The Art Of Client Service, Revised And Updated Edition Part 2

I did two things wrong: First, I missed the client's signals about his lack of full endors.e.m.e.nt of the choice of ill.u.s.trator and the a.s.sociated cost. Second, I didn't manage the client's expectations about what the finished ill.u.s.tration would look like, and how it would differ from the creative director's sketch.

When the client hesitated about the ill.u.s.trator, I should have said to the creative director, "Tony, can you explain how your sketch will translate into the finished visual?" After Tony explained, I should have turned to my client and said, "Are you okay with this? Have we been clear on how the ill.u.s.tration will not look exactly like the sketch?" Had I initiated that conversation, had I drawn the client out, it would have revealed the client's concerns. Then we either would have satisfied those concerns and managed the client's expectations, or we would have concluded we needed to find another way to execute the sketch into a finished ill.u.s.tration. We likely would have avoided the client's unhappiness.

That one incident had repercussions beyond the print ad. The client never again trusted us quite the way he once did. We had a harder time getting him to buy work. He became more risk adverse. I'd even go so far as to say the quality of work suffered.

That was a long time ago. These days, thanks to computer technology, agencies generally present initial creative concepts in such finished form they look like final ads. But the problem remains the same as before: If you don't manage the client's expectations, the client will take the concepts literally. Unless you explain otherwise, clients buy exactly what they see, which can limit the agency's ability to evolve the work to a better place.

So the lesson is, manage your client expectations from the outset. Make sure your clients understand how you and your colleagues approach a given a.s.signment: What the steps are. What the agency will deliver at each step. When they will see the work, and in what form. How to interpret the storyboard or comp. Who will present the work, and where you would like to conduct the meeting.

Listen carefully for client concerns, even when they are not stated overtly. Especially when they are not stated overtly. Ask questions. Probe for answers. Draw the client out.

I missed a subtle signal that, in retrospect, was quite clear. If you observe and listen to your client, you can do better than I did.

CHAPTER 6.

Take the Word Brief Seriously Seriously I once worked at an agency where we wrote briefs that were as fat as the Manhattan Yellow Pages (well, maybe not quite that big, but you get the picture). The account guys wrote them (there were no planners at this shop). We were so proud of these briefs. They were so thorough, so exhaustive in their detail, so exhausting to read. once worked at an agency where we wrote briefs that were as fat as the Manhattan Yellow Pages (well, maybe not quite that big, but you get the picture). The account guys wrote them (there were no planners at this shop). We were so proud of these briefs. They were so thorough, so exhaustive in their detail, so exhausting to read.

The agency hired a new creative director, who tried working with these briefs for a few months. One day he appeared in the doorway of my office, my latest masterwork in hand (actually in two hands; it was a two-fisted doc.u.ment). His expression was a combination of exasperation and despair. "This isn't a brief; it's the anti-brief!" he exclaimed.

He sat down and dropped the offending doc.u.ment on my desk. It landed with a solid thud. "Here's what we need," he said, as he pulled out a pen and scribbled this outline: 1. Key fact Key fact 2. 2. Problem Problem 3. 3. Objective Objective 4. 4. Key benefit Key benefit 5. 5. Support Support 6. 6. Tone Tone 7. 7. Audience Audience 8. 8. Compet.i.tion Compet.i.tion 9. 9. Mandatories Mandatories "That's it," he said. "Forget about telling me everything you know; just tell me what I need to know in order to make good advertising." Before he stomped out, he added, "And stop writing these things on your own. Get the creatives in the room with you and figure it out together."

Now, this creative director could have gone to any number of account people at the agency, but he came to me. I didn't know whether to be flattered or insulted, but I guess he chose me because I wrote the longest briefs of all. I'd also like to think it was because he saw there was hope for me.

I resisted at first, but ultimately did what he asked. To my astonishment, he was right. Our briefs became sharper, tighter, and more focused. The whole creative process became sharper, tighter, and more focused. The creative work that came out of those briefs was sharper, tighter, and more focused. Better still, instead of confining the work, the tighter briefs had the opposite impact. They had a liberating effect on our writers and art directors, who now felt free to explore widely in and around the direction provided in the brief.

Initially, it was a struggle to get creative people to attend sessions where we would work on the brief together. But ultimately, the whole agency adopted the new format for the brief, and the collaborative process for writing it, as the basis for creating work. In fact, the creative staff became so committed to the process that they would refuse to work on an a.s.signment unless there was at least one session in which they partic.i.p.ated in the development of the brief.

The version of the brief we actually adopted was not as clipped as the one the creative director wrote out in my office, but it remained very tight.

Using a form like the one on the next page, we created briefs that were always just one or two pages. It led to some consistently excellent advertising.

