researching creativity making ideas stronger or safer? for admap conference on creativity in...
TRANSCRIPT
Researching creativityMaking ideas stronger or safer?
For Admap Conference on Creativity in AdvertisingMarch 2001
GRAVITY
GRAVITY
Creative research not a new topic, but a hot one
• Idea development expensive: effort and emotion
• Research stressful for all stakeholders
• Could be done better
• We decided to do some research….
GRAVITY
Contributors around 70 companies including..
• First Direct
• Euro RSCG
• HHCL
• Diageo
• St Luke’s
• WCRS
• Corporate Edge
• Publicis
• Lowe
• Watford College
• Coley Porter Bell
• Camelot
• Ogilvy
• Van den Bergh
Research and planning, but also creatives and designers
GRAVITY
Why do we do research?
Delayingtactic
Delayingtactic
Research BriefResearch Brief
Sanity check
Sanity check
Confidence boost
Confidence boost
Gauging internal climate
Gauging internal climate
Real desire to understand/know
Real desire to understand/know
Issue consolidation
Issue consolidation
Abrogation of responsibility
Abrogation of responsibility
Has research been promoted to its level of incompetence?
Box tickingBox ticking
GRAVITY
What does research really offer?
Ideally, it’s an aid to making stronger decisions not just safer ones
Inspiration Confidence
Stronger Saferor
X
GRAVITY
RESEARCHER
“Would things be different ifyou were rewarded for
marketing awards?” CREATIVE
“What marketing awards?
Creative tension?
Or divergent objectives?
Creatives get kudos, pay rises etc. from creative awards. However, if a client’s share of
market goes up by 2%, they may not even know.
GRAVITY
Creative viewpoint on research
Black Hole
FrustratedIsolated
Shielded
Disenfranchised
No control
It’s personal!
Exposed
Manipulated
JudgedUninterested
GRAVITY
Creatives hate research so ...
Less useful ideas emerge from the research
Little/no creative involvement in developing stimulus material
Idea is often not represented in the best possible way
Idea is more likely to have problems in research
Effectively we’re sending their ‘babies’ out in rush baskets, when they could be in Sherman tanks
GRAVITY
StrategicIntention
ResearchBriefing
ExecutionCreativeIntention
A frequent issue...
The missing links can leave researchers testing stimulus materials rather than exploring ideas
GRAVITY
Agency planners are torn
• Between enthusiasm for creative work
• ...and being the voice of the consumer
This is the point in the idea development process when the team relationships are stress-tested
GRAVITY
Researchers are worried
• That clients will think they’re on the side of the agency...and
• ...the agency will think they’re on the side of the client
• In trying to avoid this they forget that they should be on the side of the idea
– making the most of all the thinking that’s gone before
GRAVITY
The magnetic attraction of the obvious
• What do respondents think they’re doing?
– Representing their peer group
– Critics
– Helping clients make sensible decisions
• Articulating thoughts about creativity is difficult
– Easy to close down ideas - make things safer
– Not so easy to respond freely
– Or push ideas forward, make them braver
GRAVITY
Are we asking the right question?
• Rarely explore finished work in research
– especially qualitative
• Difficult to ask ‘Does it communicate/motivate...?’
• More realistic and more relevant to ask ‘Does this have the potential to communicate/motivate...?’
A subtle difference, but an important one; the difference between testing and development
GRAVITY
What kind of answer are we looking for?
• Need discipline in analysis
• Depends on the brief
– If it says ‘challenge’ then respondents should be ‘challenged’
– Discomfort can be the right answer
• ‘Liking’ is only important if it’s part of the strategy
GRAVITY
The ingredients of motivating communication
Rational U.S.P. Emotional U.S.P.
Rational U.S.P.s are less dependenton creative impact than emotional
- but how many real ones are there?
GRAVITY
Creative work competes in two ‘environments’
CommunicatingBrand Promise
Market environment
Achieving saliency
Creative environment
Vital to identify and value the source of potentialsaliency, not just the message
GRAVITY
The communication spectrum: soap ad example
Declared
Deduced
RationalEmotional
‘Says it cleans betterin the v/o’
‘Looks clean’‘Doesn’t seem very hard work’
‘The setting makes you think of clean-ness’
‘Says being a goodmum is important’
‘Seems like a really good mum’
‘The whole ad has a really cosy, motherlyfeeling’
GRAVITY
The communication spectrum
Declared
Deduced
RationalEmotional
Difficult to declare ‘we are honest’ credibly
Some communication is much stronger when deduced
Exploration of deduced communication with unfinished work is limited - the expertise of the Creatives is vital in making the
jump from idea to execution
GRAVITY
The communication spectrum
Declared
Deduced
RationalEmotional
Exploration of deduced communication with unfinished work is limited - the expertise of the Creatives is vital in making the
jump from idea to execution
GRAVITY
Working with brave ideas
• Housewives in Pinner don’t understand new ideas?
– If it’s that new, speak to leading edge consumers as well
• We can make consumers familiar with the ideas before the research
• We can recall them when they’ve had a chance to absorb
• We can give them frames of reference so while it may seem brave and new, it’s not incomprehensible
• We can use collusion to separate message from vehicle
GRAVITY
Stimulus Material Rarely Stimulates
• Designs, ads etc. are meant to stimulate
• The representation of them for research needs to stimulate too
Make sure consumers ‘get’ the idea, then give them the tools to discuss it
meaningfully
GRAVITY
Change the ownership structure of the research ..?
• Creatives are the users of creative research
• Perhaps they should help define the brief?
– take control of the fate of their ideas
– take responsibility if good ideas get lost
GRAVITY
Turn the whole thing on its head?
• Research agency write down how they think the ideas work before the research starts
• Meet the creatives and discuss the ideas and the best way of putting them across
• Ask the creatives what they want from the research
• Tell the respondents the intention before showing them the ideas
• Debrief the creatives first so they have time to think
• Reward the research agency on the success of the project not just the research