The Daily Beard with Lee Clow’s Beard: Recent Episodes
Jason Fox
Since 2009, @leeclowsbeard has tweeted a daily crumb of wisdom about creativity in general and/or life in advertising in particular. The Daily Beard takes one of LCB's past 2,700+ tweets and briefly expands upon its meaning. This podcast is the audio portion of The Daily Beard video which can be found on YouTube at the OfficialLCB channel. @leeclowsbeard is the work of writer and creative director Jason Fox.
Today we forgo tweet-based ramblings to discuss cops and logos.
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Today we sign off for 2021 with just a touch of holiday ranting and, perhaps, good cheer.
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Today we discuss the importance and power of copy without once uttering the words “slacks” or “moist.” Based on the tweet: While “it” and “something” can both be anything, “just do it” is everything “just do something” is not. See, copy does matter.
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Today we discuss the cruelty of demanding the extraordinary when only the ordinary will do. Based on the tweet: Don’t insist on greatness if you consistently approve the okayest.
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Today we discuss why the avoidance of risk is anathema to those who embrace their jobs. Based on the tweet: Risk is the natural expression of sound fundamentals.
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Today we discuss why the least you can do is less viable than you think. Based on the tweet: If most advertising is to be believed, the majority of brands are quite excited about meeting the bare minimum of customer expectations.
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Today we invite those who really don’t want to be here to not be here. Based on the tweet: A quick way to improve the ad industry would be to cull from its ranks the shockingly high number of people who seemingly hate advertising.
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Today we discuss yet another difference that separates great work from most work and use the word “bugaboo.” Based on the tweet: Great work whispers in the ear, delights the funny bone or tugs at the heart, yet too many ads act as if poking someone in the eye is the best way to make friends.
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Today we discuss why treating inputs as absolutes is destructive to both the work and those who create it. Based on the tweet: We welcome your insights and appreciate your input, but if you expect us to view them as instructions, neither one of us is doing our jobs.
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Today we discuss why the story that makes the most impact should be the one most people actually see. If your work requires the audience to know the backstory of its creation or creators for them to appreciate it, your work has failed.
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Today we remind all involved that if it’s said by a brand, it’s an ad. And that’s okay. Based on the tweet: Great ads never have to hide the fact that they’re ads.
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Today we discuss why some charged with simplifying the complex prefer to keeps things opaque. Based on the tweet: In marketing, the main function of most complex plans and processes is to make the insipid appear insightful and the inept seem indispensable.
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Today we discuss the need for self-healing among those often known for grumbling. Yes, copywriters. Based on the tweet: If you feel limited in what you can say, blame legal. If you feel limited in how you can say it, blame yourself.
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Today we discuss a problem that is more often symptomatic of a larger, deadlier issue. Based on the tweet: The problem isn’t so much that you could put a competitor’s logo on an ad and no one would notice, as it is no competitor would want you to.
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Today we remind all involved that what we consider adequate, the public often considers overwhelming. Based on the tweet: No consumer ever wondered why a brand didn’t run more ads, send another email, or publish more content. Inundation is not inspiration.
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Today we discuss the sad reality of the media buy and the creative work sabotaging each other. Based on the tweet: It doesn’t matter how precise your media placement is if your message still feels like a pest. And vice versa.
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Today we discuss one of the skills that separates great copywriters from the copy-and-pasters. Based on the tweet: A great writer knows the difference between saying little and not saying much.
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Today we discuss why a touch of familiarity breeds attention. Producing something people haven’t seen before should always be secondary to producing something people will want to see again.
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Today we discuss the importance of just getting on with doing what we know we should and can do. Based on the tweet: There are no secrets to producing great advertising – only things we too often forget or more often fail to fight for.
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Today we discuss the fallacy of overly specialized expertise and its detrimental effects on staffing. Based on the tweet: A medium can be taught – an instinct, only honed. Hire accordingly.
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Today we invite all involved to slow our collective roll and create things that are good instead of merely gratuitous. Based on the tweet: Expediency is the bane of big ideas.
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Today we discuss why the first step cannot be the final goal. Based on the tweet: The magic lies not in getting attention, but in keeping it.
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Today we discuss respecting the work enough to give it a chance to actually work. Based on the tweet: The fact that commercial art isn’t fine art is no reason to slap a snipe on anything.
