Advertising: a place where ideas go to die

Door Frank van Rooijen

In a perfect world, you come up with an idea, flesh it out, you present it to your client, they love it, approve it and your idea gets produced. Spoiler alert: this scenario rarely happens. More often than not, your idea dies a hero, like Brody in the Season 3 finale of Homeland. Here’s why… 

How ideas die

Ideas die for no good reason, it happens all the time. Both on clients’ side and on creatives’ side. On the client side, someone will say it’s too far out, another person will say she’s “not feeling it” and let’s not forget about the person that uses mediocrity as the measure by which your idea will be weighed. Either way, your idea dies. It’s like every idea gets filtered through some kind of murderous idea killing machine. Let’s call it the “Idea Obliterator”, which is fed by different departmental agenda’s, financial objectives, focus groups and some good ol' mediocrity. The outcome, if any, a Frankenstein-esque, deformed marketing monster, for which its non-effectiveness, somewhere down the line, will be blamed on some innocent creative. I’ve never worked in an industry where ideas get generated and killed so fast, on a daily base. It still baffles me... 

Next to the invisible “Idea Obliterator” on clients’ side, I hear way too many excuses being made on creatives’ side. “There’s not enough time”, “the client just wants something simple”, “pick your battles”, “I can’t work on the idea much longer as I need to catch my yoga class”, the list goes on. Yes, sometimes there isn’t enough time, but if cutting corners and making excuses are part of your everyday repertoire, trust me, you’ll never create something that is of value to anyone. And if that doesn’t bother you, do yourself (and everyone else) a favor and find yourself a different job, for this is not an industry for the faint hearted. Ideas, and the creation thereof, need Tender Love and Care and if you’re not prepared to give that in return, don’t expect a long-lasting career. 

How to come up with ideas that will get produced

To give birth to any idea, we need to create an environment of openness and trust. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for creatives to be able to unload the diarrhea of thoughts in their mind without having to fear being laughed at. Starting the ideation process, it’s better to let creatives present thoughts instead of scripts. Let them present conversation starters. It’s a waste of time to let creatives craft something that doesn’t lead anywhere. Let’s talk about direction first. It’s often those small, little thoughts that trigger bigger thoughts that will eventually lead to great ideas. Thoughts and ideas need to be played with. Even great ideas aren't born great, they are created over time. They are iterative. Albert Einstein once said “Creativity is intelligence having fun”, so let’s have some fun for cryin’ out loud. Let’s celebrate the fact that we are not boring accountants or clocking in for a conveyor belt 9 to 5 factory job. 

(source: Pinterest)

So how do we come up with ideas that will get produced? In my opinion, instead of just selling products or services, brands must now enter and influence popular culture to be noticed. They must matter. They need to be useful and more importantly, they need to be relevant. We can help our clients achieve this with Solvertising and Innovertising ideas.  

By merging Creativity and Innovation we can help solve problems that are important to people. Because ultimately, it’s those companies and brands that come up with tangible solutions for these problems that create relevance and dialogue with the world. 

Too many people in the advertising industry think they've achieved something when they win awards and their peers think they’re good. I personally believe that we’ve only achieved something when our ideas matter in the world. 

How do you transform good ideas into great ideas?

To transform good ideas into great ideas we need to be brave and act like MMA fighters like Georges St-Pierre, entering the octagon ready to unleash hell upon his opponent. We need to kick our ideas in the stomach, head-butt them into the ground, smash them in the face or try and choke them out. We need to be honest with each other. Too many creatives are too soft when it comes to telling each other the truth. If an idea is shit, do tell so (in an honest and tactful way of course). One must always allow for a gloves off, no holds barred discussion. This might not be easy for everyone, but it’s absolutely necessary to make ideas greater, stronger and more impactful. 

If you are a creative and you work in an environment where you can’t have discussions about ideas and thoughts, however small they might be, run away, fast! Because staying there will be a waste of your time. Fear and Creativity can never live under one roof. By default, creativity is always looking for something that could be, rather than something that is already. To be able to create ideas that are truly groundbreaking requires you to surround yourself with people and clients that believe in ideas and are willing to take risks for them.   

Once you have a great idea, how do you protect it? 

Creating and nurturing a great idea is one thing. Keeping a great idea alive takes courage. It needs people that believe in the idea to be brave and quite possibly a bit crazy. Ideas need allies to survive. Ideas need people that will go the extra mile, people that will cancel their yoga class, people that are not afraid to have that difficult conversation, people with perseverance, people that will make those 15 phone calls to find the right production partner. Great ideas need people that don’t believe in magicians, but in making real magic happen. 

Because the fact is, it’s not companies or brands that will save the world, it’s ideas that can. And that, to me, is a great idea worth fighting for.

Frank van Rooijen is executive creative director bij Grey Benelux.