OG's BLOG

I once worked with an ad agency who had a lot of promise. They admired my idols, StudioAKA. We talked a lot about their spot “The Big Win”, in which a simple Lotto ad was transformed into a work of Art. We were all in awe of how StudioAKA had done that, particularly in light of how unimaginative many clients initially are.

Without even knowing the details of how that spot transformed from the one to the other, based on my experience with imaginationless suits and visionaries, I can imagine one way the meeting might have taken place:

CLIENT: I want a spot popularizing the National Lottery. Maybe a guy with a bag running around town handing out money.

VISIONARY: Smiles.

CLIENT: Say what?

VISIONARY: He’s not handing out money. He’s handing out smiles.

CLIENT: Say what, again?

VISONARY: And it’s a doctor’s bag. He’s running around town, handing out smiles out of a doctor’s bag, because ultimately that is your product. You’re not selling money, or even the chance to win money. Not really. You’re selling the dream of money, that momentary rush before the numbers are called and you could still win.

He’s a doctor because he makes you feel better. All your problems could be over. You could afford a new house, one without a leaky roof. You could afford a new car, one without a failing transmission. You could go to your boss tomorrow and just be done. Your life could change completely, and all for the price of a one-dollar ticket.

And it’s not the money. Not for that fleeting moment, it’s not. It’s that feeling, that joy, that elation. They say money can’t buy happiness, but we know better, don’t we? Win the lottery. Strike it rich. Be happy. And that’s what you’re selling: Happiness.

CLIENT: Well… I see what you’re saying, but I still think we should focus on that bag of money. It’s the Lottery, after all…

VISIONARY: Give me a chance to mock this up. I think you’ll like it.

CLIENT: Well… if you really think so…

Aaaaand… scene.

Now, I should tell you, that is not quite the way it happened. In this case, both the agency and the client wanted StudioAKA to do something memorable, so there was latitude to develop this ad properly, and studio head Philip Hunt lists this spot as one of his favorites and well he should. These spots don’t always go this way.

But why shouldn’t they go this way more often?

What’s the lesson here, boys and girls? In my purely hypothetical example, the Visionary has to push the Client to see that more is possible. This has nothing to do with knowing where the Client might bend or break, and everything to do with what kind of company you want to be, what kind of artist you want to be. There are those who innovate, who push the envelope, and then there are the ones who simply do what they’re told. There are plenty of studios like that overseas and you can’t compete with them on cost. They’re cheap because they are simply factories.

No innovation. No pushing. The customer is always right.

Except, frequently, they’re not.

Yes, they pay the bills, and yes, they should get something that represents their product in the best light. They should get their moneysworth. But we, as artists, have a responsibility to show them what they might not have thought about yet. The dirty secret about clients is that frequently they don’t know what they want. They have to be shown that we can all do something better than what they’re asking. Something memorable. Only in so doing do they actually get their moneysworth.

The problem with the agency I worked with was that they only wanted to do what the client wanted. The client had come to the agency because they had seen my work and wanted my look and feel. Only, when I began doing designs for their spot, the agency began telling me that the client didn’t want those designs. They wanted the characters to look more like Pixar.

Now – when a client tells you that, and they have been drawn to you because they’ve seen your distinctly non-Pixar look, they’re either asking for something they don’t know how to put into words, or they’ve come to the wrong place. But the agency didn’t want to go back and discuss it with the client. They wanted to just stop the conversation. The client wants it thus, and that is that. The problem is, there are plenty of artists out there who will give you a Pixar-on-a-budget look. For a lot of artists, that’s all they can see. If you’re one of them, how do you distinguish your work? And in my opinion, if your client wants that look, those other artists and the client were made for each other.

It was the perfect place to stretch a little, show some range and some backbone. Try to be more like StudioAKA, or even – *gasp!* something new! – instead of Outsource House #247.

But the insidious thing is that it’s easier to just do what the clients want. Play it safe. Don’t rock the boat. And your portfolio will be full of nice, safe vanilla. Via con dios.

Finally, watch this clip:

That is a great scene from Mad Men, in which Creative Director Don Draper meets with timid potential clients from a bikini company who don’t want to show their bikini in their ads for their own bikinis. Don Draper has had enough of doing tame, timid creative. The client is asking for vanilla while trying to sell chili sauce. Maybe Don’s going over the top. Maybe he’s being a complete jerk.

But I would rather be like Don Draper than a groundhog afraid of his own shadow. At least Don Draper’s not vanilla.