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Today we discuss being attractive by having a nice personality. Based on the tweet: When your personality is ownable, your message doesn’t have to be.
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Today we discuss why doing what everyone else is doing isn’t always the smart thing to do. Go figure. Based on the tweet: Actually, you don’t have to have a Facebook page.
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Today we discuss one of the best compliments you will probably never receive. Based on the tweet: “I like the way you think” is a great compliment. “I like the way your work makes me think” is greater still.
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Today we discuss the futility of dealing with those who can only comprehend one, unconnected dot at a time. Based on the tweet: A literal mind is a terrible thing to waste time with.
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Today we discuss why, in the service of advertising, only the strong should survive. Based on the tweet: Good strategies expose weak ideas. But let’s not forget the opposite is equally true.
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Today we issue an important warning for would-be clients and agency employees. Based on the tweet: Never trust an agency that can’t figure out its own brand.
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Today we discuss why you can always be better, which automatically makes you different. Based on the tweet: Being better is the best way to be different.
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Today we discuss the phenomenon of squandering more money by spending less. Based on the tweet: Dearest Client, In the end, cheap work costs you plenty. Love, LCB
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Today we invoke a bit of superstition in hopes of swaying folks to show less and sell more. Creepiness ensues. Based on the tweet: Bad things come in threes. Remember that the next time you present concepts.
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Today we make disparaging remarks about Google Docs. Based on the tweet: Never send a client an editable file.
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Today we discuss the futility that is working for a certain type of client and a disturbing metaphor is made. Based on the tweet: Dear Client, If you already know what you’re looking for, why do you need us to find it? Love, LCB
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Today we forgo our usual ramblings and instead channel our inner Edgar Allan Poe. "The Graven" a satirical parody based on the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe.
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Today we discuss why copying the superficial attributes of the successful is a sucker’s game. Based on the tweet: A lot of mediocre shops have open floor plans, too.
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Today we ponder why the proverbial better mousetrap still requires a practical marketing plan. Based on the tweet: Warehouses are full of products that practically sell themselves.
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Today we remind all involved that it is better to wow a client than to hope they wise up. Based on the tweet: Let us not become so immersed in educating our clients that we forget our real job is to inspire them.
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Today we discuss why the whys are the most important whats every ad must address. Based on the tweet: Telling people when to act is a poor substitute for why.
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Today we offer some unsolicited advice about saving some unstructured time for yourself. Based on the tweet: Few things offer the opportunity to get more done than scheduling a conference call with yourself.
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Today we embrace the streamlining, efficacious effects of saying no. Based on the tweet: Stretching a budget requires the client to say no to their desire to say no, and the agency to say no when they can’t.
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Today we discuss prioritizing ultimate effectiveness over ease of measurement and wantonly use the word “chicanery.” Based on the tweet: Before boasting about the number of impressions your ad made, consider how many were fleeting.
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Today we discuss the difficulties of convincing a client your perspectives are worthwhile when they consider your work unworthy of appropriate remuneration. Based on the tweet: You can tell how much someone truly values your input by how much they’re willing to pay for your output.
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Today we discuss the truth about attention spans they (the hacks) don’t want you to know. Based on the tweet: It doesn’t matter that the human attention span is down to eight seconds if your work can’t even hold it for one.
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Today we discuss the importance of listening to those who themselves often prefer to just listen. Based on the tweet: Ideas that speak volumes often come from people who do not.
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Today we discuss the importance of judiciously dropping the People’s Elbow on client pushback. Based on the tweet: Don’t ask people to wrestle with an idea until it’s great if you’re unwilling to wrestle with the client until it’s approved.
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Today we discuss why being just a little more thin-skinned can spur you to better work. Based on the tweet: Don’t be too thick-skinned. Much inspiration began as irritation.
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Today we attempt to inculcate one and all against accepting the innocuous. Based on the tweet: Harmless work isn’t.
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Today we discuss the crazy notion entertaining our peers is not the same as persuading our audience. Based on the tweet: Work that only goes viral with ad people hasn’t gone very far.
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Today we discuss the importance of selling the thing you’re supposed to be selling. Yet another observation that should be obvious, but apparently is not. Based on the tweet: You do not sell a dream by discussing the process of falling asleep.
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Today we discuss the shrinkage-inducing effect of copy-cat creative. Based on the tweet: Nothing diminishes like being derivative.
