Married to ideas

This post is a follow up to a previous post on branding.

Our organization went through a re-branding process not long ago. We created a new logo and a new look for the corporation. No slogan though – we waited on that because we knew it would take more time than we could dedicate to it at the time.

Our graphic design intern and I both came up with some ideas for the logo but we weren’t trying to make a finished piece. We were trying to provide variety so that we could better understand what the group liked/disliked and find pieces that would really stand out. We also made it a point in that process not to show our personal opinions and let the group’s reactions, body language, and ideas come to the forefront.

If you (or someone on your creative team) is “married” to one of the ideas, remove yourself from the process and/or keep your mouth shut. Do you research, test like crazy, and be willing to accept the results even if they’re not what you expected. Offer your professional advice and expertise, but only if it’s based on facts and experience. Don’t offer up your opinion if it’s just based on a whim (if you happen to be the target audience, you might be able to get away with this, but I would still caution against it.)

And, let the group know that you want their honest feedback – that you really don’t have favorites (even if you do), that these are just ideas. That way they’re not intimidated or afraid to criticize your work in front of you. If you need to, step out of the way and let them discuss – don’t leave completely if you can help it…you still want to hear their rationale, but just get out of their way. This seemed to work well for us, though I know there are a lot of creative teams that don’t work this way.

Take advertising agencies for example. My understanding (I’ve never worked in an agency) is that they have creative teams that present different ideas for advertising and then the client picks one. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong) So, they’re selling their ideas and trying to make the client believe them. It’s clear whose work it is and who will get credit (or not).  It makes me wonder if clients end up choosing ad campaigns based on the creative team’s justification of why they went in a direction, or if the clients just go with the people they like, not the ideas.

It seems too easy for people to find an idea and then convince others why it would be the best choice. I think the best choice should be based in research, experience, and facts – not a sales pitch from a creative director.

What if the client of that advertising agency brought in 50 of its best customers to listen to 3 different presentations? Do you think the outcome would be different for that client/agency?