Veksner: Has the ‘ta-da’ moment had its day?
By Simon Veksner
Creative Partner, DDB Sydney
On another website, a Chief Marketing Officer was saying that he hates the ‘ta-da’ moment, when an agency does the big reveal of their new campaign.
So… why do we do it?
If we scrapped it, we would certainly save time and money. A ‘big’ presentation takes a day or two days of studio resource, plus the cost of the materials, which pretty much all ends up being wasted.
And it would save stress. There’s always a late night or two putting that ta-da together. And the big build-up to the reveal can create big anxiety; if you haven’t cracked it, it’s a disaster. READ ON…
3 Comments
You’ve put your finger on an important point. The more hype involved in the presentation, the more likely the object of the ta-da is buying the salesmanship, not the work. It’s important to separate the two. When I was in the CD role I occasionally got to the stage where I would prefer to just read the scripts or view the layouts of my creative teams and let the merits of the work shine through, rather than be subjected to the bright-eyed (but possibly misplaced) enthusiastic sales-pitch of those hoping I would recognise their ideas as a work of genius every time. Mind you, to do that requires the ability to imagine the work as it would be in its final, finished filmed form, and – and this is critical – not everybody has that ability. Particularly (and ironically), most clients, who can’t just relax, imagine and enjoy the idea. They have so many other considerations whirling around their heads such as sales objectives, dealer considerations and their boss’s reaction. So we’re back to the ta-da for clients, but not creative directors possibly.
Experience in Australia has taught me to never do the big ‘Ta-Da’ moment. Marketers hate that here.
It should be a series of informal sessions, the first which is buying into the broad brushstrokes of an idea. If they like that, then move it to the next stage. If they like that, then let’s get down into scripts and the nitty gritty.
And always, always bring the client along on the journey. It’s their money and they want to be just as much a part of designing the house they have to live in as you do.
Oh sorry, I thought I was on an architecture blog, where people have to live with their decisions for the rest of their lives, not an advertising blog, where people have to live with their decisions for a series of 30 second blips over a couple of months.
Nobody likes a smartarse.