Astrid Groenewegen's Blog

If you don’t mind I will barge right into the matter of things. And the matter is my argument that the only good idea is an executed idea. I think it is time that we start to realize and foremost recognize the fact that campaigns that have made a difference are actually ideas that were realized. And lately I have noticed a development that I think is killing for good cases to come to life. 

I am fed up with the boom of social media experts, brand consultants, book authors and expensive conferences. Why? Because it has a spin off on how agencies are approached nowadays. So much value is given to expert opinions, presentations and consultancy. A growing number of brands want to simply hire us – or hire one of the many experts – for our strategic thinking. Not for the execution. And I have a fundamental problem with this. Simply because strategy by itself never does the trick. My experience is that even the most eloquent gurus are the worst creative pragmatics. Kind of worrisome if you start to realize strategy by itself puts nothing in motion.

A growing number of brands want to simply hire us for our strategic thinking

You need a partner who directs an idea from its conception to its birth. Everyone can make babies. Making them an admirable adult, that’s the real deal. And we all know raising a child is the hard part. I honestly cannot remember one successful case whose upbringing has been a smooth ride. Each and every one of the cases – all the experts, seminars and books refer to – have been fought for in a very complex process. The process of having the stamina to steer it in the right direction, not letting it divert. The process of pushing it to make every detail right so it will actually work. The process of adding craftsmanship in media, PR and production.

Everyone can make babies. Making them an admirable adult, that’s the real deal

So I think it is about time that we start to appreciate the idea as a whole. It is time we stop disqualifying an idea to just having the smart thoughts. It’s time we – as marketers and agencies – fight this fight together. Otherwise I think the good cases will run out. And to which cases do all those social media experts and book authors have to refer to then? We really cannot let them down.

Also published on Amsterdam Ad Blog

The big idea. The big mistake. Okay, be honest now
Are you still cracking your mind on the big idea?
Or briefing your agency on finding the big idea?
Well, stop it. I’m serious....STOP it!
You’re making a capital mistake
And capital as in money and sales
Let me tell you why. It is very simple actually:
Advocacy drives growth
So positive conversations boost sales
That should make you want people talking about your brand
And not just once, but on a regular basis
Thus creating a continuous stream of conversations
And although a big idea can give conversations a boost
It is very advertising and reach driven
And not long term contact driven
So, what’s the use of finding that one big idea?
It only catapults you into the traditional campaign game
And has no mechanism to keep conversations going
The game has shifted to creating a stream of small ideas
That will continuously will feed your brand conversations
Ideas that do have to be worth talking about and sharing
But especially worth following you
That way you don’t end up with one-off campaigns
Fighting for attention and reaching consumers with GRP’s
But you start to structurally build a base of brand ambassadors
Who will instead voluntarily come to you looking for interesting content
And start doing the talking and selling for you
That’s the only real big idea of today
Isn’t life grand when you respect the small...

All year long I’ve read pleas about advertising being dead
I bet you’ve at least read one of those articles or presentations
And they are convincing, I know
They seem to make sense considering the digital age and all
But, you know: I think we’re actually attending the wrong funeral
I don’t think advertising is dead
It’s actually the creative idea that is dead
I realize this is a loss that is hard to take
‘Cause everything we do is centered around the creative idea
Our processes, our added value to clients, our reason of being
Our world we never be the same without it
Well, I say deal with it!
I think if we want to do one thing right in 2011
I’d say we should have the balls to kill off our pride and joy
And admit that it’s actually not about the creative idea anymore
It’s about the SMART idea
The big difference between the creative and smart idea
Is that a creative idea is reviewed on communicating a promise
In a relevant, unique and differentiating way
The smart idea is reviewed on how you make stuff worth sharing
It’s about doing remarkable things worth talking about
It’s about applying persuasion techniques
It’s about enabling consumers to like and share your brand
And as every consumer touchpoint is a potential conversation starter
The smart idea goes far beyond a communication idea
Don’t get me wrong
It absolutely still requires creativity & craftsmanship
To get a smart idea across
You might even need advertising to put a spotlight on your remarkability
It just should not be the starting point of our thinking
It’s about understanding that advocacy drives growth
And taking that as the ultimate review criteria
So, to get it across loud and clearly:
The creative idea is dead, long live the smart idea

