While it is vital for creative agencies to produce great ideas and execution, it is perhaps even more essential for them to have discerning clients.
Ultimately, it is the client’s yes or no that sends communication material into the world or to the agency archives. Very few clients realise that the reason their communication material does not work is that they commandeered it and directed it against the guidance of their creative agency.
Many creatives believe that to produce communication material that achieves breakthrough, clients need to be willing to take risks. However, in some situations a risky approach may not be appropriate and a conservative route of communicating benefits may be more suitable. In either case, client fear is a killer of creativity and the pressure of accountability drives homogeneity.
Most of the time, creatives have good reason behind their ideas and concepts. Clients may have never considered the effects that text, tone, colour, type, space, sound, imagery and other elements have on the viewer and how they work together. This is the world in which creatives live and (love to) work in every day. The best way to get the most out of your agency is to trust them with creative freedom after communicating your basic ideas, visions, target audience and reference material.
Quite possibly the best example of a company trusting the approach and guidance of a creative agency was Apple’s decision to air a commercial based on the concept of ‘Big Brother’ from George Orwell’s novel 1984. The ad which aired only once during the 1984 Super Bowl featured stark images of Orwell’s dystopia and a dramatic scene of a young woman throwing a mallet through a screen, destroying a controlling force symbolic of their major competitor, IBM. Apple’s board of directors initially thought the commercial was too controversial and might damage their image, particularly in the business market. However, the impact of the spot was tremendous and was the talk of the media, marketing and advertising industries. The ad eventually went on to be crowned the greatest television commercial of all time by TV Guide.
Understanding and respecting what a creative does as well as the time and effort that goes into what they do will result in better quality communication material, which will only make both you and your creative agency happy.