Idea Management

In the early days of Wheel of Fortune there were some letters that were preferred more than others. Why? They occur a lot more in the English language. No place was that more evident than the final round. The contestant was asked to select five consonants and one vowel to help them solve the puzzle. 99% of the time, they chose RSTLNE. The producers finally took care of that dilemma. They now provide the letters: RSTLNE, automatically. Once those letters are revealed, players then choose three more consonants and one more vowel. At least now the game is a little more challenging and interesting.

I’ve noticed a similar trend in managing marketing projects (especially online projects). When trying to extract from clients what their true objectives are, I get the same answers again and again. So, to get the most out of everyone’s time (and to get to the best ideas) I assume the following objectives. In fact, I hesitate to call these elements “objectives” anymore.  (My letters are a little different, though - RPGCB U)

R.)   Relevant. I think by now we all know the importance of customer relevance. While not everyone abides by it, we’ll make sure we do.

P.)   Professional. Everything we do is professional. That’s why you hired us. So, don’t insult the creatives by making this an objective.

G.)   Generate Revenue. We know you want to make money. That’s why you’re a business. So, we’ll assume so, even if it’s not a primary objective.

C.)   Clean. Usually a cluttered content gets rejected pretty quickly. Unless you have a good reason why it shouldn’t be, we’ll make it so.

B.)  Brand. You want us to stay true to the brand. OK. We won’t mess with you logo if you quit telling us we can’t.

U.)  Usability. User experience is what the web is about. Even i fyou had a good reason why it shouldn’t be usable, we wouldn’t listen anyway.

Once you begin to provide the basic objectives up-front, you begin to eliminiate the same-old.  Keep your eyes open. It will lead to the creation of a much more interesting, challenging and useful strategy. In idea management, if you have certain variables that are a “given”, you will start to avoid getting to the same solutions for every client. You’ll have a much better chance at producing a final product that really tugs at the true objectives that lie at the heart of every project.