A Creative Blueprint. Part 2.

The wait is over, Part 2 of our documented Creative Process uses all our excellent understanding and careful planning to begin the “fun stuff”.

WRITING
This might not be where every Creative starts but as we’re primarily solving marketing briefs, we need to make sure the message is bang on. What do we want our audience to take away? A client brief might request multiple messages, offers, calls to action... information overload. We need to determine which is the key message, in which channel and at what part of our audience’s journey to purchasing they should appear. Less is more as we all know.
When we’ve sorted that little conundrum, we’ll immediately write something thought-provoking, witty, and memorable. Or we’ll toil for hours, brainstorming with copywriters, consulting client tone of voice guidelines and eventually remember to ‘KISS’ and go back to the first thing we said in the briefing. Or not. Every job is different and brings new challenges – which is exactly why we wrote down a process rather than instructions. This helps us nail it, and with words at the ready the visual direction is less cloudy.

IDEAS
Armed with agreed sentiment and a message hierarchy, we can start firing out ideas for how it all looks. Obviously, we’ll absorb brand and advertising guidelines – I know some consider these to be stifling, but I love a good style guide if they’re just that and not too dictatorial. Just as important is what our audience likes to see. Should our creative standout (ideally) or feel more familiar? We’ll peek at the competitors, are we challenging what they say and do? We’ll open our minds to all suggestions, even the client’s (because actually their involvement at this stage makes a job progress much faster). We’ll share, collaborate, break-out, find inspiration, evaluate, start again, and leave our egos at the door, and all the while think about budgets without letting it dictate direction. Who thinks our job is just colouring in?

Nailed it? Now we need to present our ideas and ensure our client is at the same party. What’s the best way to do that? Scamps? In stages? A big ‘ta-dah!’ moment?

Presenting comes next, but you’ll need to wait for part 3 for that.

Did you miss Part 1? Read about the understanding and planning stages here.

If you'd like to experience first hand how our processes deliver results-driven creative, whether that's a marketing campaign or graphic design, get in touch with us today.

Or if you'd like to see the work our processes have already delivered, check out our case studies.