Get the Most Out of Your Creative Work

By John Gumas

It's the most exciting part of any project - and usually the toughest - providing constructive feedback on a print ad, Web design, logo concept, etc., that your creative team has presented. How do you judge if it's on target or not? And if not, how do you move the process forward in a constructive and cost-effective way? Here are some tactics to think about.

1. KNOW YOUR GOALS

Even if you share the same demographics and psychographics of your target customer, it's impossible for you to view your creative objectively, like a prospective customer would. You're too close to the inside process. Instead, research who your customer is and include that and all other specific targets for the ad in a creative brief. See that everyone involved in approvals agrees to the creative brief prior to developing the creative - to ensure a smoother process.

2. STRATEGY IS KING

Compare what the ad is saying/doing to what you agreed it needed to do in the creative brief. Is it aimed at the right audience? Does it use language and visuals they will respond to? Does it clearly say why you're different from your competitors? The creative brief sets a target so that you can hit a bull's-eye with your creative.

3. IT'S GOOD TO BE BOLD

Does the creative feel safe? Then it's probably not going to grab attention. Resist the urge to play it safe or to be predictable. You'll never rise above your competition with "safe." With literally thousands of messages bombarding your prospects every day, you can't afford NOT to stand out.

4. BE SPECIFIC ABOUT CHANGES

It's OK to make changes. We expect you to! Just be specific about what needs to be different. Give direction. At the very least, point your team toward something or away from something. The worst thing you can tell your creative team is, "I don't like it, but I don't know why," or, "I'll know what I'm looking for when I see it." Check against the brief and find where the creative work is not on strategy. Ask yourself if the change you want will impact the response rate, effectiveness or readability of the piece.

5. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE CREATIVE GREAT

Every piece of creative presented to you for review is like a baby to the team who created it. They've spent hours working on it, nurturing it, tweaking it. Even the simplest-looking design and copy has had hundreds of creative decisions made before being presented to you. Colors are chosen to work best with a certain photo. A font is chosen to match the mood of the message. The headline is rewritten and dozens of options are tried out. The point here is not to discourage you from making changes, but to offer a suggestion about what changes to make. Working with your creative team, ask, "Did you try ..." or, "What was your thought process in choosing that font or that photo?" The more you know about the strategy that went into developing the creative, the more constructive your input will be.

6. DON'T CATCH THE DREADED 'CHANGE-A- HOLISM' DISEASE

You'll know you've got it when you find yourself making changes to the changes you already made. This confusing and time-consuming situation mostly happens when new people are introduced into the review process at different times. To make the process efficient (and therefore as cost effective as possible for you), be sure everyone who has a say in approving the creative work - including legal - makes all their changes at the same time in the first round. When the process is running smoothly and professionally, you won't need more than two or three rounds before artwork is final.

Remember that great creative starts with you and how you work with your creative team. With these six steps you'll be able to get creative work that is on target, works better and that you really believe in!

November 2007 Builder Architect Edition Issue

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