There probably are as many different kinds of briefs as there are agencies. And with the rise of account planning, the development of creative briefs has taken on new dimensions since the days my agency first deployed the form below. So I'm not suggesting this is the definitive brief format and that you should promptly abandon whatever your agency is currently using.

What I am suggesting is that you take the word brief brief seriously. There is a saying: "I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one." That says it all. seriously. There is a saying: "I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one." That says it all.

CREATIVE STRATEGY.

Account Name Specific a.s.signment Name Job Number Date Key fact A one-or two-sentence distillation of the current consumer marketing situation or environment.

What consumer problem must the advertising solve?

A precise definition, written from the consumer perspective, not the client perspective.

What is the objective of the advertising?

This flows from the definition of the consumer problem.

What is the most important benefit, promise, and/or offer?

Must be strong enough to overcome the problem and meet the objective.

What facts support this benefit, promise, and/or offer?

Should be a simple listing; if additonal information is needed, provide as an attachment.

Who are we talking to?

Provide psychographics, in addition to demographics, to the extent they are known or can be intuited.

Who or what are we competing with?

Products and services, as well as companies and internal compet.i.tors, if there are any.

What should the tone of the advertising be?

Describe with a series of adjectives. Be as specific, concrete, and evocative as possible.

Are there any mandatories we must account for in the advertising?

Is there anything we must deal with, officially (such as logo size/placement) or unofficially (such as client preferences)?

Approvals: Account ________________________________________________ Creative ________________________________________________ Client ___________________________________________________ Brevity is hard work. The key to achieving it lies not in the initial writing, but in rewriting, rewriting, and rewriting, to distill the brief to its essence. There should be no wasted words.

Brevity is crucial because a brief that isn't brief is no help to anyone. The reader can't distinguish the important points from the underbrush of detail in which they are hidden. The client won't embrace it, the creative team won't follow it, and the work will suffer because of it.

A good brief is critical to achieving great creative work. And a good brief is is brief. brief.

CHAPTER 7.

Know When to Look It Up; When to Make It Up I was working with some colleagues on an advertising a.s.signment for Myers's rum. We were struggling with the rum's dark color. "People think of rum as being clear," said one of my colleagues. "I don't know," I said, "I don't think rum is supposed to be clear. The way I see it, Myers's is the color of rum." One of my colleagues replied, "That's it! That's the line: Myers's was working with some colleagues on an advertising a.s.signment for Myers's rum. We were struggling with the rum's dark color. "People think of rum as being clear," said one of my colleagues. "I don't know," I said, "I don't think rum is supposed to be clear. The way I see it, Myers's is the color of rum." One of my colleagues replied, "That's it! That's the line: Myers's is is the color of rum." We used it in our advertising. Our client loved it. the color of rum." We used it in our advertising. Our client loved it.

Another time, this same group of colleagues and I struggled to devise a name for a customer loyalty program we were developing for Polaroid. The reward for using Polaroid cameras and film was going to be frequent flyer mileage. We didn't know what to call it. Out of the blue one of my colleagues said, "Let's call it the Polaroid Frequent Smileage Program Polaroid Frequent Smileage Program." We loved it, the client loved it, and that's what we named the program.

Recently I was sitting around at a conference room table, surrounded by a sea of paper, working with a colleague on a brand positioning a.s.signment for a client. We were early on in the process; we hadn't even completed our research. But we were talking about finding a positioning the client could own, one that would speak to the company's strengths and would energize its employees.

We took a break. While sitting there, three words came into my head. When we reconvened, I told my colleague, "I have an idea. I don't know if it's worth a d.a.m.n or not, but let me try it on you." I wrote the three words on a sheet of paper and held it up. "What do you think?" I asked. "Does it work?"

It did indeed work. It was a creative leap, right past the positioning to a tagline. All our work to date validated those three words. We would have to see if it held up. If it did, we knew what our positioning recommendation would be.

You can spend weeks, even months, immersed in research, but insights often come in a flash of recognition.

One clear insight is worth a thousand data points. Of course, you need to do the heavy lifting in the marketplace-the customer research, the compet.i.tive a.n.a.lysis, the field visits-but there comes a time when you should put the research away and go with your instinct. Sometimes too much data can interfere with understanding. The secret is to combine what you know with what you feel in order to push for new ideas and better solutions.

If you can do that, you have a future in account management.

CHAPTER 8.

Make the Creative Team Partners in the Brief Martin Puris, cofounder of Ammirati & Puris, where I once worked, used to say that 80 percent of all creative work fails before one word of copy is written. That's because if the strategy is wrong, there is little hope of getting the advertising right.

