Grant Flannery: Why would anyone give a f*#k?
By Grant Flannery, associate strategy director, The White Agency
Nick Law says it best and maybe it’s because he is an Aussie expat or the fact that he is the head of one of the most creative companies in the world but when he asks, “Why would anyone give a fuck?” we all listen!
Lately I have been asking the same question whenever a brief comes through the door or whenever I start preparing a strategy or action plan for a client. I was trying to think of ways that I could reword this synonymous @nicklaw01 phrase but to be honest, he hits the nail on the head.
From my perspective it’s something that isn’t asked often enough by agencies! We take a view at White that if we are not creating products or campaigns that add genuine value to consumers’ lives then why are we creating them at all?
I believe that a lot of agencies will tell clients what they want to hear, but I’ve been speaking a lot lately about the art of being truthful and for me I just can’t do that. When receiving a brief with a marketing objective, usually along the lines of “We want to become the #1 ‘whatever’ by 2017” I find myself asking “Why would anyone give a fuck?” The truth is that no consumer cares about whether a brand is #1, they care about brands that add true value to their lives. So how about we start writing briefs with the lens of a consumer problem we may be solving! It could be something like – “I go on holiday and I lose money on my rent for four weeks whilst I’m away. What can I do about this?” Enter Air BnB, solves the consumer problem and adds genuine value. I get it’s a very successful start-up but they currently have one of the best consumer campaigns running at the moment based on the feeling of “belonging”, which is an issue when you go to a hotel.
What I want people to take from this article is that from now on we can no longer just make ads or campaigns or utilities that simply add to the noise of the advertising world. We all need to stop and ask “why would anyone give a fuck?” Once we can answer this, life in ad land will get a lot easier.
We all need to create things of relevance, no one has ever said “You know what, I think I need more banner ads in my life!” Think about consumers and what they want from your brand, understand them, work out their pain-points and then really develop and understand an insight that leads to a product or campaign that people actually give a shit about. Some great examples of this are Beats by Dre, Under Armour or Newcastle Brown Ale.
If we follow this philosophy we will start to create things that don’t even feel like advertising anymore because they are relevant to the audience and form part of consumers’ lives, enabling them to get things done. I encourage everyone in our industry to look at their next client brief, strategy doc or creative brief and ask the question “why would anyone give a fuck?” If you can’t answer it then don’t start work, and if you can, then make sure you sell the shit out of it. For those just starting out in the industry it’s a good place to begin – be honest, ask tough questions and always have relevant answers.
Ironically, you may have just asked yourself this question after reading my article… and if you have, well that’s a win for me!
@grantpat
6 Comments
Whilst I don’t necessarily agree with some of the thinking, I hate the fact we’re an industry that loves to think we’re somehow superior, Grant and Nick are both clearly right, right?
Alas. Clients pay the bills. And our job is to work to their brief.
So, go back lamenting, and maybe do some good, effective, work that fulfills both your ego and the client brief. Not the much better brief you’d have written, or the non existent one that any kid at grad school would struggle with.
Btw. I’m assuming this lament is because you didn’t make it to Cannes.
Clearly Naive misses the point – the reason to ask why give a f$*k is to make better & more effective solutions. Great article Grant.
Ps. Why are these comments always so negative? This industry seems so toxic. We should be promoting discourse, not being bloody minded naysayers.
Grant, good for you buddy for having a (valid) opinion and standing beside it. If we we’re all more open and honest like this, we’d have better solutions in the industry.
Pay no attention to that idiot ‘Naive’. He’s clearly writing that comment from Cannes counting all his shortlists and wins so far. What a dick..
“We take a view at White that if we are not creating products or campaigns that add genuine value to consumers’ lives then why are we creating them at all?”
really, what products do you create?
can a ‘campaign’ ever add genuine value to a consumer’s life (or merely inform an audience that a product might be what they need)?
it all sounds like a re-hash of what most average agencies are doing already – but with an edgy sweary-type word. also, i’d imagine it’s tricky for the creative teams working on your ‘brief’ to pick the peanuts out of it and get to an actual idea. you should ask them.
Hey Naive? – Who give’s a f*ck about Cannes. It’s a bloody catwalk.
Our “job” is to advise clients of the best path to success (usually selling more $hit) and sometimes clients can get distracted with the latest fads and trends.
Still, haters gonna hate right.
My new rule is ignore any write up that calls people “Consumers”