All agencies try it. A positioning. A tag line. A mission statement. Or even a 'product'. We've all heard them. Sniffed at them. Laughed at them. Done them. Stuff about engineers. Change. Ideas. Delivering results in a digital world; for tomorrow.
While some of them are conceived for noble and important reasons: differentiation, edge, unification, purpose; most appear to be little more than guff. Guff that's only worthy for the sides of logistics lorries on the M6.
So when our biggest brains sat round a white board a couple of years back, expectations weren't sky high. The time had come to wrestle with the universally hoary problem - who are we? And what do we stand for?
After kicking word farts around for a while, a timid hand was raised and suggested Smarter Creative.
The angels passed over. Silence descended. No one could find fault. The beauty and simplicity was totally understood by the gathered noggins. We all got it. Instantly.
And two years on, we're still getting it. And thankfully, our clients are too.
In the oft and infuriatingly misappropriated words of Al Young and Trevor Robinson's brilliance for Ronseal; it did exactly what it said on the white board (add that one to the out-of-context-and-lame reference list. Sorry Al.)
So, when asked to add some wordage to our blog about Smarter Creative, I said what any self-respecting CD would say, "What is there not to get? It doesn't need explaining... surely?" (Add in lots of swears where appropriate.)
I lost. So here I am.
As a simple soul, I can only keep it simple. So here goes:
Smarter Creative means that the work we do gets to the right people at the right time with the right message.
Sounds a bit like direct marketing? Fair enough. But what makes the smart bit smarter is that we use the latest techniques, technology, insights, methods and science available. Oh, and forgotten sorcery like intuition, experience and sometimes - uh oh - pure guess work.
And you know what? It works. And makes my life a lot easier. Once all the really hard stuff is done, doing the creative bit is comparatively a doddle.
It's not alchemy. Earth shatteringly new. Original. Scientifically significant. Or even proprietary. Just common sense.
OK, our creative folk end up knowing just as much about collaborative filtering, link building, prospect pool building, insight engines and Net Promoter scores as they do about subordinate clauses, Berthold type libraries (ask your Dad kids), choosing the right director's reel or latest hot-stuff animator.
But it makes them smarter.
Which makes the work smarter.
And that's it. No weighty words fit for a TED talk or text book.
Just the simplicity of the thought that got us all to get behind it in the first place.
So now you know.
Chris Martin
