Roy’s Blog

Monkey say Monkey do and the new demographics

Is anybody else getting completely “newwebbed” – (patent pending) out? I know I am. From the creative after perspective I think it’s about time our industry is finally eating at the big boys table. Now that Rupert, Bill and friends are truly on board and have, for now, made their billion dollar purchases and have temporarily stopped hopping about trying to figure out how to monopolise the web 2.0 environment, things are beginning to clear. This means we can again think about real users, real problems and offering useful, engaging digital solutions. As opposed to the current sorry state of affairs where the growing noise of snake oil salesmen masquerading as web 2.0 guru’s is becoming ever more intrusive . Interactive TV anyone?

If we can forget about the quick buck merchants and think positively it leaves the field wide open for us creatives to continue flexing our muscles in ever varying ways to see how far we can push new technology and what new, undiscovered ideas might come as a result For every netvibe, flickr, last.fm out there are a bundle of poor imitations, most of them adding very little weight apart from the of the wagon creaking under the weight of the clod-footed, me-too opportunism. This is my major gripe. Clients are already getting sick of the phrase web 2.0 and I feel are beginning to view its exponents as cheap con artists.

I’m hoping that out there aren’t lots of new digital creative pitches beginning with. ‘It’ll be fine, well web 2.0 it to up, make it really sexy’ but I know for sure this isn’t the case/ as creative professionals I suggest trying to understand the implications of shifting technology on a client by client perspective. Rather that blather on about Ajax, atlas, social networking, the new youtube and other tired buzzwords to our clients we’d rather the creative elements worked in conjunction with the technology to contribute to the whole. This includes running digital projects the old fashioned way - proper planning and IA, usability, accessibility, user journeys allied with cutting edge creativity equalling useful, creative solutions to a client problem. If these elements are in place it’s a much easier task to develop full-on customer centered solutions instead of bolting on the latest buzzwords to give a poor solution credence. Now here’s the thing, the customer is now empowered with changing, adding to and sometimes even improving our best ideas. These technologies are the creative building blocks for the industry to push ahead and raise our profile from the boom and bust headlines to create some great content with solid, ongoing ROI

The creative challenge is not spewing out clichéd buzz phrases it is this. Engender trust from our clients in our industry as a whole, by keeping away from and lazy targeting and damaging recommendations. Advise from a position of expertise, even if that advice is not to use a particular technology. When each and every user is the customer, reviewer, critic, publisher and creator of content. Operating not just creatively, but effectively within these new boundaries is where my money is going in terms of the most exciting, challenging creative environments just don’t get “newwebbed” out before we truly understand how powerful and creative these tools can be.

Well, you can dream can’t you?

Oh really? thats an interesting viewpoint. I’d imagine it came from an account manager or maybe even a client?
its a strong perspective to say the least and not one i’d usually like to be associated with. but ever keen play the angles ive decided to give it some thought. what actually is creativity?

Well, in the new media digital environment i’d argue it is the “thing” that we all gather around. We eyei nervously lest we look directly at it while it floats into the nether. We cajole, encourage, protect and agrue fiercely to give it and those who have the talent to believe in it and to embellish it the rights to see it through. It is the campaing that sells toothpaste, touches hearts, drives us crazy, makes us laugh. It is the only touchpoint from which the consumer or user comes into contact with the brand in an honest way.

There is another school of thought that propoess That creativity can be turned on like a tap and that given a finite amount of time any given person can create a specified number of creative “things”. That it is pure touchy-feely, nice on the eye, visual candy. Poppycock. Without harnessing creativity in the right way and doing the utmost to care for it it does indeed become a commodiity and one that can be replaced ad nauesum by any number of other comodities, is this what we want for our brand communciations? is this what we are being asked to create? to truly deliver a compelling user experience? This tanks-on-the-lawn approach to the creative art is damaging in both the short and long term and has a major impact on ROI.

Bulldozing in and expect an immediate return results without investing the time, effort and care to grow the creativity and the team creating it into a world beating campaing, product launch or service is a sure path to failure.

It is then a very short path to not understanding the underlying reasons for the “thing” in the first place. why not replace the “thing” with another “thing” and see if that works. Monkeys and photoshop do not a campaign make.

The easily avoidable mistake here is that if creativity as an art is treated with the respect it deserves and not foisted upon the consumer as just another commoditity it will make a difference to ROI and it will begin a mutually rewarding consumer dialogue that builds trust and engages from the start. its simple really. Crude commodotising of the creative process only leads to conflicting direction, and ultimately harms the consumer or user who , lets face it, has every chance of seeing through an ill thought out product or service for what it is and never uses or buys it again.

Clearly understanding the process of creativity and clearing a path for its development can only be a good thing. Creativity + Thought + understanding = better brand communication, better thought out ideas and better return on investment. Join me in rallying against commoditising creative “things” and watch how much better the results will get