Patterson/Bach Communications, Inc.

Recently, we spent several months creating a comprehensive advertising and public relations campaign for one of our clients. First we created a number of spec campaigns which we presented to the client. Of these, several were chosen for further refinement and presentation to focus groups (focus groups: a topic for a future blog article!). The focus groups in turn gravitated to one campaign, and the client gave us the OK to run with it.

Done deal. Or so we thought. However, in the middle of developing the campaign, a decision was made to shelve it in favor of another one that had actually been rejected by the focus groups. This meant starting over from scratch under a real time crunch—just the thing that normally causes ad creatives to do what we’re alleged to do best: scream and whine.

But no, we didn’t scream or whine. Instead, we got to work. And so, I’m sharing this story with you to:

A. Pat ourselves on the back for executing this switch with grace, good will and professionalism.

B. Present this as a small lesson in humility (as opposed to the other h-word in advertising, hubris).

Stuff happens

Scenarios such as the one I’ve described happen in our business. Changes, reversals, zig zags and all sorts of unexpected things can happen to a campaign as it goes from drawing board to final production. How an ad agency handles these twists and turns determines many things, not the least of which is how the final campaign turns out.

I’m proud to say in this case that we at Patterson/Bach handled things beautifully. There was no grumping or griping about the sudden turn of events. No whining or temper tantrums. None of the arrogance that’s often associated with creative people and their childish ways. Instead, there was an immediate and total commitment to making the new campaign work even better than the original. We regrouped, retrenched, rethought—and lo and behold, we created a campaign that exceeded the original in its creativity and effectiveness.

By handling the situation professionally, with zero arrogance and 100% commitment to the job, we moved from a rough spot to a very smooth and satisfactory finish.

The moral of the story

Conventional wisdom says many ad people—especially creatives—are temperamental and arrogant, disdainful of criticism and unwilling to compromise their grand creative visions. There’s some truth to this, although it’s not always a bad thing to stick to your guns and fight for what you believe is right.

The takeaway from my little story is … well, a little flexibility and humility never hurt anyone. Sometimes all the pieces fall into place and sometimes they don’t. But regardless, the important thing, the thing that really matters, is doing the job to the best of your ability under any and all circumstances. That’s really what you get paid for, and if you’ve done this, you’ve earned every penny you’re entitled to—and you’re worth it.

In advertising, we bat around the word creative like Forrest Gump swatted ping pong balls. We use the word to describe our profession, our work and ourselves, but rarely do we pause to consider just what creativity is and what it means to be creative. So let’s take a moment to reflect on the nature of creativity as it is and has been perceived by some of history’s most—well, creative—minds:

BUCKMINSTER FULLER:

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.

PABLO PICASSO:

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

ALBERT CAMUS:

All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning.

JOHN CAGE:

I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.

NIELS BOHR:

Your theory is crazy, but it’s not crazy enough to be true.

MICHELANGELO:

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

DR. SEUSS:

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!

MARK TWAIN:

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

G.K. CHESTERTON:

There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.

LEWIS CARROLL:

Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

MILES DAVIS:

Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.

VINCENT VAN GOUGH:

If you hear a voice within you say “You cannot paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER:

The wastebasket is a writer’s best friend.

MARCEL PROUST:

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

JOHN UPDIKE:

Creativity is merely a plus name for regular activity. Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.

And finally …

VICTOR HUGO:

An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.

Ahh, so that’s why I can’t get “oo-la-oo-ga-ga” out of my head.

Here at the agency, we’ve filled out a slew of RFPs and RFQs recently in connection with some business presentations. In many cases, these documents are a client’s first impression of a particular advertising agency—and you know what they say about first impressions. So we put lots of care and thought into answering them.

One thing you’ll find in most RFPs and RFQs is a section asking the responding agency about its previous experience in the client’s business category. Agencies with relevant experience pounce on this to demonstrate their expertise, and understanding of the client’s business. Meanwhile, agencies lacking experience brew a fresh pot of coffee and ponder, How are we gonna dance around this?

Common sense tells you an agency with previous experience in a business category has a leg up on one lacking such experience. But common sense also told us the sun revolves around the earth, and humans would never fly. Let’s look at both sides of the experience coin.

The case for experience

Obviously, there’s some comfort level knowing an ad agency has previous  experience in a client’s business category. If the agency has had notable success in a particular field, such as a spectacular and well-received ad campaign, so much the better. Of course, there are no guarantees that the people who created the great work of the past are the ones who will work on the present piece of business: that’s one thing an advertiser should verify.

There’s something else an advertiser should consider. Namely, for all its experience in a business category, will an agency bring fresh thinking and ideas to your business? It’s not uncommon for an ad person (or an entire agency) to get burned out working years and years on the same piece of business. Eventually the idea well runs dry, and it’s time for a change.

As they say in the investment world, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Nevertheless, previous business experience does provide a measure of comfort, along with a track record a client can use to evaluate a potential ad agency.

The case for a fresh slate

Can an ad agency that has never worked on a widget account jump in there and make them fly off the shelves (or wherever widgets fly from)? Absolutely. Success in the ad business demands that you be a fast learner, capable of getting up to speed quickly in a wide variety of business categories. This skill is simply part of a good ad person’s DNA. A little research into an agency’s account roster, along with a probing question or two, should give an idea of how quickly and effectively an agency can learn the ropes of a client’s business.

