Creative Direction vs. Creative Selection
1st April 11
Posted in creativity
Author: Pelle Sjoenell (@pellesjoenell), Executive Creative Director, BBH LA
I believe Creative Direction isn’t just Creative Selection. I’ve noticed the two are often confused and I think it’s the result of agency process. Creative Direction is about having a vision and making sure the vision is clear to everyone involved. Having a vision doesn’t mean coming up with or choosing the ideas. Having a vision is about leadership, constantly inspiring and instigating. That’s why Creative Direction has to start early in collaboration with planners, even before a brief is written, and follow through to the end of the rainbow. In other words, if Creative Direction is done right, you should never have to select. You never need to resort to the role of a bouncer. Or simply giving things thumbs up or thumbs down.
The process can only be fixed if the Creative Director doesn’t sit above others. Creative Director is just another kind of job. No one works for a Creative Director. Everyone works for the idea. The idea hires us and we go to work. The Creative Director’s relationship with the idea is unique. It’s a combination of three professions – a politician, a farmer and an assassin. The politician handles the multiple stakeholders of the idea, traditionally pursuing different agendas. The farmer’s part is to nurture the idea so it can grow from interesting to awesome. This means identifying which add-ons, or fertilizers, will make the work better and which will hurt the crops. Lastly, the Creative Director needs to be able to shape shift into an assassin. This means isolating any threat against the beautiful, fragile idea, and putting it to sleep forever.
Playing these three roles requires the Creative Director to be involved early and broadly. It’s when Creative Directors are involved late, or are too far removed, that their job becomes that of Creative Selection. Ultimately, that’s but a minor part of the job.
Great, simple truth.
Unfortunately, ‘creative direction’ is sometimes thought of as strictly ‘creative’ – meaning, it’s usually seen as the department wearing the wacky clown pants. Which is a mistake and betrays a fundamental lack of understanding about what we do. Creative, especially in regards to the ad business, is everything. Creative is strategy, creative is the product, the differentiation we offer to our clients – and it can come from everywhere. Everyone is essential to help develop it.
But it is the creative director who (as you say) farms it, guides it and develops it – and is the one who is ultimately responsible for delivering it.
Very insightful. A modern CD should provide more support than direction.
Too true. The challenge for this is that nobody every trains creative directors. They kind of learn by experience and making mistakes. And if they’ve been reporting to a “creative selector”, chances are, they’ll do the same.
I wonder if there’s an opportunity to show people how to be good creative directors.
Thanks Christian – yes! Quick someone call Hyper Island!
No Pelle- call Berghs instead!
Off course! Stupid me…
Well put. Boo for bouncer-style Creative Directors. I’ve met a few of those. Creatives who aspire to becoming Creative Directors do what their CD’s did, just like children who copy their parents.
Well said. The idea is boss.
‘Politician, Farmer, Assassin.’ That’s a really great description. Well done.
Politician, Farmer, Assassin, eh?
You shall now be known as Obama McDonald Oswald
I agree. That’s what I hope to find in a CD. Especially the assassin bit. It seems to be where some otherwise good creative directors fall down. Giving in to the client at the first sign of trouble isn’t a great approach.
Yes! Well put! Being involved from the beginning is key. Being exposed to client needs as soon as possible, and shepherding the creation process thereafter is invaluable. Thanks for this!
[...] Creative Direction vs. Creative Selection By Jonas Eriksson in Articles I believe Creative Direction isn’t just Creative Selection. I’ve noticed the two are often confused and I think it’s the result of agency process. Creative Direction is about having a vision and making sure the vision is clear to everyone involved. Having a vision doesn’t mean coming up with or choosing the ideas. Having a vision is about leadership, constantly inspiring and instigating. That’s why Creative Direction has to start early in collaboration with planners, even before a brief is written, and follow through to the end of the rainbow. In other words, if Creative Direction is done right, you should never have to select. You never need to resort to the role of a bouncer. Or simply giving things thumbs up or thumbs down. Read More… [...]
I get what you’re trying to say, and while I agree with the fundamental idea that good creative direction requires participation and clear leadership throughout, I disagree with…
“if Creative Direction is done right, you should never have to select.”
To make the above statement implies that good Creative Direction is perfect and does not require selection, but even the best Creative Direction at some point requires it. Creative Selection is a part of good Creative Direction, but not more important than good leadership.
Hi Greg and thanks for your comment. I hear you but I think we should aim for Creative Direction to be perfect. Like you said, it won’t always be, but I’d like to get to Utopia as some point – and it won’t happen without aiming for it.
Secondly I think truly great ideas sort of choose themselves when they appear. You can usually sense it in everyone involved when a special one comes around. At that point you don’t need to be a rocket CD to figure out it’s the right one
Thumbs up! I already like Utopia.
Again I have to disagree. “Truly great” ideas are only great in the context of the problem they’re trying to solve and its audience. Good/great ideas certainly do not “sort of choose themselves.” That statement implies that the creative process is somewhat democratic, that good/great ideas are glaringly obvious and that making its selection is easy for everyone, including the Creative Director. But some of the biggest ideas tell the tale of a small group or even one person holding strong to an idea that others considered to be faltered. These stories are not examples of ideas choosing themselves but of ideas that only few could see as hidden gems. A great Creative Director not only has the ability to go with the glaringly obviously good solution but to see what no one else can see, to make the decisions no one else would make, to (find/choose/select) the truly great ones. While you believe that Creative Selection should be put to rest, I believe it sometimes to be a big part of why some of the greatest ideas exist today.
Pelle, I think the article is really good, but disagree with the “great ideas choose/show themselves.”
That suggests:
a. there’s always a clear “right” idea
b. everyone would agree on what the right idea is
I think part of the CD’s role, maybe part of the “farmer” role you descsribed, is to help the team see the potential in an idea that doesn’t obviously show itself as “right”. And that’s selection (pursue this, not that).
Again, think the article is great, but don’t think Direct/Select is an either/or proposition. To be a complete CD today, you better be able to do both.
Exactly.
I agree totally. Unfortunately, very few CD’s understands their role within the walls of the agency or between the agency and the client. Great creatives tend to take themselves a bit to serious and that prevents great stuff to happen.
[...] Pelle Sjönell om kreativt ledarskap [...]
Thanks for all the great comments. I think we have to agree to disagree on some levels, but we all seem to agree the selection is not the ONLY part of the job. Obviously any kind leadership comes with decision making and the ability to see what others can’t, but I believe more focus should be put on the vision.
Kind regards///The Politician
What a joy to find such clear tnkhiing. Thanks for posting!
Great explanation of the creative process, through the lens of the creative directors role.
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Nobody is bigger than great idea. Brilliant Pelle.