Not that I’ve ever been a poet, but I do know a thing or two about Love of Prospect.
One of the best student, interview/freelance portfolio show questions I get is this:
What’s your role in the Creative Process?
As a Creative Strategist, the easy answer could be, “I concept the strategy.”
As a Copywriter, “I come up with concepts and write copy” works for most people.
As a Teacher/Workshop Leader, you’d think, “I teach others how to use strategy to solve creative problems” would be first on the list.
But because I am a true believer (Eric Hoffer aside), my best answer is, “In all things strategic, conceptual, copy and creative, I represent the Prospect.”
If my primary responsibility is to the Agency, I only see things through the Agency’s eyes. I must filter focus, perspective, strategy and concept through the Agency agenda, what’s best for the Agency, what the Agency wants me to do/say/represent. While this may save my job, it'll only be until the Client moves on due to ineffective work. It won’t help my Client, Product or portfolio – just the Agency. (Who does represent the Agency? The jaded old dame says, “Anyone with Sr., VP, CD (in any variant – ACD, ECD, GCD, etc. etc.) in their title.” The thinking person’s answer? Well, that’s a whole new blog entry.)
If I don’t represent the Agency, do I represent the Client? Not if I want to do them any good. If I’m always looking out for the Client’s internal needs, the Client’s internal problems, internal politics, yadda yadda, the only thing I can do for them would be to maybe help with some of their internal issues. I couldn’t do jack in the marketplace. (Who represents the Client? The easy answer: Account Services. The thinking person’s answer probably includes all management – including Creative.)
OK – it's got to be the Creative. Do I represent the Creative? This one’s a bit trickier, but I think you can intuit where I’m headed. If I represent the Creative well, I’ll get it approved by both Agency and Client. If it’s cool enough, I might win some awards, keep my job and become the Client’s preferred Creative. Sweet, but like representing the Agency or the Client, it means merda in the real world of competitive market share. (Not sure about merda? Ask your Eye-talian Granny.)
What about the Product? I’m a writer, so I have to know all about the Product, right? True enough. But if it’s my job to represent the Product, I must filter everything through that Product knowledge. May make points w/some engineers and product managers, may isolate some interesting Product USPs (Unique Selling Propositions), but again, won’t mean squat in the marketplace.
Which is where you need to look for me: in the marketplace. Because in all things creative, I represent The Prospect.
Why? Because the Prospect wields the power. The Prospect decides how much product is sold, how it’s perceived, whether the Client’s career lives or dies, whether the Agency is retained or gets the boot. To make any of that happen – to motivate the Prospect to use their power, buy the Client’s Product, respond to the Creative in the desired way, keep the account at the Agency and me at my job – I must filter out all those other concerns and focus on the person I’m trying to reach.
If you think of it in terms of the Kamikaze Creative Work Plan, while the Client and/or Agency may determine the Objective, it’s the Prospect who determines if, when, how and why that Objective is – or isn’t – met and/or exceeded.
A Kamikaze Key Fact that’s focused on the Product may keep you working what the Client wants to say, but it won’t give you something to hang your creative – and your Prospect’s ability to grok – on. The “Big Idea” becomes impossible. Instead of insinuating the Product into the Prospect’s life, all you can do is be clever with whatever product feature, fact, perception you, the Client and/or Agency think important.
In a strategy focused on anything but the Prospect, a Kamikaze Problem to Solve in the Client or Product realm won’t motivate anyone. If you’re solving a Problem the Prospect doesn’t care about, it won’t solve a Product or Client problem, either. Product and Client problem solving is an internal function, not a function of advertising creative.
When I approach all of the above from a Prospect-centric position, I can:
· Solve the Agency problem by keeping the Client happy and spending money
· Solve the Client problem by meeting the Objective
· Solve the Product problem by making it essential and/or changing Product perceptions in the Prospect’s mind
· Solve the Prospect’s problem by instilling the Product in the Prospect’s life
· Use the Product to solve a Problem that’s meaningful, motivational in the world where Prospects live
If you’ve seen the Kamikaze Creative Work Plan, you know I put the Prospect first. On the form. In the concept. In the language of concept. Now you know the basics of Why.
If we’re not tuned into and talking the language, lives and priorities of the Prospect, any creative we do is creative masturbation: self-serving for Creatives, Agency, Client and Product. That may make us seem loyal, Product smart and Client/Agency savvy. But in the long run, creative strategies and executions that don’t reflect the Prospect’s view of the world will come back to bite you. Hard.
In all things Creative, I represent the Prospect. So should you. Your work – your book and your job security – will be better for it.
©2010, Doreen Dvorin
