As long as I’ve been in advertising and in every agency i worked at as a creative, this has been the “process”
PERSON 1: We need some advertising ideas about this in two weeks time.
ME: Cool!
And then we would go away and think about it and come back with some ideas in less than two weeks.
That’s all there is folks!
There isn’t any more.
And it’s the same thing at every advertising agency in the world, no matter how much they try to convince you otherwise.
I used to laugh at ad agencies that pretended they had a unique “process”. Like Ogilvy’s famous 360 degree thing. What does that mean, you say. Well, that’s Ogilvy’s hook. “Let’s talk about it!” says the Ogilvy new biz person.
It’s basically an attempt by bigger ad agencies to pretend that it’s not all voodoo when you hire this agency.
Oh no, here they have successfully harnessed the voodoo to work for you! No more guesswork, no more intuition, no more mystery. These guys have solved it for you!
I guess it’s an effort to soothe nervous/impressionable clients willing/wishing to believe that “process” alone will yield great advertising.
And if you examine this “processed” advertising you’ll find it to be a rather bland and unsatisfying dish.
The truth is creativity and creative execution is voodoo and always has been and always will be. Look at Hollywood.
So be sure you hire the best voodoo practitioner you can find.
Because all those smiling advertising people selling you on their surefire “process” are lying to you.
