A Creative Communications Agency

Taking a chance comes down to the battle between the brain and your guts. You can pull all the logic and facts together but the feeling that is in your gut could outweigh even the most convincing data. Marketing managers and the relating creative team want to base their ideas on their gut instincts but many times the pressure makes them follow the data and trends.

For marketing to truly be innovative and different it is about taking the chance on what you think will work. Your gut has a lot of knowledge that it doesn’t share with the brain. Focus groups do not get mixed in with gut instincts. That is why some of the most innovative marketing is achieved and praised because the creator did what they felt confident about.

Why not take the risk? Job security. That is the bottom line when people consider taking a chance. If the campaign that you approved or created fails, guess who is going to be blamed by everyone else looking for a scapegoat, the one who signed the bottom line. The pressure on marketing managers is huge. For a new marketing manager who has just taken over it is a struggle to fit in with the mold of the company or jump out and blaze your own trail? That is why large committees seem to become more common in companies.

Committees stifle the creative idea. No matter if there are 3 or 30 people on the committee, each person wants to add their own flair to the piece and the creative team is left to ponder numerous comments and feedback that don’t relate to each other but must be combined to get the piece completed. The presentation is vital to this phase of the process.

Put the showman up in front of the group to explain the idea. It is selling a philosophy, the snake oil salesmen use to do it an now the creative team must do the same. The wonders of this idea are endless. This idea will solve all of your sales woes and cure what troubles ya.

Where does this leave us in order to move forward? It comes down to the strength and conviction of the individuals. Will you stand up for what you believe in, or fold under the pressure and just turn the crank to produce another piece that is watered down and blends in with the background? Believe in your gut, when it speaks up take notice.