My art school, in New York, was probably the first anywhere to teach advertising.
This meant there weren’t any advertising teachers.
So they sent us into Manhattan each week, to learn from working professionals.
When I got back to London I worked at BMP.
And I thought I’d like to do the same thing.
Pass on what I’d learned.
So I contacted a couple of art schools, and they were interested.
And I tried teaching, one evening a week, for several months.
But after a while, I was getting bored.
So were the students I suspect.
So I wrote to every creative in London I could think of, asking them if they’d be interested in taking a class.
I didn’t get a single reply.
Not one person.
Not surprising really.
They didn’t know me from a hole in the ground.
So I thought, let’s look at this like an advertising problem.
Why should they care?
What’s in it for them?
Like every advertising problem, if you can solve that you’ve cracked it.
So I thought, what does every advertising creative want?
Money, women, cars.
I can’t really help there.
What else does every creative want?
Their name in D&AD.
Well now, maybe I can arrange that.
So I called up the CEO of D&AD, Edward Booth-Clibborn.
I said, “Edward, D&AD is an educational charity. I can charge £5.00 per student per class (£2.50 for unemployed) and all I need from you is a page in the annual.”
Edward agreed, and I wrote another letter to all the creatives who hadn’t replied.
“The D&AD Advertising Concepts Workshops invites you to be a lecturer for one class. In the D&AD Annual we’ll be thanking, by name, everyone who’s participated.”
This time I got 60 replies, from creatives offering to take part, almost immediately.
Lesson 1: Never mind what’s in it for you. What’s in it for them?
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how does this principle work when creatives are showing work to clients eg. “don’t worry about cramming all that information in the end VO, the audience will listen more if you DON’T put it in.” it’s very difficult getting a client to agree that what they want isn’t important.
Indirectly you did sort of give them the money, women, & cars. That´s the end benefit right there.
So a system of control can be a system of liberation.
4am. It’s a good question.
The answer is always start from what the other person wants, rather than what you want.
You want an exciting ad, but the client may not care about that.
You say the client wants a lot of information.
So with that as brief, can you find an exciting way to deliver it?
That way you both get what you want.
Think of it as a Trojan Horse.
What they want is a nice wooden ornament.
What you want is a lot of men inside the castle.
But you’re not going to get what you want unless you give them what they want.
i suppose it’s a 3 point park into what you were saying yesterday; good creative knowing what a client needs/great account men knowing how to make the client want what he/she needs.
4am.
Full marks for paying attention.
You’ve reminded me of a good subject for a blog/post. Thanks.
great, look forward to it.
The only thing I took away from my education in advertising in college was the concept of WIIFM. Worth the tuition I suppose.
i was at a screenwriting seminar last sunday and the subject of meetings came up. one of the presenters said he didn’t start to be successful in meetings until he realized that the meetings were about them, not him. ostensibly it’s a meeting where you present your script/ptich/talent and they decide if they want to buy it. but the essential question is, what can you do for them, not what can they do for you. if you can improve their bottom line/image/cache - then they’re interested. it’s got nothing to do with how good your script idea is and everything to do with their perception of what they’ll get from the transaction.
Christopher.
That’s exactly what I’m talking about.
The best account men do that for us.
As creatives we’re too subjective, too involved in what we’ve created.
We expect the client to love it just because we do
The best account men are more objective than we are.
So they’re better able to sell what we’ve done.
great thinking. im a big fan of oyur dave.
ex student from the watford course.
Whohar.
How did it work out for you after Watford?