At the behest of our new biz director, an extended version of my earlier post on ideas and execution was offered up to Utalkmarketing. Read it here, or below...
The driving force at the heart of the communications industry is an unswerving belief in the need for, and power of, great ideas. Quite rightly we say that without ideas that excite, amaze and inspire, that capture the imagination and stir the emotions, you have nothing. Without a connection with (and in our social media world, between) the people we need to engage, any money spent is being wasted.
From this perspective, ideas are the selling point and point of difference for communications agencies; the currency we bring to the table, and reason we’re asked back. Because we are only as useful to clients as our ideas are effective.
So what’s the problem? Doesn’t this celebration of creativity make perfect sense? Well, yes. But only up to a certain point. Because in focusing on ideas as our reason to be, what we are also trading in is the theoretical…and theory alone won’t ‘shift product’. Because no matter how insightful our strategic thinking or how clever our creative concepts, they are of no value unless executed effectively.
Like that novel that goes forever unwritten, or the dream home spoilt by poor painting and decorating, we have all been involved with ‘world changing’ ideas that have come to nought because of bad execution. Conversely, though we may feel less comfortable admitting this, there are probably just as many strategically flabby, ill conceived ideas out there that have been salvaged, at least in some part, by decent execution; a photographer, director or web designer adding some magic that was otherwise missing.
All of which seems to beg a rather obvious question: if execution is so important, why have agencies always looked to outsource the craft skills that make our ideas a reality? A writer writes, a painter paints, but we farm out this last and arguably make-or-break step in our creative process to someone else.
Looked at in this way, it may not seem the most logical thing to do. Particularly given that, in outsourcing execution of our creativity, we are handing over not just technical skills but a fair degree of creative control to people who may have a completely different vision and agenda to ours. Or to people who lack the business, brand and comms background required to properly grasp the challenges we face, and what we are trying to achieve with the ideas they are executing. And whilst relinquishing control won’t necessarily have negative consequences, a divergence in client (and agency) expectations from the reality of the final creative execution happens more often than we might like.
In seeking a solution, it would be naive to suggest agencies should handle all execution themselves. That’s just not practical. There’s the cost dimension to consider: we can’t possibly employ everyone in-house, particularly where in-depth, specialist, but seldom required skills are concerned. Equally, there are some true artists out there, people with a genius touch, who we would be foolish not to involve given the added value they bring. In these instances, well-managed outsourcing makes perfect sense.
That said, it is still worth asking why agencies seem all too often phobic about making any ‘stuff’ at all. And whether we would be doing ourselves a favour by taking on board some aspects of practical execution ourselves. Doing the doing, if you like. Because the talent is usually there, if only we’d look.
But beyond some of the digital players with in-house programmers, true vertical integration of execution is pretty much unheard of in our industry. Normally integration - if it happens at all - is horizontal, defined by the ability to come up with ideas that can work across disciplines or in different media. And even when media planning itself is added back into the full service mix (as some agencies have done), this is arguably just another step along the horizontal spectrum of idea and theory (nowadays, the medium really is integral to the message), rather than true vertical integration.
So what is the alternative? Is there another way? It is probably a case of horse for courses, because the same model may not be right for everyone. But looking at Quiet Storm as an example, one of our founding principles, and so part of our core DNA, was the decision to retain executional control over film production, with all our creatives directing their own work where appropriate; a principle we have since extended to other areas such as experiential and digital.
The original reason for this was a recognition that, whilst the parting of the ways between idea and execution has the potential to happen in all creative disciplines, it can be most evident in film. The multi-layered complexity of the ideas involved lend themselves to different interpretations at the best of times. And a third party director can exacerbate this divergence because of the considerable creative power they wield, sometimes in good ways…but not always.
We have found that keeping strategy, idea and execution under one roof as we do, with the multi-disciplinary core team involved at every stage, has many advantages, both for ourselves and our clients: there’s clear understanding of, and insight into, the business challenges and objectives for everyone involved (and not just the account people and planners), increased responsiveness as a consequence, and greater flexibility when ideas need to evolve.
This model also has the benefit of retaining implementational quality control. Because when the final product really is your responsibility, with no one else to hide behind, you have to ensure execution is firing on all cylinders. Which is why we believe this ultimately, and most importantly, leads to more effective solutions for all our clients.
Nor are these benefits limited to conventional media alone. Increasingly, we define our expertise in this area as having less to do with 30" TV ads and more to do with brand-building, film-based content in its broadest sense...and especially in the digital space. As The Guardian’s online special report said recently: "video in interactive campaigns is becoming the key element in connecting with an online audience and creating buzz".
And in this environment, where responsiveness and flexibility are (if you’ll excuse the pun) a virtual necessity, having the strategic, creative and executional talent working as a team maximises the chances of success. Because if you control the content, and its means of production, you’re in a much stronger position…whatever media you’re operating in.
To dramatise this, a live and current example to finish that demonstrates the ‘real world’ benefits of integrating idea and execution. Quiet Storm were approached recently by one of our clients, Butchers Petcare, who had been presented with an unmissable media opportunity: broadcast sponsorship of C4’s early evening flagship, the Paul O’Grady Show.
The only problem: to close the deal they needed to produce a complete set of idents in just two weeks. Under normally conditions this would be nigh on impossible, with the best you could hope for being a bland solution stripped of all creativity and interest value. But within a vertically integrated model, with execution in house, such tight timeframes become much less of a barrier to creative excellence.
With the green light given on the Wednesday, we had a planning and creative brainstorm the next day to agree strategic direction. Ideas were presented the following Tuesday, signed off by Thursday, with the shoot on the Friday. Post production was carried out over the weekend, with initial cuts presented Monday. The finished films were finally played out on the Thursday deadline.
Obviously, such tight timings focus the mind of both agency and client, particularly where sign off is concerned, ensuring things happen quickly. And whilst we would never suggest this was our preferred way of doing business, it wasn’t a bad fortnight's work! But only something that we could deliver because we had all the relevant skills in house.
So as the world continues to speed up, and the recession continues to bite, we can only see more clients needing similar win-win solutions that provide cost effective responsiveness in execution without compromising on quality of idea or brand integrity; something that only vertical integration can offer.
Which is no bad thing if you can deliver!
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