The Creative Meeting
All too often the people sitting around the table come up with awful solutions because they can’t separate themselves from their own perspective.
Say a friend has asked you to be a sponsor at his chicken barbecue. You say yes because you’re friends with him. You then call a meeting with your creative team to see how to get the most out of the event, nevermind that you’re a B2B business and most of the attendees at the barbecue will be consumers (and retired).
At the meeting you brainstorm ways to make the event a success: handing out cute pens, tote bags, T-shirts. Having a raffle for free USB drives, $25 gift certificates, free massages, etc. When each idea comes up, your people look on the bright side (”People would love_____!” “That’s perfect!”)
When they say “people” they really mean “I.” I like that, so other people will too. Because it appeals to me and I make the decisions, by default it’ll be a huge hit.
The Creative Fallacy
Here’s why this approach never works: everyone loves their own ideas. And they love the ideas of people they respect even more. Is Grandpa really going to use a USB drive? Or a furry pen? More than that, why is a B2B operation sponsoring a chicken barbecue anyway?
Instead of making decisions then finding ways to make them succeed, decide on the right channels up front so even if you have a subpar follow-through it won’t be a disaster.
Effective and Ineffective Creative Marketing
The best way to do avoid event catastrophe is to have an out-of-body experience. You and your team need to
- Remove yourselves mentally from the planning process
- Divorce yourselves from your ideas
- Think like the person you’re trying to reach.
Remember a time when you were marketed to inefficiently. It happens to me nearly everyday: I’ll be watching TV with my friends and after a particularly awful commercial that doesn’t relate to me I can’t help but say, “That was terrible.”
Now think of a time when exactly the right thing came along at exactly the right time. For me, that’s usually late-night fast-food commercials. It’s 11pm, I ate dinner an eternity ago, and that Crunchwrap Supreme just looks soooo cheesy and tempting. So I drive to Taco Bell and pick one up.
Succeeding Creatively
You have to recognize your audience and what they respond to. Once you understand that, you can pick and choose where you want your marketing to be. Don’t decide on the channel then try and make it work (like the chicken barbecue). Put being where your customers are the first priority.
Because if you do it right, they’ll appreciate hearing from you.