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Today we discuss why change is sometimes something you really, really don’t want to believe in. Based on the tweet: The two worst types of client revisions are those you should never make and those you should’ve made before showing the client.
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Today we discuss why working without a USP is advertising’s USP without actually using the phrasing “USP.” Based on the tweet: If all else really is equal, you can still say something your competition won’t in a way they’d never dare.
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Today we discuss the importance of vetting potential clients for things beyond their ability to pay, and disparaging remarks are made about buttons. Based on the tweet: Vet potential clients well. It’s more fun making smart people look smarter than dumb people look competent.
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Today we discuss the importance of proactively putting the kibosh on bad ideas and most meetings. Based on the tweet: Never put off until tomorrow what you can kill today.
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The Daily Beard No. 281 is live. Today we parse a pair of personality traits that we too often misjudge to everyone’s detriment. Based on the tweet: Do not mistake conviction for stubbornness. Or, just as importantly, the inverse.
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Today we show a little love for the Grumbly McGrumblefaces in our ranks. Based on the tweet: It is more important to have likable creative than likable creatives.
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Today we discuss rewarding those who risk humiliation and rejection with everything they conceive. Based on the tweet: Ideas are the currency of advertising. Reward your great thinkers accordingly.
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Today we discuss the dangers of touting something that does everything when it, in truth, does nothing good. Based on the tweet: If your proprietary branding process produces pedestrian results, you may wish to seek a refund for your trademark application.
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Today we discuss a simple, yet critical, goal every ad must attain. Based on the tweet: Great work turns a glance into a grin.
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Today we discuss the difference between forcing a reaction and eliciting a response. Based on the tweet: Make your work provocative when necessary and evocative always.
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Today we repeat a message that bears repeating often. Based on the tweet: The issue is not whether anyone can have a great idea, but whether someone can have them repeatedly.
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Today we discuss avoiding real-life trolls and celebrating eureka moments by echoing the creator’s excitement. Based on the tweet: Never work with anyone who would rather argue over the shape of the bottle than marvel at the lightning you’ve captured inside it.
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Today we discuss just how expensive some approvals can be. Based on the tweet: Dearerst Client, While you’re busy getting management’s buy-in, consumers are busy buying from the competition. Love, LCB
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Today we discuss why constraints in media formats are a blessing is disguise. Based on the tweet: The good thing about not having room to say everything is that no one wanted to hear it all to begin with.
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The Daily Beard No. 271 is live. Today we discuss a specific example of confusing a goal for a strategy and weep accordingly. On the inside. Based on the tweet: “Connecting people with the brand” is not a strategy, it’s a goal. And not even the final one at that.
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Today we discuss not fearing the future when we are tasked with creating greatness today. Which is frightening enough. Based on the tweet: Just because what works today won’t work tomorrow doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it at all.
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Today we discuss the importance of having something worthwhile instead of just having something by EOD. Based on the tweet: Sooner is better than later, but it’s never better than better.
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Today we discuss why, just like Linus pining for the Great Pumpkin, being sincere is not enough to attract an audience. Based on the tweet: Too many brands mistake being earnest for being interesting to a degree no consumer ever has.
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Today we discuss the importance of making sure the new is also improved. Or at least worthwhile. Based on the tweet: A key aspect of wisdom is the ability to discern a fresh perspective from a frivolous one.
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Today we obliquely discuss the important contributions of C+C Music Factory to the discipline of advertising. Based on the tweet: As extreme reactions to advertising are actually quite rare, our goal most often is to shift a “huh?” to a “hmmm.”
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Today we use exposition to discuss why, when it comes to the work, we should use as little exposition as possible. Based on the tweet: Exposition in ads serves two purposes – to plainly explain what you’re selling and to painfully admit you have no real idea how to sell it.
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Today we discuss how place is an important part of determining if your potential new client is a potential Walter White. Based on the tweet: If you really want to know what kind of client you may be dealing with, have the chemistry check meeting at their place instead of yours.
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Today we chastise a certain, special type of creative director. Based on the tweet: If you actually want clients and consumers to find favor with the work, play favorites with the concepts instead of the creatives.
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Today we discuss the necessity of looking outside ourselves and the industry for both knowledge and inspiration. Based on the tweet: Thinking outside the box begins with exploring the world outside your bubble.
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Today we discuss a fact that is good for the greats and humbling for everyone else. Based on the tweet: A great ad surprises with its very existence.
