“If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.” - Howard Aiken
Big ideas should scare. Clients are inherently afraid of risk because they have a job they want to keep, an organization looking over their shoulder and scrutinizing their decisions every time they turn on a TV, open a newspaper, go online or drive through the city. Even when a client sees the genius behind a big idea a mile long list of challenges lay in waiting, looking to kill that idea. Getting an idea through upper management, finance, etc may seem akin to trying to lift an elephant. A lot of effort and energy with the high possibility of getting squished.
Especially in the current times where ROI is the new creative director and every dollar spent is scrutinized original, untested and unproven creative ideas will not be welcomed with open arms...in most organizations. It is the job of the account team to take the ideas of their creative teams and sell them. This requires understanding the culture of the company, motivations of the decision makers, your clients personal motivations (awards, sales, internal recognition), where the organization is willing to invest, what measurements they value and what is the right timing among other factors. Presenting an idea only after these factors have been analyzed and addressed is the first step towards getting that elephant off the ground.
Think about the opportunity that presents to the few clients that are willing to take a risk? The opportunity is big and the rewards could be even bigger.
How do you plan on pushing the big idea through this year?