I just came back from travelling
And still jetlagged, I ended end up mesmerizing over all the experiences
And I drifted back to the island of Lankayan
For those of you who haven’t been there:
It’s distant, it’s pristine, white beaches, turquoise sea, hardly any people
The whole shebang
On such an island you tend to get a bit romantic
That made me think about falling in love and cultivating passion
And I thought about making people fall in love with your brands
And it hit me that in this digital era
We all know the rules of the love and mating game have seriously changed
But we seem to have forgotten to adjust our review criteria on that
Most of us still review ideas on the fulfillment of the brand promise
And I’m convinced that’s why brands don’t have sex anymore
The brand promise is not what makes people fall in love with your brand
Because if nowadays you under deliver on your brand promise
You immediately commit Google suicide
But even if, with all good intentions, you try to deliver your brand promise
You’re actually are also directing your brand straight into an ugly divorce
(Yes, I know I’m getting metaphorical, but I’m still on that island remember)
Imagine yourself: if your partner always lives up to its promise
Sure: it’s assuring, it’s comfortable, it’s stable, it’s trustworthy
But one day, even after years of unquestionably being a happy couple
You look at him sitting there at the couch
And you simply know his next move, his next word
You realize: dammed I’m bored
For our life partner we tend to have unbelievably long stamina and loyalty
But for a brand: well, let’s say we’re more easy to relentlessly fool around
So, in short we better bring back the sex in our brand relationships
And it can be done by being a seductive lover
Or in branding terminology: starting to deliver MORE than we promise
Be surprising, be better, be faster, be nicer than expected
Once involved with such a passionate and attentive lover
Enticed conversations with friends don’t easily run out
So, we have to review ideas on how they exceed consumer expectations
Instead of reviewing them on how they live up to a brand promise
That way we review ideas on their potential of being worth sharing
Of being worth talking about
And we all know you need that to become hot in the online dating world

Don’t you sometimes get the feeling you’re getting old?
No, seriously.
Today I had this sudden realization that time rushed by so quickly
That I kinda forgot that I’m not the new kid in town anymore
But the one with the 12 year steadily build up resume in advertising
How the hell did that happen?
And I just couldn’t help but start wondering
Was moving ahead also moving forward?
Why has everybody become so seriously lately?
Did I actually get things done?
But fortunately (before I could go off into a have-I-been-of any-use-at-all rant)
I kind of got a stroke of wisdom
And narcissist as I am, I am going to share this wisdom with you
Or maybe I should call it generous instead of narcissistic
(as being mild to myself has indeed been one of my life’s insights)
Ready?
It doesn’t matter if you getting old as long as you’re not getting old!
Deep huh?
What I am trying to say is that aging isn’t so much the problem
It is getting stuck into old, comfortable structures and beliefs that is
Rebellious and ambitious as we all start off
We kind of start relaxing ourselves into relying on our experience after a few years
Seen this, done that, handling it
But although it’s stress free and gives us a pleasant feeling of seniority
It’s in fact our biggest danger.
‘Cause we tend to start taking things for granted
We tend to accept what once annoyed the living daylights out of us
We tend to kind of settle into the comfort zone
We tend to compromise
Oh yes we do shift about a bit, now and than
But do we really, really look at things in a revolutionary way?
In a way that would create a shock needed to finally put things in real motion?
I sure didn’t, so as from that moment I declared war to contemplation
Started in what I had been so utterly busy with the last 12 years
Working in an advertising agency
‘Cause although we all shifted about during the last decade
From advertising specialists to full-service communication partners
From online departments within the ad agency, to creating specialized online companies
From brand activation, to brand engagement, to whatever
But seriously!
Did we ever ever have the guts to also look at the structure of an agency?
The fundaments advertising has been built on for years and years?
Did we ever have the guts to say the way we worked for years doesn’t work anymore?
Questioned the process we tend to follow and the people who are involved?
Don’t think so!
So I want to put a bold statement forward
I want, as of today, stop using creative teams
In fact I want to kill the function of art director completely
It makes perfect sense actually
‘Cause if we know that with the digital revolution
The consumer decision process has radically changed by his trust on word of mouth
And in the media mix as we know it, the consumer has become the most important medium
Isn’t it about time we realize that public relations has become one of the most crucial elements of our job?
In fact that the output of the advertising agency should not be judged by a big 360 idea but on the news items it sparks?
And as having the consumer start talking about us forces us
To solve far more difficult problems than communication problems alone
Isn’t it about time we admit that finding a smart idea instead of a creative idea should be our core business?
And we really should start questioning the use of the creative team?
Especially the ones who are still in the mode of finding a big (communication) idea
And translating it into different media
They are simply not equipped to handle the fact you need to create engaging stories
That you need to understand the technology that can drive these stories
That you need to integrate mechanisms that makes your idea worth sharing and worth talking about
That the medium isn’t the starting point, but the storytelling about the special things you do, is
That simply doesn’t ask for a creative team or art director
It asks for multidisciplinary, hybrid team suited for the problem at hand
And a hell of a copywriter to get the idea across
And well: an interaction designer or designer can actually very tangibly show us what it has to look like
I do realize my take on multidisciplinary, hybrid teams
Also requires a change in the agency processes
Oh, I can’t wait!
If you just start killing of the creative teams and art directors as standard elements in the process
I will tell you all about they way I feel a process should be directed
As long as we agree that it al derives from finally a fundamental change in advertising:
Our output should not be a creative communication idea, but a smart conversation idea
And with that the creative team as we know it has no use at all anymore
They got old...