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Today we discuss the benefits of not having wall-to-wall media placement while admitting to a modicum of ignorance. Based on the tweet: White space also does wonders for media plans.
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Today we discuss the theoretically proper order of things even if they practically operate in parallel. Based on the tweet: Focus on the weight of the message before fretting about the mass of the media.
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Today we discuss the dangers of writing copy that is really just bullet points disguised as prose. Based on the tweet: Few things choke a brand’s voice faster than a list of mandatory copy points.
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Today discuss one of the many things in advertising and life that isn’t new but apparently isn’t well-known. Based on the tweet: If you want new thinking, ask new questions.
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Today we plead for a little respect and a lot of common sense. Based on the tweet: If you can’t speak like a creative, don’t speak for creative.
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Today we discuss the wrong kind of leading by example. Based on the tweet: Dearest Client, Feel free to ignore what we have to say if you don’t mind consumers treating you in kind. Love, LCB
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Today we discuss the need for agencies to do unto themselves what they profess to do unto clients. Based on the tweet: If your agency isn’t an aspirational brand, why should any client believe you can make them one?
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Today we discuss the eternal tension between what we want to accomplish and the means by which we get there. Based on the tweet: Art is subjective. Effectiveness is not.
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Today we take just enough time to discuss thinking, planning, placing, and creating just enough. Based on the tweet: Just because the page is blank doesn’t mean it has to be filled.
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Today we channel a bit of Dave Trott and discuss why 1+1 sometimes equals 3. Based on the tweet: When you combine pretty with interesting, you often end up with something that’s much more than just pretty interesting.
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Today we mark 250 Daily Beards by ranting eloquent about the undying desire of brands to chit-chat. Based on the tweet: There’s little use creating a brand people can talk to if it isn’t one they actually want to talk about.
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Today we channel Roy Rogers (or Bing Crosby if you prefer) to discuss the importance of having the right kinds of creative constraints. Based on the tweet: If you want someone’s imagination to run wild, try not penning it in with a list of bullet points.
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Today we once again bang the drum in defense of advertising being an investment instead of a cost. Based on the tweet: The best things in life are free. The best things in advertising usually aren’t.
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Today we use a common request to represent the seedy underbelly of mistrust between client and agency. Based on the tweet: We’re happy to make the logo bigger if you’re happy making the ad’s impact smaller.
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Today we discuss why promises made to the client should only be proffered by those in a position to keep them. Based on the tweet: “We can do a million ads like this” should never be uttered by someone who’s yet to write a single one.
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Today we admit that not everything in advertising must be simple. Based on the tweet: Don’t confuse a simple execution with a simple message. The former is optional; the latter, mandatory.
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Today we discuss the importance of framing questions wisely and The Dog makes an auditory cameo. Based on the tweet: “What do you think?” is not code for “What’s wrong with this?”
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Today we discuss why every piece of work must justify its own existence in the eyes of the public. Based on the tweet: The consumer will never hear that two-hour campaign rationale you gave to the client. Work lives or dies on its own merits.
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Today we dispel the myth that B2B advertising can and should bore people into submission. Based on the tweet: B2B = B2C. No one picks up an industry pub and thinks, “Two men shaking hands in front of columns really speaks to me.”
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Today we rail against short-term thinking and montages because someone must. Based on the tweet: Even spammers know stimulating instant response is easy. Creating long-term preference and affinity, now that’s a fun challenge.
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Today we discuss the importance of craft while neglecting to celebrate the wonder of craft services. Based on the tweet: Few things break my heart like seeing a brilliant idea poorly executed. Always sweat the details.
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Today we emerge from a brief sabbatical to discuss the importance of having the right amount of respect for oneself and the work. Based on the tweet: Check your ego at the door – if it’s strong enough to fight yet meek enough not to fume, go on in.
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Today we discuss the perils of giving people exactly what they ask for. Based on the tweet: Never show a client anything you don’t want to produce if you hope to avoid producing something you never want to show anyone.
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Today we reflect upon the damage caused by rigid monetary expectations. Based on the tweet: It is nearly impossible to stretch a budget for an unbending client.
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Today we invoke the branding successes and corporate failures of Volkswagen to discuss importance of brand equity. Based on the tweet: Brand equity buys you the benefit of the doubt for when you inevitably fail.
