8 STEPS TO BETTER CREATIVE INPUT (WITH OR WITHOUT AN AE)
Note: this article was originally posted on July 14, 2009 on a now-defunct site I organized called Creative Cohort. A small group of creative directors contributed with the goal of helping ourselves and others learn how to be better creative directors. I recently happened upon the archives and realized much of the content is still relevant, so I’m posting it here for posterity. Without further ado…
A recent discussion over at the LinkedIn Creative Directors Group asked the question, how do you get good, focused input when you don’t have the luxury of having Account Execs on staff?
There were good answers ranging from, “having AEs doesn’t equal having good AEs” to, “do it yourself” — which paints a pretty bleak picture of the AEs role in an agency (and might be a good topic for another post) — but my favorite response came from Mark Hayes; founder, creative director and jack of all trades at Mark Hayes Design.
Mark’s given me permission to republish his response here, so without further ado, here are his thoughts on how to get good input without a (good) Account Executive:
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Good AEs are worth their weight in gold but, as mentioned above, they’re rare and beautiful creatures…
One thing you can do is run through your own drill and try to dial down into what you need to do creatively. The creative briefs that we often see from AEs that aren’t the best of the best can be worth less than the toner and paper that they come on.
We exist to help our clients meet their challenges as elegantly and as effectively as possible, answering some basic questions can help get that done (and it doesn’t really matter what media, good communication is good communication, knowing WHAT to say helps you figure out HOW to say it):
1. WHO ARE WE TALKING TO? Don’t try to answer in statistical categories like demographics or psychographics. Instead, try to find the common-thread mindset of your prospect group. (Bad answer: “Women 25–50 with HH incomes $50K+.” Good answer: “Anybody who’s planning to buy a medium-to high-end refrigerator in the next six weeks.”)
2. WHAT ARE THEIR PRECONCEPTIONS OF OUR PRODUCT CATEGORY? Not a general answer, but an answer specific to your isolated target group.
3. WHAT ARE THEIR PRECONCEPTIONS OF OUR PRODUCT IN PARTICULAR? If any.
4. WHAT ARE THEIR PRECONCEIVED WANTS FROM OUR PRODUCT CATEGORY? Make a list, then prioritize them. And play fair. Don’t try to make it match what you think you have to sell.
5. WHICH OF THESE WANTS DOES OUR PRODUCT LEGITIMATELY MEET? A hard-nosed, not a forgiving answer.
6. GIVEN ALL OF THE ABOVE, WHAT CAN A COMMUNICATIONS EFFORT REASONABLY HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH? Pick a reasonable goal. Good answer: “To become recognized as the best-designed refrigerator in our price category.” Bad answer: “To increase sales 25%.” Communications can work wonders, but too many other factors influence sales — pricing, distribution, production problems, discounting by the competition, etc.
7. WHAT’S THE PRECISE OBJECTIVE FOR THIS PIECE OF COMMUNICATION? Nothing so vague as “to increase awareness” or the like. Instead, something like “to make the target prospect phone the 800 number or click the link with the expectation that, if we prove to be as advertised, they’ll move forward in the buying process.”
8. HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE THIS OBJECTIVE AND WHAT VEHICLE IS THE SMARTEST WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL? Think hard on this one, it’s not your money you’re spending and knee-jerk decisions based on your own comfort zones can sometimes hurt the client.
In other words, even without strong AEs we can still fall back on Creative Direction 101…
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What’s your answer to the problem of getting good input? I would love to hear an AEs perspective on this topic, so if you know one, send them a link to this post.