Has Bill’s Big Idea Had Its Day?
July 29 2012, 9:33 pm | | 9 Comments
Scamp creative director Simon Veksner agrees that Bill Bernbach’s logic in putting copywriters and art directors together made sense.
“Bill’s idea worked, but that was nearly 60 years ago,” says Veksner.
“Times are different today. Would Bill (pictured, looking mildly cheesed-off) consider that today, the doubling-up may be unnecessary?”
9 Comments
Enjoyed reading that but here is another suggestion.
I have worked in mid-sized agencies that employ at least half a dozen junior teams. Being junior, these teams take time…a lot of time…to get to a solution, often after 3-4 rounds on the same brief. This is not just a colossal waste of time (which is the commodity that agencies sell), but also a big waste of money over the long run. Is it not better for an agency to hire 3 teams instead of 6 but mature workers who can work fast and get it right first time.
That is another way for agencies to save money.
I don”t care if it’s a Copywriter + Art Director or two writers or two social media people, but you need two people. Two creatives make magic happen much faster than one because they bounce off each other and they identify crap faster and move on instead of wasting time stuck on an idea. Three or more people can work as well, but the most efficient ratio is probably two.
A good ideas person doesn’t need someone to help them have ideas.
A good ideas person doesn’t need someone of equal remuneration but lesser talent to share the credit for his ideas.
A good ideas person doesn’t need someone to sit in a room and distract them as they try to work.
A good ideas person often works better on their own.
A good ideas person often has ideas when they’re not sitting in their office, like when they’re driving their car or when they wake up in the middle of the night.
A good ideas person doesn’t need someone to modify his perfectly-formed ideas so that the other person can feel like they’ve made a contribution.
You’re on you own on this Monty.
I take it from what you are saying Monty, that you are a “good ideas” person. and have never benefitted from any form of collaboration in the idea/execution process.
That’s pretty rare in the ad caper.
And I assume you take complete ownership of any lesser successes, or dare I say “bad ideas”.
And don’t say you haven’t had them.
@Monty
I take it you don’t think John Cleese is good writer, since he worked with Graham Chapman in Monty Python, or his wife on Fawlty Towers?
I guess the writers of the Simpson’s aren’t as good as you, given they work in large teams?
I guess the South Park guys must be wrong too.
And the countless advertising teams who have written great ideas like Old Spice or Nike, or VW or whatever you care to mention really…
Monty i dont think there are any rules for idea generating.
As long as the end result is good
How utterly predictable that all you pissants who pour scorn on me do so anonymously, and without any reasoned counter-argument. How easy it is to sneer when you’re unable to construct a case. Or perhaps you just need someone to help you type.
Simon V raised a valid point. The creative team is somehow sacrosanct. But should it be? From an economic point of view, it’s a big waste of money to have two people essentially duplicating the same role, competing with each other to get to a solution which has to be agreed democratically by the two of you before it even gets to the first approval process, the creative director. Not that I’m suggesting it, but why not work separately and show him twice as many ideas? Oh, that’s right, sensitive egos might get hurt.
Being able to generate ideas is what creative people are paid for. If you can’t do it without someone else being present, that’s a problem for you. Finessing can occur later, during production when other people’s contributions may improve the work. That’s what they’re paid for.
4:48, my comments were directed at advertising, not comedy writing for television. That’s a completely different dynamic. Try to stay on-brief. This is an advertising blog.
Most of the comments here have been made with consideration to how the individual that wrote it sees their world based on their specific skillset. As a former consultant to the industry and also having been involved in bigger agencies down to small business I can say that the ability for role sharing is possible and any combination of skills is also possible – dependent on the individuals.
A sound way to approach this is to work out what roles the business wants to merge and then go out looking for that person – you’ll find them.
Sadly most of the comments here are from people who are defending their current roles. It would be a good time to start expanding on your skills in other areas and securing your path for the future.
This model is working a treat for our production service – The DMC Initiative. It is not an agency, but the same theory applies – we have dropped the model of the individual director and producer and have multi-skilled people working collaboratively together under the supervision of a creative director and it works so well. Our people shoot, write, build props, do sound…with everything in-house… do whatever is needed.
In the past multi-talented people (I include myself in this) have been told we don’t have a place, but get ready for these type of people being the new way – it is faster, client issues are solved quicker and with the shorter communication lines it is less expensive without losing the money that goes directly on the screen.