Why creatives are always confused

Ha! I wanted to share some links with you.

Confused creatives

The first is this post from The Ad Contrarian which explains why creatives are always confused. You’ll know the feeling if you’ve ever been a radio writer or producer, and this is exactly the kind of post I can imagine being pinned up above the desks of radio production people on stations everywhere.

Two bits resonate strongly with me:

When they finally get something good produced, it fails. When they produce mundane crap, it works.

Yes. Beware managers in search of a quiet life who use this argument to drain creative energy and suppress interesting work. You’ll know the ones – they say things like “just do a Ronseal”.

They are encouraged to be collaborative. But the more people touch their work, the worse it gets.

How many times have I heard that in performance conversations with creatives? The key is to get collaboration at the right stages of the creative process.

Casting the net wide for stimulus and insight is good collaboration, as is taking an idea into new environments to build on it. On the other hand, involving clients who think their children would write a better spot or agreeing to sign-off by an ever-growing committee of interested parties is not.

Owning an event

The second link is to the site of Newsleader Media Consultancy, aka Justin Kings. I’ve yet to work with Justin but I’m impressed by his energy, his vision and his great use of time. Here, he’s assembled a great selection of tips for owning an event while he waited in an airport departure lounge. Top work.

Photo: Don’t chain me down by Wink on Flickr. Used under CC licence.