There have been, are, and always will be movements in our industry.
Movements that are generally started by one person, amplified by another and then grasped by all and sundry. In essence it's the industry Planning the industry much the same way we try and Plan some of our campaigns for mass consumption: Give the message to a thought leader; let them share it with a chosen few; watch it amplify.
A perfect example is the current "Let's make stuff instead of talk about stuff."
Loads of people are saying it, loads of agencies are saying it and it's now part of the everyday parlance for a strategist, Planner or creative in an agency.
Loosely affiliated to this, I believe, is the whole 'Be Amazing' thought that is all pervasive. Where every brief is an opportunity to do Amazing things. Encouraging the client to make risky decisions instead of defaulting to the 'Safe' standard we know it'll be easier for them to sell in internally.
We all want to sell 'Amazing' because Amazing is where we do something new. Something that breaks boundaries, uses new technologies, sets new levels and gives the client and the agency a whole host of self-PR opportunities.
As the opposite to this, we're told to resist the 'Safe' - the Safe which gives us a traditional print ads (with NO QR-CODE SHOCKA!), use of traditional media, and maybe amplified through a simple Social Media promotion. As strategists and Planners we're told this is boring. We won't win any awards for that, surely... will we?
Well I think both of those approaches are totally self-serving and are there for the ultimate gain of the individual client or the agency.
I believe in the Best. Whatever that Best may be.
That Best may well be a new technology to use, an innovative and high-barrier to entry Social Media mechanic. But equally that Best may be a traditional print ad in The Times with a simple Call to Action to a freephone number.
You see, it's really simple: It's all about the business aims of the client and the success criteria attached to them. Don't think about the creative answers until you've well and truly got stuck into this fundamental question and agreed how to answer it.
One valid answer is Amazing; but another equally valid answer is Safe.
Whatever the aims are and whatever leads to Best.
But having a predetermined answer of Amazing (or Safe) is fundamentally wrong.
