I’ve written about this – kinda – a long time ago.
As in FOURTEEN YEARS AGO.
It’s the situation where unless there is group consensus, nothing goes ahead.
Yes, I’m talking about that thing called democracy.
Now I’m all for democracy … even when it goes bonkers and votes in our current Prime Minister.
But when it comes to the issue of creativity, I am less inclined to support it.
You see creativity is pretty subjective … it is also pretty scary … so even though our industry is filled with highly trained, highly experienced, highly regarded experts in the field, the decision to make something often ends up being driven by a client asking themselves, “do I like it?”.
Actually, it’s probably not that and more, “will my bosses like it?”
Oh of course no one will admit that … they’ll talk about how their experience or their conversations with clients/colleagues/customers is influencing their decision, but more often than not the reality is they feel far more comfortable doing something that ‘fits in’ rather than ‘stands out’.
Fitting in is safe.
Fitting in doesn’t get the scrutiny.
Fitting in doesn’t upset anyone around you.
So we end up in a situation where many clients ignore the experts – the people who know how to capture the imagination of the public in a way that serves their clients best interests – and focus on what the people around them think.
Or said another way, their strategy to approval is to ensure they can mitigate blame rather than drive glory which is why they allow the decisions to be made by committee rather than by their personal commitment.
It’s similar to those marketers who let research make the decision for them rather than inform their decision.
It’s the abdication of responsibility.
Now of course not everyone does this.
There are some amazing clients out there … those who are clear in what they want to achieve and trusting in the experts who want to help them get there.
But it’s getting less and less which is why we are ending up in more and more situations where ideas are born from pragmatism, diluted through fear and then executed by committee.
And if you need more proof, here’ is a quote from Dave Trott …
