#3 Creative development: how to build and not destroy

Creative Development Research

The benefit of qualitative research

Bad research

Mixing the creative idea with the execution

Researchers playing ’Grand Strategist’

Using Quant in Qual

Researchers becoming political

Over use of metrics

Researchers playing creative

Logo conversations

Over 50% of the research done at companies is wasted they’re asked to do things that, even if the research project is perfect it won’t be

useful, it’s covering your butt kind of thinking(Bob Barcocci CEO Advertising Research Foundation)

We spend half our day thinking of delicious and imaginative ways to delight our audiences and then, we round up some of the most influential customers shove them in a dreary room, confuse them with obtuse questions and odd

drawings, then send them on their way with £20 (Russel Davies)

Some adverts have failed the grade (1/3)

Some adverts have failed to make the grade (2/3)

Originally failed

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Creative development = Agency swear word?

For creatives it is another destruction of an idea

For account handlers it is a risk

For planners: Places them in a defensive position

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The main problem is the process

The consumer becomes the Grand Jury

Creates a ‘traffic light approach’ to research

Qualitative research become like Millward Brown

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First problem: Conservative clients

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Conservative clients want consensus

Consensus is bad

Makes research a beauty parade (based on appeal)

Focus often shifts towards the execution

Or you end up with ‘Tony Blair’ research

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Consensus kills advertising

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Second problem: Time

Often ads are researched late in the process.

Agency has no time to change anything

Research is pointless it is just a ‘tick box’ exercise that the ads must go through

Client and agency have have very set opinions

Research becomes political

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Third problem: Consumer = Holy Grail

There are several problems with this approachFirstly the consumer is not a creative

Secondly: Consumers don’t really care about brands Thirdly: Consumers don’t care about advertising

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Fourth problem: Length of groups

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Solutions: Change the Philosophy

Creative development shouldn’t be about winners and losers.

Instead it should be about how can every idea go into the world

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Solutions: Embrace tension

Researchers should embrace polarity and tension

An education process is needed here

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Solutions: Creative development for the creatives

Traditional model of creative development assumes a linear approach

IDEA TEST CREATE EVALUATE

Use it as a development tool

IDEA

EXPLORE

DEFINE

EXPLORE

REDEFINE

Some practical tips (at briefing)

Involve the creativesExplain the strategyShare the creative briefExplain what is the creative idea and executional detailsDo not talk about yours or the agencies viewAsk the researchers to read up on the market Ask researchers to think about the audience from a cultural perspective

Some practical tips (the guide)

Think about what the idea is and how it should be framed

Sometimes ideas shouldn’t be framed as adverts

Ensure there is a rotation of ads

Make sure the researcher doesn’t have long warm up

Ensure that researchers don’t ask “What is your favourite advert”

Don’t show a brands previous ads

Make sure that respondents do a self-completition exercise

Some practical tips (the guide)

Really think about the stimulus

Ensure the scripts are not too long

Make sure scripts are written in consumer language

Mood boards are terrible

Try and keep things rough

Narrative tapes are good – because they feel like a story

Remember – Researchers often kill scripts – use actors or professional voice overs   

Steven LaceySLSsteve@slsstrategy,com07772587204