Also, don’t discount the benefits of bringing a new perspective to your advertising needs—a perspective unaffected by accumulated experience. Sometimes, it’s the agency that’s never had a widget account that finds fresh and interesting ways to advertise them.

Of course, inexperience can be a challenge in the case of a particularly esoteric business category—like for instance psychoneurobiochemical photospectroscopy machines (I’ve got one at home!). You may not feel comfortable having a Gen Y, Kings of Leon-worshipping creative team working on that one. Under normal circumstances however, lack of experience shouldn’t be an automatic disqualifier for a client seeking an agency.

So, how do you choose?

My two cents: choose the agency you feel most comfortable with, regardless of their experience in your business category. If they have tons of experience in your category, that’s great. And if not, don’t sweat it. The real question you should be asking throughout the selection process isn’t how much or little category experience the agency possesses, but:

How good is the agency at the business of advertising?

After all, that’s what you’re really hiring them for, isn’t it?

For examples of this, visit—you guessed it—pat-bach.com. Some of the work you’ll see stems from our considerable experience in various business categories, while other campaigns demonstrate our ability to bring fresh perspectives to new fields of business.

The common denominator in both cases? Quality. That says all you need to know about the “experience vs. novice” debate. And about Patterson/Bach, too.

Two questions: Did you get up this morning? Did you walk out the front door and into the world?

Good. Here then is a third question: Did you notice any eye-popping, attention-getting, 100% memorable outdoor ads out there? If you’re like most people, the answer is HECK NO. Chances are you drove, rode or walked past hundreds of outdoor ads without really noticing a single one. Think of all the time, money and effort spent on creating these messages– and the pitiful results. Makes you wonder if outdoor advertising is simply a waste of money. Or ….

Maybe outdoor advertising could be done better. Maybe a better understanding of the medium and how to use it might lead to improved ads and improved results.

That’s what I think. I’ve been creating advertising since the 1980s, almost back to the Dawn of Time, and I’ve done my share of outdoor ads. A precious few done well, a majority done … well, why do you think I’m writing this article?

I humbly submit that by following a few simple, common sense rules of communication, outdoor advertising can be more attention getting, persuasive—and effective. Here’s how.

Don’t use outdoor advertising to communicate long, complicated, convoluted sales and marketing messages that actually require considerable time, space and attention to be fully understood, absorbed and acted upon by your target audience.

Before you commit to outdoor advertising, make sure it’s the right medium for your message. For example, if you’re an electric utility, and you want to explain your company’s position on the use of green energy to combat global warming, lower energy costs and reduce dependence on foreign oil—do it in a full page newspaper or magazine ad, or on your Web site or your blog. Don’t expect people to absorb your detailed message in the few seconds they’re exposed to it in outdoor advertising. Generally speaking, you want to use outdoor advertising to communicate simple messages that can be easily explained in one simple sentence. If you can’t articulate your message in a few seconds, outdoor boards may not be the way to go.

Keep your simple message SIMPLE.

Got a simple message that’s really, truly appropriate for outdoor advertising? Here’s another piece of advice: try at all costs to avoid complicating your simple message. Design your outdoor messaging so that it will command attention and be easily understood in just seconds (which is all the time you have to attract a distracted motorist or commuter).

I know how hard it is to resist the temptation to cram photos, graphics, copy, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, URLs and six or seven logos onto an outdoor board. While there are no hard, fast rules about this, common sense should tell you the more stuff you cram into your outdoor messaging, the harder it is for a viewer to absorb everything in the precious few seconds he or she is exposed to it.

Here, try this simple test:

Message A:
SAVE 20% WITH XYZ INSURANCE!

Message B:
SAVE 20% WITH XYZ INSURANCE!
CONVENIENT LOCATIONS, FRIENDLY AGENTS!
24-HOUR SERVICE! 50 YEARS IN BUSINESS!
GOOD DRIVER DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE!
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!
WHY PAY MORE? START SAVING TODAY!
CALL 555-1212 TODAY
VISIT WWW.XYZINSURANCE.COM
CLAIMS@XYZINSURANCE.COM
DON’T FORGET—CALL TODAY!

Okay, which message do you remember in its entirety?

I rest my case.

Outstanding outdoor stands out

As with any other form of communication, outdoor messaging has to be noticed if it’s going to have any impact. Unlike any other form of communication, outdoor advertising must capture the attention of people as they zoom down the road at 70 miles an hour (90 to 100 m.p.h. on I-4), hurtling through a landscape crowded with distractions. That’s a tall order when you think about it.

So, how do you make your outdoor boards attention getting? Well, there are different ways to do this, and a good ad agency or design firm will know how. Rather than reviewing the various design techniques, I simply suggest the following:

When you review your outdoor concepts, try to visualize how well your messaging will stand out in its environment. Are you confident your messaging will really pop and grab attention? What makes your messaging so much more compelling and attention-getting than its competitors?

Also, ask the people who create your outdoor materials to explain why their creations will command attention and have the appropriate impact. Challenge them to make your messaging the one thing in its environment that people will absolutely notice.

Finally, never forget this little rule of thumb: advertising that won’t get noticed shouldn’t see the light of day.

Enjoy the great outdoors

I hope that my rant on outdoor advertising has you thinking about the medium and how to use it effectively. Outdoor advertising can be a potent form of communication, and for examples of this, I humbly suggest you visit www.pat-cach.com for examples of our best work.

There’s great work out there in Outdoor Land. Yours should be, too.