Yesterday I was having lunch with Tracy Urquhart, our awesome creative operations manager, and I was talking about being disappointed when creatives take my direction exactly and bring nothing else to the table.
Tracy said that one of her first jobs was selling shoes for Nine West. When a customer asked to see a shoe in a certain size, she would bring that shoe in the size the customer wanted. She'd also bring a second pair that was similar, maybe a slightly different model or different brand. Then she'd bring a third pair. Something else completely. Something surprising. Something the customer wasn't asking for at all. But maybe--based on a hunch, something they said, maybe based on their style--something the customer would really love.
This is a perfect metaphor for what we should always be doing. Whether you're addressing feedback from a creative director or client, bring what was asked for. But don't stop there. Is there another way to do it? Maybe the direction was to emphasize a point more in the voiceover of a spot, but there's a better way to solve that same issue visually. What other ways can you solve that specific problem?
But don't stop there either. What else is there? How can you completely turn the problem on its head? What can you do that's radical and surprising? What is your gut telling you? It may be completely wrong. That's fine. You've already done what's asked. But there's a chance that third shoe just might just be more spectacular, more right than anything.
