Insights

Long live the idealists.

Clients are faced with a certain dilemma when creating a communications campaign. Should they hire generalists; that is, a full-service ad agency, or specialists; group(s) with a skillset in one area of communications. As a full-service firm, we are sometimes labeled the former. But while we do execute across a broad array of tactics (advertising, design, interactive, guerrilla, etc.), we like to think of ourselves as “idealists.”

We believe the simple idea should always drive the execution. The idea needs to be applied to the most effective tactics and developed to its most thoughtful execution using the unique features and ability of each medium. Starting with the idea and knowing your audience is everything. This is where great campaigns - and great individual executions - come from.

Today there is a proliferation of communications gurus. There are industry-specific ad specialists, web specialists, out-of-home specialists, radio specialists, and the list goes on. The existence, and in most cases, success of these groups comes from the natural understanding that if a person or company does one thing, they are much more likely to do that thing very well. But in communications, there is another side to this debate. When people specialize in one task, they tend to evolve into pursuing one way to do that task. Eventually, the work looks, feels and sounds the same for each client, no matter the business category. Repetition and practice make perfect for say, a special teams football squad. But in communications, cookie-cutter sameness across clients and within categories can be the enemy.

So, as you develop your next campaign, think to yourself: “idea first.”

Idea first: What is the idea?

Idea first: Where will this idea have the most impact on our target? (In his living room? At her place of work? Online? At a restaurant? In a sales presentation?)

Idea first: What is the best way to communicate this idea within this space?

The debate about using generalists vs. specialists will go on. We simply want to add a new group to the discussion. Idealists.