29 Feb Monday Morning Media: Creative vs. Media

There is a clear separation between creative execution and media placements.  I am not sure if it is the speed in which marketers are trying to get to market or if it is simply lack of creative vision displayed by talent entrusted to bring a campaign to life.

My feeling is that it is the speed in which marketing teams want to get creative out into the marketplace. This speed and reactionary style marketing is leading to very boring and flat creative.  I can hear it in the radio ads and see it in the broadcast spots.  I am sure this is an age old problem, but the volume of buzzwords that make their way into a finished product is upsetting.

A great example is a specific radio ad heard on the AM drive today.  Typically in the creative concepting phase, a brand will provide words to evoke emotion and direct a creative brief, giving the creative team something tangible to latch onto while cooking up ideas regarding messaging and campaign planning.   What disturbed me today is that these back of the house words are in this radio spot.  Specifically “surprise” and “delight”.    My feeling on this subject is that if you need to tell me that you are going to surprise and delight me, chances are you are not going to do that.  However, in a brief, if you are asking the creative team to come up with something that will surprise and delight the consumer, your creative execution fell flat by a million miles.

I understand the speed in which we all need to get to market, but the short term time saved could have long term negative impacts on your advertising. Forgoing a deeper creative strategy for quick turn programs could leave the consumer wanting more, and deserving more.   The creative is such a crucial piece to your media program, regardless of the avenue, media always works better when the creative is tight and in line with the overall objective.

Tip: when planning your media, pause and think about the creative you have already.  If your creative is not in line with the media, decide if you want to allocate new funds to develop new creative or look at another medium.   Just because you can do something, does not mean you should.