As rain was pouring down
And all hopes of a long summer were literally washing away
I got a bit philosophical
So sitting on my couch staring at the grey skies
I thought to myself: what’s the worst thing in life?
And I instantly thought of death, loss of loved ones, sickness
But then (I told you I was getting philosophical)
I thought that actually the worst thing is the FEAR of all those things
Because we people tend to prolong suffering by the fear for pain
We engage in ‘anticipated suffering’
And sometimes even for no reason as it oftens turns out that in the end there was no pain at all
But pain is a multi interpretable concept
Don’t get me wrong: I was getting philosophical not morbid
Pain actually represents the problems you might face
And then I realized I truly have an innate dislike for people who are always looking for security
I always have...I’ll tell you why:
Because their main driver is problem avoidance
(While ironically that attitude actually causes them to see more problems than anyone else)
Those people are always acting on the safe side of life
These are the unstoppable perfectionists and control freaks
While we all know that you can control a lot, but not life
Scary stuff, I know (sorry you fearsome ones, didn’t want to point out another problem to you)
The sorry thing for the rest of us is
That they don’t limit their fear and inertia to their private life
They tend to even overdo it in their work surroundings
And sadly there are also a good portion of marketers among them
And that’s where the REAL problem starts
‘Cause creativity is not a controllable concept
No standard rules can be applied
There’s no magic formula
So in response those marketers simply stifle you
They rationalize every juice out of a brilliant idea
They hang onto semi securities (like the good old GRP)
And religiously judge ideas mainly by the company visual identity guidelines
And not by the potential of choosing another path and opening new ways to connect to consumers
The sad thing is they are more occupied with building the story for their bosses
Instead of actually directing their energy to creating a good story for consumers
Which is actually a (predictable!) recipe for boring, undifferentiating, mediocre advertising
That in the end won’t make people love your product and your boss loving you back
So, doesn’t seem to make sense does it?
Is it all bad? Hell no!
I’m of the optimistic kind, remember?
It just teaches us that we need to select clients not on basis of their budgets or attractiveness of their brand
But that we should start be selective in working for clients that have a specific culture
A culture that is about renewal, making statements, exploration, entrepreneurship
A culture without fear
So, I’m looking for some brave marketers
Those who have the confidence to trust on their gut feeling
Who are open for change, for surprise, for making a change for consumers
And I promise you together we will make great work
As a creative once told me (and I couldn’t agree more):
Agencies don’t make great work, clients do

