Idea Management

If one thing is missing today in the world of advertising, I would have to argue that it’s accountability. Ironically, in an age where analytic measurement is a key cornerstone to everything we do, what we lack is a method for recognizing great creativity within idea management. Account service recieves the commands from the client then dictates to the “creatives” what they should create. But where is the accountability to the creativity of the account service teams? The creative may have laddered up elegantly to the holy creative brief, but what if the brief was wrong? What if the account team (including the planners) missed the mark on truly deciphering what the client needed?

 The creative brief should be more than a document to measure the creative acumen of the copywriter and art director. It should hold some accountability to the account service team and the client as well. The creative brief is a document that should state clear objectives and those objectives need to be judged from time to time. If the creative strategy and execution matches eloquently to the creative brief and it is shot down because the client didn’t like it, then it could be argued that something is wrong with the brief. Maybe it didn’t bring out the true objectives, but just echoed what the client stated and research affirmed. Maybe any true creativity was lacking. Maybe we should demand the same creative energy from our account teams and from the client as we do from the “creatives.” Maybe we need a document that not only holds the copywriters and art directors accountable, but holds the client accountable as well.

I’ll review this topic again in discussing “How to Build a Better Brief.”