Real problems, good briefing, good creativity: this should be the virtuous circle to generate a good campaign, because poor creativity is often generated by a false problem, a wrong strategy, or hyper-feeding the message itself.
Take for example a client ask like "we want to be perceived as the best in our category", This not a business problem, it's a goal; the problem in this case should be reframed identifying how the client brand is really ranked in the category, then investigating which frictions or weaknesses are in the way of a proper perception of the brand, and finally building a strategy to overcome the obstacle.
In this case, the business problem could be restated in "Why are the younger consumers buying brand X instead of our brand?" And here it is a business question which, for example, has been at the basis of some of the best brand rivalry advertisements in the market. With a good and fertile framing of the problem, the creative team can unleash after an inspiring strategy statement.
Navigating Difficult Conversations: How to Manage Client Expectations with Confidence
Alessandra Boeri
The relationship with a client is always a push and pull game, and the conversational dynamics involved can touch all the possible (or worst) nuances of any personal relationship. In my experience, the key for overcoming also tough topics is always the ability to listen. Too often we tend to approach a dialogue thinking about what we should *say*, less often thinking about listening.
A difficult conversation could be easier if the problem laid on the table is a problem that both parties understand. If I don't understand why my client is having some friction about funding an idea, for example, I could try to convince them insisting about the quality of the idea, while the problem could me maybe an internal policy issue; so the discussion gets more tense because the parties are no longer discussing on the same arena and they stop listening to each other.
If we try, as the good psychologist that we should be, to catch body language or unspoken problems, or we spend some time in asking preliminary information about how the other party feels, what are their daily problems, how is the business going, we will get into the spar with more context and more weapons; and the best weapon always is, no need to use weapons.
How to Handle Last-Minute Client Changes Without Losing Your Creative Spark
A professional creative goes beyond the first feelings
This question is very similar to "How to live happily with the burden of life". Everything about a presented idea has been questioned and polished several times, and the feedback sentences beginning with "could we change..." are always perceived as a tank entering the kindergarten where our child is playing, let alone the ones arriving last-minute.
But a professional creative goes beyond the first feelings, and we are used to reboot several times the creative process in order to reproduce the generative flow that solves the problem maintaining the creative integrity.
But individually, I suspect that each one of us has their own mantras or methods, exactly how we have them for more important difficult moments in life, that you can face with anger and negative attitude, or trying to breathe in positivity and start again to build upon a common goal. But the real question is, will we be interested in developing and nurturing this ability in the future, or our reaction to last-minute feedback will increasingly be... "AI, imagine another version of this idea"?
How to Successfully Integrate Freelancers into Your Agency’s Culture
Hashmukh Kerai
This has to do with the ability to build a non-toxic culture in the workplace. The freelancer is a "stranger", a foreigner who momentarily joins a probably harmonious team, and social science teaches us that this is not an easy moment for the group.
The freelancer can have different work style, can be unaware of some features of the project, is often paid (apparently) more than the regular employees, so the group can be judgemental, non-inclusive, skeptical.
But freelancers can also be seen as life-saving because the often enter the game when it's clear that the regular team is fully booked, can bring novelty from outside, can be aware of similar problems already solved in other projects. It's all about having a reassured and confident team that can react with trust and inclusiveness towards any kind of new entry.
