Choice in Advertising:

A false economy?

Why isn’t the advertising of today as good as it was? Is it another example of rose-tinted glasses syndrome, or has there been a genuine drop in the creative quality being produced by agencies and approved by clients?

At the risk of putting my head above the parapet, I’m ready to suggest ‘choice’ seems to be advertising’s current Achilles’ heel.

A client goes to an agency looking to better their marketing comms. They’ll arrive with a idea on how they want to position their product or service — planning refines and develops a creative brief, then once they’re happy they ask the agency to go away and provide a creative solution that answers that brief. This of course is all massively simplified.

But clients don’t just expect ‘a’ creative solution, they expect multiple routes or options. For me, this is where the problem begins.

Agencies (even if they wouldn’t like to admit it) appear to commonly provide one brave creative route; one good route; and unfortunately — a ‘safe’ option.

A ‘safe’ option answers the brief of course, but airs on the side of caution. It’s a “nice” idea — not too brave, non-offensive, not too different to what they’re expecting (in other words… a bit boring).

Both clients and agencies may feel they can’t afford to get it wrong, and this may explain why the safe option exists. Whatever the reason, it’s the option clients more often than not, lean towards.

But if you think about it, it’s obvious why they do.

Imagine you’re faced with 3 roads from which to choose just one. You’re first thought is likely to be whether any of these roads are familiar. Of course it is, we all like to know where we are going.

The alternatives? Uncertainty. You’ll struggle to find many fans of uncertainty, especially when it comes to parting with large marketing budgets. Of course, the unfamiliar roads could lead to a fantastic utopia, but they could equally take you somewhere incredibly crap.

Agencies in my opinion should give direction. Provide one clear choice and give an explanation to why it’s best. They may also have to talk through the other ideas and explain why they’re inferior — but end up offering the best solution and it’s benefits.

I personally think clients would appreciate this more collaborative, definitive approach — as with options, you’re putting the onus back on them.

So I can sympathise with clients when we ask them to choose. What if they chose ‘B’ and it doesn’t work? Should they have chose ‘A’ after all? All these thoughts are normal of course. I mean, who wants to explain themselves after making a mistake.

Removing choice altogether, obviously puts a lot more pressure on the agency. However that’s the way it should be. We’re the marketing experts after all.

I would just like to add; the agency should do tons of ideas – but filter and filter until they arrive at the best solution to the problem.

Discussion: Would the problem of choice be a hard one to overcome? I mean, how do we starve a culture that currently expects so much choice?

Adam McGowan, Art Director.