Of Bubbling Beakers and Blue Crystalline Powder

Creative is vision. And vision is undoubtedly creative. When you bring together a group as individually talented as our creative team, the result is explosive. We revel in it. Our clients reap the benefits of it. And personally, I thrive on it.

Creative energy is not an accident — and creative energy that results in impeccable brand interpretation, relevant audience conversation, and response metrics that continually outweigh the agency giants is practically priceless. Our motto? Redefine the status quo. There is no such thing as creative for creative’s sake in this agency. To quote a very savvy advertiser: If it doesn’t sell, it’s not creative.

So we apply what we call the Bubbling Beaker test to every concept. The blue powder is the result of research — client discovery, competitive analysis, analyst reports (sometimes taken with a grain of salt), and the customer experience. We sprinkle it onto each creative concept — if it doesn’t cause a reaction, it goes down the drain. And our clients will never know it was part of the experiment.

The experiment: the creative process. Indefinable. A mix of right brain chemistry, experience, expertise, understanding, with a pinch of the abstract. Always unexpected. And after a bit of vetting, always yielding concepts that are spot on.

I should note that creative excellence comes not from the proverbial light bulb, but from the evolution of the light bulb. When the light bulb becomes a flood light, illuminating the right message at the right time via the right channel, THAT’S creative excellence.

So what can you do as a savvy marketer to help ensure a Bubbling Beaker?

• Involve everyone within your company who has creative approval from the beginning of the process. Atrocities happen when senior decision-makers are not kept in the loop at each step. Lack of understanding of why we have gone a certain direction with the creative (concept and copy) can be the death of a Bubbling Beaker.

• Understand that bonding is the new branding. While awareness and brand recognition are important, it’s more important that you allow your brand to be interpreted for each audience. Chances are, you are speaking to (in the B2B realm) a multitude of industries, departments, titles, company sizes, cultures or (in the B2C realm) various demographics, regions, shopping patterns.

• Don’t be afraid of the unexpected. Business professionals and consumers are inundated more than ever with advertising. Creative that is cliché, usual, expected does not have the impact that a striking, surprising, yet relevant approach has. This does not mean a campaign has to violate the corporate brand, but that the brand should be made relevant in an unexpected way to garner the most attention.

• Remember, you are not the target audience. It’s crucial you have an agency that understands who you are speaking to, how they process information and where they go for insight. The crux of the Bubbling Beaker is that the creative be designed for the audience, not the client. And when clients can trust that their agency understands this, your campaigns — and you — will be heroes.

In the next post, we’ll explore the Actionable Theme — a strategic way to ensure your campaigns stay integrated throughout the year, yet are unique in their communication.

I welcome your feedback to this post. If you have comments or questions, please utter them here.

Create brilliantly~