A Strategy For Strategy: Part Two

“Great ideas manifest themselves in many ways. Sometimes, even in ads.” - @LeeClowsBeard

In Part One of A Strategy For Strategy I touched on the importance of integrating the consumer at the earliest possible stage of communications development and how moving too quickly from initial insight to creative development can lead to a brand’s position or communication world. Further to this is the risk of these early stage ideas not being fully expressed in a way that carves out an ownable space for it to occupy in a consumer’s mind.

Another issue with moving too quickly from insight to creative development is the potential loss of understanding of a communication idea’s potential to live in truly dynamic multi-media environment.

Often I see clients believing that a great idea should simply be translated into a :30 second spot. While a traditional commercial could be considered one of the expressions of the idea, my belief is that a truly powerful communication insight should be able to live and breathe, and be expressed in many different ways.

For brands to generate powerful positions in the mind of consumers, the focus at this stage should look to understand the potential of a concept, without boxing it into a defined medium.  As so eloquently stated by Dan Wieden in this 2020 Vision interview, “I don’t think we’re in a place where we (should) have to choose between doing broadcast or interactive. I think that’s ridiculous. That like saying do you want a right hand or a left hand? I want to use both my hands… and some other appendages as well! It’s just boring if this is a choice.”

If an idea is grounded in a universal truth, and expressed in a unique and ownable way, there is no reason for marketers to feel they need to make these media defining decisions at this stage of communications development. When working with clients on the development of communication strategies at Ipsos ASI, where I work, this is always something we explore with consumers – to see where they feel the idea could be expressed to them in a meaningful way along their journey in and around the category.

A great communication idea should not only translate well across media though.  It is also something that should stand the test of time. 

A recent and interesting exploration of this concept is Google’s Project Re: Brief. In this experiment, Google took some of America’s greatest and most iconic ads from yesteryear, worked to distill them down to their essence, and expressed them in new and interesting ways – leveraging media that didn’t exist when the ideas were first brought to life.

Of the series, my personal favourite is their re-imagining of Coca-Cola’s Hilltop spot from 1971.  Working with the original art director, they were able to show how a powerful communication insight, based on the universal truths of sharing and connectivity, still work to capture the hearts of consumers over 40 years later.

As marketers work towards the creation of  their brand’s world, a media agnostic perceptive is critical – particularly in today’s communication environment.  Not only will this help focus these efforts on building a strong foundation for the brand, but it will also allow this foundation to become a platform for the brand to launch all of its touchpoints from.