I’ve always believed that one ad, creatively constructed, can do the work of many ads. It will stand out. It will be remembered better. It will encourage engagement at a greater level. It will sell more effectively. Therefore, it will require the expenditure of fewer media dollars. In short, it will be a marketing superhero.
“Pessimism never won any battle.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower
God is first and foremost a Creator. Worlds, people, plants, animals, dinosaurs. He is the ultimate Creative Director, and I assume He takes great joy in creating — as we should. I can only dream of would it be like to be assigned to His creative department. Can you imagine the Creative Brief you’d get. “Today we need 14 new varieties of flowers, a six-legged mixture of a dog and cat, and green sky. Oh, and there are no budget parameters. Your deadline is eternity. Ready, go.” Now that would truly be Heaven.
In my youth, my dad would frequently remind me, "David, it is better to be trusted than loved. I will always love you, but trust must be earned. And once earned, nothing is more valued."
Longstanding relationships, whether between clients and agencies, fathers and sons or between other individuals are the result of trust, assisted by a side-helping of communication and understanding. But trust is critical above all.
A distant mentor of mine recently said, "As a culture, we've developed a case of collective ADD. We live in a visual-digital society that's too impatient to listen and get sucked in." It's true. We generally prefer quick snippets, sound bites, and five second videos (think Vine). Advertisers darn well better make sure the first five seconds of a TV spot, pre-roll video or Pandora radio ad snags the ever-shrinking attention span, or they're dead in the water. It’s always been that way to a degree -- but now more than ever. Headlines in print mediums have always had to do the same, or the reader turns the page.
To succeed in five seconds or in a headline takes craftsmanship, talent, and a desire to sweat the details -- every word, syllable, phrase, color, font, motion. Five seconds? Sounds quick and easy. It's not. That's why billboards have always been one of the most difficult mediums to master. Today, the same applies to digital banners. It takes a stellar concept to start with, and then immense finessing and fine-tuning. And the first idea you come up with won't cut it. Neither will the next 25, because they're all based on stuff you seen or heard before. Cliche. Trite. Been done. It takes digging much deeper in the well of creativity. And in our five-second-attention-span-world that's a "do or die" proposition.
