Creative Director Is More Than Just A Title

A student recently asked; 'what's it like to be a Creative Director?" While watching this it dawned on me; with looming deadlines hanging over you, this is seriously what it is like to be a Creative Director -fighting for a proper brief, getting that idea, fighting for it, selling it, fighting for it, delivering it. Once done. Repeat.

But what other factors contribute to the stress? Why tight timelimes? Sometimes it is a quick turn around, its the nature of the business, but some stressful timings and working conditions are self-inflicted by many agency folk. We all know the industry is transforming, with start-ups, consultants and agencies reinventing their offerings.It's now not unusual for pure digital agencies to be the 'lead agency' and to do TV spots and across the way, good old PR agencies creating digital experiences with all of them saying that they can create 'micro-moment' rich content in a day. No wonder there's confusion within the departments and even more confusing for our clients. One such client who has become a good friend over the years spoke to me recently with eyes rolling about another offering from her agency of record. She said something quite interesting in the next breath by saying; 'I nod and I always refer to the Creative Director, if you take away all the jargon it will always come back to the idea'. 'No idea no offering' and key factor is can that agency deliever that idea within the agreed timeframe? Is it going to make a difference within my sector in either brand equity or a strong KPI that has been agreed? All basic stuff nut gets missed time and time again. So why the rolling surf bearing down the neck of the Creative Director from the student who asked the original question? I thought about his question long and hard and it's quite simple really, most companies 'faff' and what I mean by that statement is we have too many people talking and not actually doing what they are been paid to do. I remember many moons ago, AMV London had a website that showcased all their work as a simple sketch on a post-it note. You got the purity and genius of the ideas, where all the other agencies at the time where into Flash sites as it looked 'cool' yes a bastard to load but hey; 'they'll love it' was the shout from the new business directors. Experienced CD's have a knack to cut-through quickly, most are as sharp as a razor in thinking and clarity, and there lies the problem, while all departments have been faffing beforehand many turn their attention in cretaing ideas as it deflects what they should be doing but when it comes to the crunch most come up short,so before you try to catch a wave focus on what you get paid to do then maybe the whole process could be less of a kick bollock scramble and the surf deadlines bearing down your/our neck wouldn't be common practise. Just maybe we could service our clients better, just a thought. Have great creative productive week, surfs up!

11:11:11

This was posted over the weekend, just stunning work, beautiful idea that has real class. #HatTip

Greggs You cheeky Monkey

When I saw this on my Twitter feed I laughed out loud. I think Greggs by doing this really plays to their strengths, they saw an opportunity to do a cheeky Christmas marketing stunt by flipping around its shop logo to capitalise on the popularity of Fenwick's famous Christmas window display opposite in Newcastle. Stroke of genius and hat tip to them as they have gained a lot of free media from the stunt, all positive I might add. To many brands now are to scared to do stuff like this, responses like; what would the customers think if we put our signage backwards? Where does it fit in with our marketing plan, and our 'brand playbook' we all follow doesn't show our signage flipped.

. Great stuff and might be the best piece of content created all Christmas for a retailer. The original post is here on Twitter with the video.

Trash Isle

Just amazing idea to bring about change

Google My Line

Living on a desert island and having super-fast internet – well that would be the dream! And with Google My Line, I will stay connected to the rest of the world. A beautiful idea using modern and old tech to make the internet more accessible.

Rapid Rescue

This is old but I love this idea, great ideas never die. (pun intended) Like the fact that this idea harnessing trained first aiders already out there, who in effect could respond quicker as they are nearer to the scene.

Insta Depressed

I saw this idea from WWF, called #TooLatergram caught my eye and I thought it was clever way to draw attention we are doing to the World we live in from crystal clear seas, to Alice In Wonderland Coral reefs and snow-topped glaciers covered in snowdrop coloured flowers. Through the lens of travel bloggers they truly look awe inspiring the locations just look like a place we all want to go. There lies the problem, as earth’s natural wonders have disappeared because of people. In this social activation WWF tries to engage millennials to take environmental action. They invited famous travel Instagramers to post images of international beauty spots as if they were paying them a visit. But thousands of followers who gushed over the pics discovered there was a bleak story behind the post. The sites had already been ruined and bloggers responded by posting a picture of the current situation at the same place. #TooLatergram well one thing it did for me is depressed me on what we have done, I clicked on the link at the end and as it was in French, didn't give me the option for English version and the site was pretty slick in interface, but that's it just information on the places and a newsletter sign-up, surely we should be doing something more? Pre-perpared letters to Govs? Protest? Not sure but it just felt a bit design and idea over end output. I go back to feeling miserable after watching this.