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To succeed as a Creative Agency, Just Accept We’re not the Measure.Mike Goatman - 23rd October 2008Mike Goatman: Senior Lecturer in Creative Design, Cranfield University Centre for Competitive Creative Design (C4D). Design is a delightful thing to do, and a very clever thing to be able to do well. But it operates in a business environment and it asks business leaders to pay for it. Therefore it must address the goals of businesses, not designers if it is to be successful. The effective measure is therefore not aesthetic, operational, or even innovation, it is added value. As creatives we went down the 'Art and Design' stream because we like the subject. We are right brain dominant, which means we see the world a bit differently from people who are going to be accountants, lawyers, engineers or business managers. Since we earn our money from business however we need to realise that our subject-centric point of view is not how business is run. Certainly as creatives business expects us to love what we do, they want our inspiration and ideas; that's why they pay us. But ultimately in business terms 'design' is only one commodity that is needed to produce added value. The business manager looking at our work has a different job from ours, they have to produce a bottom line profit against ongoing targets in a competitive market-place. So the lesson for us: we have to help them achieve their goal, and the better we can answer the equation of how our creative input contributes to their objectives, the easier we make it for them to employ us. So how do we do that? No-one expects creatives to be what they're not. One thing that is never impressive is someone pretending to be something they aren't, so focusing on what you do as a creative is important. What a creative agency does (like any other professional agency) is to offer a 'proposition' to their clients. This is known as the 'offer'. Here are seven key steps in application: 1) Analyse your offer: What skills have you to offer and what haven't you? Your skills are valuable, your non-skills aren't. Management, marketing, engineering and the other disciplines all have their own methods and practices. It's the things you do that the client can't that are saleable. So to sit down and consider what those things are is essential. Then having established your 'offer' the next question is: 2) Who wants these offers? If someone needs what you do they will be prepared to pay for it. So you need to identify the people who have a need that can be met by your offer and are aware of this. This is where knowledge of particular businesses is very useful. Then you have to communicate with them. 3) Communication: The bottom line of communication is that it has effect as understood, not as transmitted. So decide on a 'language' that your audience understands. Tell them what you are suggesting your offer can achieve for them, and use the keywords that they are interested in. 4) Listen: Your client will use the words that are important to them in conversation, and if you don't understand something ask them to explain. Then a brief can be formed to which the client will respond positively as it addresses their perceived needs. You need to stay in control of the brief however because you will have to deliver. Then propose what you can deliver in response to this brief, and agree outcomes with the client including methods of evaluation and measures of success. 5) Managing Client Expectations: It is very important to mange your clients' expectations well. Never promise more than you will produce, if you present more than you gave to expect it will delight, if you present less it will disappoint, you must be in control of the level of expectation. What you do is worth the money, and it doesn't help anyone to put you under excess pressure. Your clients are used to stating the proposition they want to their clients, and they will expect you to do the same to them. 6) Presentation: Presentation is purely a communication medium. Use of the appropriate medium is important and so is the story. The presentations must be part of a story that clearly suggests usefulness to the clients' needs, using their keywords. If this is the case, we are at least giving them the chance to judge whether what we are proposing can make a contribution to their business. 7) The Design Work: It is just assumed that the work presented will be professional, interesting, and breathtakingly innovative and impressive. Designer's work has to delight, not just satisfy. The skills of how to present proposals that not only address perceived needs, but go further to meet those that weren't previously evident is a basic requirement for the professional creative. Cranfield University C4D: At Cranfield University's new 'Centre for Competitive Creative Design (C4D)' we are working with business and designers to look at the issues that are at the heart of making creativity effective for adding value. The Centre is based in the School of Applied Science and the School of Management, and is in collaboration with the University of the Arts London. A new one year Master of Design in Innovation and Creativity in Industry begins in October, and short courses examining specific aspects of creative and business interaction are already happening. The Centre will become a hub of research, consultancy and education, making the role of creativity in business more effective and accessible. Anyone who would like to be involved is very welcome to join us. Author Bio Mike Goatman BA (Hons) MA (Res) MCSD FRSA |
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