Hard Lessons Learned Managing the Creative

Process

This is the fun part

When your gut says it is wrong

and everyone else says it is good,

go with your gut.

Trust your guts

Write down your objective and read it often...

every day and out loud.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

Great ads start with great copy,

not with great graphics.

Start with copy

Alone

Slowly

Several times

Read the copy

ADs, CDs, Producers, copywriters don’t have the 7 to 10 times as much stuff in their heads as you do.

Only you can catch dinks.

Go on press checks, edits and sessions

There is no such thing as being a little creative.

Little = none.

Creative or not

Protect them from the winds of business:

your boss,

other managers,

enthusiastic employees,

clients,

media and

your friends.

Creative people are fragile

Come to the process with clear vision & clarity of purpose.

Back off only in the face of great ideas.

Clear water

Good creative is so clear, clean, and convincing it was obvious from the beginning what would be done.

What’s good

Finish what you start.

You begin the process, and you end it.

Carry through to postmortem;

everyone else is afraid to.

Finish

Outsiders see the glitter of our business,

never knowing it’s fluorescent lightingreflecting off sweat.

All that glitters...

books, plays, signs, ads, catalogs, flyers

want ads, manuals, labels, posters, magazines

and most importantly...

low budget, cheap stuff

Read widely

To kill your ability to manage creative talent,

make GSP errors.

Write well

The only way to have power is to give it away.

Power

You don’t need it. Others do.

Always take more than your fair share of blame.

Always take less than your fair share of credit.

Give away credit

Account Managers stack the right firewood the right way so flames burn hot.

Don’t build smoky, flickering piles of wet wood.

Creative people have spark

Place creative people very close to the fire, but shield them from the flames.

Give them access to clients, users, prospects, sales people & competitors.

But never let these people have access to your creative team.

Stand Near The Fire

Especially grips, gaffers, craft services, production managers, operators, electricians, floor foreman, drivers, pressmen and guys on the loading dock.

Respect Production People

Nothing should stand in the way of a great creative product.

Not policy, not clean rooms, not security guards, not bureaucrats.

Stop listening to those people.

Write your own rules

Learn it down to the line item level

or you’ll lose $10,000 and never know it.

$10,000 that could go toward a better ad.

Serious stuff, this budget thing.

Budgets

There are two component parts to risk:

Severity of the outcome - high or low

Probability of the result - high or low

Risk

On the food chain, you’re the top.

Ultimate responsibility is yours.

Do what it takes.

Take risks

The quality of our business is in your hands and no one else’s.

Take care