I love sitting down in some crowded place and just observe people
What they do, what they say, what they wear
People are an interesting species
But really: most are pretty boring at the same time
‘Cause let’s be honest
Although we all tend to think we’re pretty special
And love to see ourselves as unique individuals
Actually in truth we are a big herd
A group of people that places lots of value on what others think
That values other people’s opinions
That actually bases decisions on the judgments of the group
That’s no news whatsoever
We all know brands have an important role in self expression
Showing what you’re made of
What you stand for
And making sure your fit in with your peers
So, one would think that if you find a consumer insight
That fits an entire group
You seem to be settled as a brand
I think that is one of the worst mistakes to be made
I think it is killing for remarkable brand ideas
And therefore killing for brands
Why?
As it means you start from what the consumer believes in
Not what we you believe in
And as a matter of fact this herd of people
It is not easily impressed
Not by unique selling propositions anyway
And not by the things you tell about your products
‘Cause actually most products aren’t all that unique
So, what your telling really feels like advertising
Or selling that is
And this herd of people is into buying
And the things they actually buy
Is what they truly believe
But foremost what they see others believe in
So, how do you become a credible brand?
That people will talk and share positive opinions about?
I am convinced there’s only one way
And that’s by being honestly dedicated
To have true value for consumers
By acting upon a brand cause
Which commits you to making people’s life simply better
This automatically implies that you don’t start from what the consumer believes in
But where you as a brand believe in
And if you are committed to doing remarkable things for consumers
The consumer will actually want to be part of that
And I’m sure they will start talking about the difference you made for them
And start sharing the remarkable experience that had with your brand
The best thing is that you’ve created a group buying proposition
Instead of an unique selling proposition

Have you ever been in a double bed on your own?
I was last night.
And I found out that I was still sleeping on the left side.
Determined to make full use of the whole bed now that the opportunity was there.
And especially not wanting to be a victim of habit or, even worse, being an unadventurous person
I boldly shifted to the middle of the bed.
I actually spread my legs and arms turning myself into a cross to convincingly own the entire bed.
It didn’t feel right.
So, it was time for desperate measures.
I decided it was time to go where I had never been before.
To discover new and unknown territories.
So, I shifted completely over to the right
There I was, proud, fearless....and awkward
It just didn’t feel right.
Like writing with your left hand while your are actually a convinced righty.
So, telling myself I had owned the bed and not the other way round....I ended up on my trusted left side again.
And it felt good.
During this intense bed domination game it hit me.
We people love routines.
As I came to think of it, we have quite a lot them.
I have a special way of getting up in the morning
Washing goes in a specific order.
Even doing my groceries has a pattern.
These routines are automatisms, you don’t think about them one second and you don’t easily change them.
So, if you as brand you can become part of a routine: you’re settled.
Which made think some more.
Because wouldn’t tapping into a routine get really interesting if we can transform them into a ritual?
A special, attentive way of doing things that simply makes you feel good.
Think about having your own little tea drinking ritual instead of just putting a bag in a cup.
It is in a ritual where the emotion kicks in, because of the conscience attention you give the moment.
And it’s in a ritual where as a brand we can become part of a solid consumer repertoire.
And add emotion at the same time.
This goes far beyond communication.
It is thinking about making a ritual remarkable.
It’s about thinking what you can do as brand to put value and joy into these little daily acts.
I’m a strong believer that happiness primarily comes from the small, happy moments in life.
It’s not the big, life changing events that are the most important.
They only come around so often don’t they?
It is about being able to see the beauty in daily things and taking care and being taken care of.
So, that’s why I strongly believe that as a brand you should do things that simply make the consumers’ life better.
And that as a brand you should provide little acts of kindness to make a ritual even more worth while.
By creating a new ritual or by adding value to an existing ritual.
It takes you out of the brand loyalty media reach game.
And before you know it your ritual becomes part of a tradition.
That is for years to last and spreads among families and friends.
I’m sure that makes you sleep quite good at night as a marketer.
On your favorite side of the bed that is.

I really don’t believe in social media.
I don’t.
It’s the media part that’s bothering me.
It puts too much focus on ‘the new thing in town’ to integrate in the media mix.
But social media is actually not about what you say, but about what you do.
And if you act remarkably, the public will do the talking for you.
So let’s stop talking about social media.
But let’s start thinking how we as brands can fuel the power of social conversations.