Distinctions without a difference
Marketing folks sure do love to put a stake in the ground. “Everything’s different now”, “The paradigm has shifted, forever”, “Apps are the new ad”, etc.
Problem is, most of these so called revelations don’t actually reveal anything.
Case in point: this article from Fast Company.
The author (a “Creative Culturalist”, according to his byline) makes the argument that ad agencies are not equipped to create anything other than ads. And we never will be—unless we follow his advice. But his recommendations sound an awful lot like the things most agencies are already doing. Fortunately, he wraps everything up in a buzzword-laden package, to help the reader feel sufficiently inept and enamored by his “cultural” prowess.
Here are his 5 tips for turning your inadequate agency’s frown upside down (my comments in italics):
1. MAKE THE CREATIVE PROCESS OPEN-SOURCE
From traditional creatives to coders, UX designers to fashion designers, bring in people with different skills sets. You’re ideating for a different solution, you need different inputs.
Hiring people with different skill sets? Hmm, okay if you insist. I was thinking we could staff up with a bunch of typesetters and jingle writers, but I’m game to try anything. Even this thing you call “ideating”. Is that similar to “thinking”?
2. THINK PLATFORMS, NOT CAMPAIGNS
It’s not about a 30-second spot or banner ad. It’s about ideas that can evolve and support a multitude of additional ideas.
It’s not about saying stuff that actually makes sense. It’s about taking two words that mean pretty much the same thing and somehow making it sound like they are opposites.
3. UNDERSTAND APIS
Can your idea connect to the Internet? If not, it’s probably not a viable platform for the 21st century.
I don’t understand APIS. In fact, I have no idea what APIS is. But I understand the idea of connecting my ideas to the Internet. I actually understood this in the 20th century. Back then, we called it “extending the campaign” or “doing our jobs”. But from this point forward, I shall call it APIS.
4. ADOPT AN ITERATIVE PROCESS
“Makeable Ideas” are tweaked, nuanced, and massaged and gather strength as they face testing. Conceive, test, improve.
Okay, c'mon. Now you’re just fucking with me, right? Iterative Process? Sorry, but that deserves a few hundred volts right to the head, like the folks in this video got. Conceive, test and improve? Absolutely. I just thought that was called “working”.
5. CREATE A PHYSICAL/DIGITAL TENSION
Many of the best platforms understand how to balance consumer behaviors that transcend between physical and digital. Think about how your idea engages people in a physical space, or physically, as well as in a digital or mobile space.
Who doesn’t love a little physical/digital tension? Sounds hot. I’m getting worked up just thinking about this bizarrely alluring notion of making an idea work online and offline. I think we may have just created a paradigm shift. Did you feel it?