So how do you get the strategy right? Certainly not by sitting in your office alone, banging out the strategy brief in isolation. Even if your agency has an account planning department, and the planners are responsible for leading creative strategy development, you don't want them writing the brief on their own.

You get the strategy right by recognizing that developing the strategy is a team sport, and the creative crew-the writer and art director a.s.signed to work on the ad or the campaign-are critical team members. You shouldn't just hand them a brief, you should work with them to create the brief.

There are three reasons to do this.

1. It helps the creative team become immersed in the a.s.signment and take owners.h.i.+p of it. The creative team's active partic.i.p.ation ensures that the brief that emerges from the development process actually will a.s.sist in the creation of effective advertising. It helps the creative team become immersed in the a.s.signment and take owners.h.i.+p of it. The creative team's active partic.i.p.ation ensures that the brief that emerges from the development process actually will a.s.sist in the creation of effective advertising. 2. 2. The creative team will help unearth issues or gaps in knowledge, which gives you an early opportunity to address the issues or fill the knowledge gaps. The creative team will help unearth issues or gaps in knowledge, which gives you an early opportunity to address the issues or fill the knowledge gaps. 3. 3. The creative team will help uncover insights or help make connections that otherwise might be missed. Writers and art directors generally see things from a perspective different from yours. You want to capture that perspective early on in the creative process, during the development of the brief that will drive the work. The creative team will help uncover insights or help make connections that otherwise might be missed. Writers and art directors generally see things from a perspective different from yours. You want to capture that perspective early on in the creative process, during the development of the brief that will drive the work.

Thinking about what Martin Puris said, I'm reminded that there's one other reason to involve the creative team: to ensure that the advertising that results is among the 20 percent that succeeds, not the 80 percent that fails.

CHAPTER 9.

In Writing the Brief, Provide the Client's Perspective One of your key roles is to represent the client within the agency to your colleagues. In fact, no one in your agency should know the client better than you do. You want to be the first person that agency staffers turn to when they want to know something about your client.

That means making yourself an expert on your client's products, people, and culture. Here's how to do that.

[image]Spend as much time in your client's offices as you do your own. It's amazing how much you can learn by walking the halls, eating in the cafeteria, and generally seeing first-hand how the company works. It's amazing how much you can learn by walking the halls, eating in the cafeteria, and generally seeing first-hand how the company works.[image] Get out in the field. Get out in the field. Nothing is more valuable than meeting your client's customers and hearing their issues and concerns. Traveling with the salespeople who serve those customers gives you an opportunity to get their frontline perspective on the company, its customers, and its compet.i.tors. Nothing is more valuable than meeting your client's customers and hearing their issues and concerns. Traveling with the salespeople who serve those customers gives you an opportunity to get their frontline perspective on the company, its customers, and its compet.i.tors.[image] Spend time with your clients away from the office. Spend time with your clients away from the office. If I have a meeting scheduled with an out-of-town client, I make it a point to arrive the evening before. I schedule a dinner for that evening with one of my key client contacts. I schedule a breakfast the following morning with a different client contact. I'll have lunch that day with yet a third client contact. My purpose isn't to run up a big entertainment bill. My purpose is to use that time away from the client's office not only to talk business, but also to really get to know my clients, to understand their professional and personal goals. I also use that time to uncover any issues and concerns with the agency and its work that might not be readily visible. It's not that I learn If I have a meeting scheduled with an out-of-town client, I make it a point to arrive the evening before. I schedule a dinner for that evening with one of my key client contacts. I schedule a breakfast the following morning with a different client contact. I'll have lunch that day with yet a third client contact. My purpose isn't to run up a big entertainment bill. My purpose is to use that time away from the client's office not only to talk business, but also to really get to know my clients, to understand their professional and personal goals. I also use that time to uncover any issues and concerns with the agency and its work that might not be readily visible. It's not that I learn more more things in these out-of the-office sessions with clients, I learn things in these out-of the-office sessions with clients, I learn different different things. things.[image] Read the trades. Read the trades. Virtually every industry has publications that cover the field. You should become a subscriber and a regular reader. While we're on the subject of reading, you should not only read your client's annual report, you should regularly visit the company's Web site to check for the latest product announcements, news releases, white papers, speeches, and other materials. Virtually every industry has publications that cover the field. You should become a subscriber and a regular reader. While we're on the subject of reading, you should not only read your client's annual report, you should regularly visit the company's Web site to check for the latest product announcements, news releases, white papers, speeches, and other materials.[image] Watch the compet.i.tion. Watch the compet.i.tion. You should gather everything you can on the compet.i.tion: advertising, articles, speeches by management, Wall Street a.n.a.lyst reports, and anything else that's available. At least twice a year, you should provide a synthesis and an a.n.a.lysis of the compet.i.tive landscape, for the benefit of both your client and your colleagues on the account. You should gather everything you can on the compet.i.tion: advertising, articles, speeches by management, Wall Street a.n.a.lyst reports, and anything else that's available. At least twice a year, you should provide a synthesis and an a.n.a.lysis of the compet.i.tive landscape, for the benefit of both your client and your colleagues on the account.[image] Be a customer. Be a customer. You should buy the products and services your client sells. The purchasing process can be telling. By using the product or service, by being a customer, you can better understand what other customers experience. You should buy the products and services your client sells. The purchasing process can be telling. By using the product or service, by being a customer, you can better understand what other customers experience.

