, to someone who brings solutions to people's needs (even if they don't know they should be looking for any). Usually creative solutions. And by that I mean concepts that contain interesting elements, not solutions that are full of improvisations (like those life hacks that spread all over the internet).
Which brings me to the fact that, sometimes, a client is not really looking for such a solution — they want those “pretty pictures” instead. If that’s the case, the best thing is to understand the fact that I, along with 2FRESH, would not be the right partner for such a client.
And so I had told the client at the presentation that I have to stand behind the solution and that I truly believe that her customers would appreciate it as well — even if there are no emotions and it's advertised using purple banners with a Comic Sans text.
And that’s another thing. In 2FRESH, we believe the client is a partner — someone who’s our equal and to whom we can say things they might not like to hear.
We come up with solutions partly thanks to the fact that we work according to the “Human Centered Design” approach. We set up a design challenge (or a focus question — it’s actually the same thing) in the beginning. We then think about a campaign, strategy or another different approach in order to find the solution.
“When a headline draws attention to bad content or a tool with bad UX, it’s totally useless.”
This is one of the reasons why I prefer to spend my day creating a prototype of this solution as well as testing, as opposed to writing headlines and trying to make them as catchy as possible. I know that content is the most important thing — I only work on the form when the content (and functionality) is perfect. We can always write a headline that works. But when a headline draws attention to bad content or a tool with bad UX, it’s totally useless.
There’s another thing that has changed for me thanks to 2FRESH and Human Centered Design. Every time I create something, I strive to make sure that it will bring some value to the people (or the users). There should be a useful piece of information in the text, the headline shouldn’t “only” be creative, it should actually tell a story or emphasize benefits of the product.
“Does it tell her “Hey you, stop for a while! Your quest is over.”?
I was working with a cosmetics brand on a campaign for their latest make up. The benefit of it was that it had the widest range of shades which fit the concrete skin type. Every woman can very simply find hers. But their headline said that every skin tells a different story. Does it catch a woman’s attention? Does it tell her “Hey you, stop for a while! Your quest is over. Here is the make up that will fit your skin type!” No it doesn’t.
The creative concept shouldn’t just result in more sales — it should bring something to the customers. This is the only way of creating a strong bond between the customer and the brand.