Doing these things gives you a perspective that can help sharpen and define the marketing and creative strategy the agency develops to drive creative work. It also can help uncover the overlooked fact that may drive an insight that results in killer advertising.

Here's an example of what I mean. Back in the 1980s, Ammirati & Puris created a wonderful advertising campaign for UPS. The tagline for the campaign was "We run the tightest s.h.i.+p in the s.h.i.+pping business." One of the commercials in that award-winning campaign was called "Was.h.i.+ng Planes." It explained that the frequent was.h.i.+ng of planes helped reduce air drag, which in turn reduced fuel consumption, which in turn helped UPS be more efficient and thus allowed the company to charge lower prices for overnight delivery than Federal Express.

How did the agency discover that was.h.i.+ng planes makes them more efficient in air? It's not as if someone at UPS said, "Hey let's make a commercial about how clean we keep our planes." Instead, it came from the agency team immersing itself in the UPS culture. That little-known fact became the basis of a smart, engaging, and memorable commercial that delivered big impact.

CHAPTER 10.

Get the Client's Input and Approval on the Brief There's an illness in the advertising world that occasionally afflicts a client. I call it brief amnesia brief amnesia. It's not amnesia that lasts a short duration. It's amnesia about approving a creative brief.

Here's how the illness strikes.

You send a creative brief to your client for approval. The client, up to her eyeb.a.l.l.s in work, gives the brief the once over. When you follow up with a call to see if the client has changes or input, the client says, "Looks good to me; let's go with it."

The creative team develops ad concepts based on the brief. You and the creative team present them to the client. The client rejects the work. You ask why. The client gives a reason that has nothing to do with the creative brief. You respond that the work is on strategy. The client barely remembers the strategy, let alone that she approved it. If she does remember, she doesn't care. Instead, she uses the concepts in front of her to re-engineer the strategy. You and your colleagues return to the agency. You start over from the beginning, developing a new brief.

That's brief amnesia at work.

So how do you inoculate your client against this dreadful disease? There's only one way: Make the client part of the process of developing the creative brief.

Here's what to do: Make sure the client does a full-scale download at the start of the a.s.signment. Ideally, this takes place in a face-to-face meeting, but schedules being what they are, if you have to do it in a conference call, so be it.

What you're looking for from your client is 1) a clear statement of what the client wants to accomplish with the advertising, 2) all the facts related to the product or service that is the subject of the advertising, and 3) any mandatories the agency must take into account in developing the advertising.

Armed with this information, develop the brief. Once you and the team are satisfied with it, don't send it to the client. Take it to the client, and take him through it. Extract any additional input from him. Be alert to any concerns that arise. Go back and revise the brief if necessary, but make sure that the client is completely clear and completely comfortable with the brief.

Then make him sign it.

It's amazing how this simple act will make a client take notice. It says, "I'm taking owners.h.i.+p of this, I approve it, and I understand that my advertising will be based on it."

That's how you cure brief amnesia.

This is critical not only because the brief will guide creative development, but also because the brief serves as a yardstick by which to measure the concepts that emerge from it. You and your colleagues will use the brief to evaluate creative concepts before you show them to the client. You will make sure that each concept reflects the brief and is on strategy.

Then, when you present creative work to the client, it's a whole lot less likely that she'll use the work to reinvent the strategy.

What if there's a really great concept the creative team comes up with, but it's not on strategy? You explain to the client, "During creative development, we came up with another idea. We were going to discard it because it's clearly not on strategy. But we decided not to, because it's pretty compelling. We thought we'd show it to you."

Then you show it. If the client loves it, you'll have an interesting conversation and a decision to make. If the client doesn't love it, no problem. You've already presented great ideas that are on strategy.

The most important thing to remember is that to avoid brief amnesia, and to preempt clients from using the concept presentation to reinvent the strategy, make your client a partner in the development of the brief.

CHAPTER 11.

Ask, "What Do My Colleagues Need to Create Great Advertising?"