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Today we discuss why it’s usually a good sign when people who will never buy your product find your advertising compelling. Based on the tweet: Just because your product is of limited interest doesn’t mean your advertising should be, too.
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Today we discuss the pitfalls of assigning attributes both good and ill to agencies based solely on headcount. Based on the tweet: Small is not automatically strategic. Large is not automatically lethargic. Smart is never so easily swayed.
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Today we discuss why “made you look” is not a high enough standard for your brand. Based on the tweet: A lot of stupid things go viral, so let’s maybe aim a little higher.
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Today we warn all involved against a certain type of marketer who holds their own customers in contempt. Based on the tweet: A client who insists on targeting the lowest common denominator is almost always being self-referential.
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Today we discuss the necessity of thinning the ranks in a good way. Based on the tweet: Just because all are concerned doesn’t mean all should be involved.
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Today we encourage all involved to not grow weary in our attempts to do good. Or at least good work. Based on the tweet: Beware the bad idea masquerading as a sellable solution.
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Today we advise agency folks to politely ask a certain type of client to put up or shut up. Please. Based on the tweet: Potential clients who claim to want something different should be able to name the last time they actually approved something different.
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Today we discuss the type of client who embraces brand building on a personal level, but brand-eroding tactics on a professional one. Based on the tweet: Dearest Client, Would you buy our concept if we yelled at you to act now because supplies are limited? Love, LCB
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Today we discuss why sometimes the best insight is old and obvious. Based on the tweet: Sometimes the only insight a client needs is that you know how to make them great.
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Today we discuss the dangers of inspiring people to tune us out even more than they already naturally do. Based on the tweet: All ads leave people wanting more. Sometimes, it’s information. Too often, it’s silence.
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Today we encourage one and all to not use low budgets to excuse low-rent ideas. Based on the tweet: “Good, better and best” should sometimes apply to the estimated scope of work and never to the quality of the actual ideas.
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Today we argue against using one of our default concept presentation strategies. Based on the tweet: Never sell an idea as being the same as something else only better. If it’s better, it’s not the same.
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Today we discuss the importance doing good for goodness’ sake and inspire the wrath of agency CFOs. Based on the tweet: You can’t win ’em all, but you can have a winning idea for them all.
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Today we discuss another fundamental-yet-woefully-overlooked aspect of our collective job and Barry Gibb gets voice-checked. Based on the tweet: Advertising is the hard work of turning “impression” and “impact” into synonyms.
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Today we discuss the frustration that is self-inflicted frustration. Based on the tweet: Frustration over what a client was willing to approve rarely equals the frustration over what the agency was unwilling to fight for.
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Today we discuss why your work must be doubly good at working it. Based on the tweet: An ad that cannot sell itself fails twice.
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Today we discuss encouraging a reaction from your audience that is rarely experienced by many copywriters. Based on the tweet: No one ever complains about things that make them smile.
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The Daily Beard No. 218 is live. Today we discuss four simple steps to producing better work and possibly a bemusing Ted Talk. Based on the tweet: Study diligently. Create deliriously. Judge discerningly. Act decisively.
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Today we encourage all involved to always give credit where credit is possibly, potentially, perhaps in a parallel universe, due. Based on the tweet: The seed of every great idea comes from the client. As far as they know.
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oday we remind one and all that it’s healthy to regroup and deadly to regress. And we name-drop Buddy Lee. Based on the tweet: The puzzling failure of what was thought to be great work is no reason for retreating to the easily understood shortcomings of the mediocre.
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Today we dare opine that a little revenge can be good for the creative soul. Based on the tweet: Producing great creative work requires a healthy mix of exploration, instigation, cultivation and retaliation.
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Today we encourage all involved to not annoy people into submission and discuss the joy that was mall intercepts. Based on the tweet: Advertising is supposed to be the element of marketing non-marketing people actually like.
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Today we discuss a bizarre tendency of the ad industry to busy itself with things besides creating good advertising. Based on the tweet: I know of no other industry so intent on avoiding doing the one thing everyone outside the industry expects it to do.
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Today we discuss why trying to have everyone everywhere understand everything is best avoided. Plus, a bonus stipulation. Based on the tweet: If everyone gets it, it’s probably not good enough.
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Today we discuss why sometimes ignorance is the mother of reinvention. Based on the tweet: Good luck reinventing that thing you neither currently appreciate nor completely understand.
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Today we discuss the importance of having a method to the madness that can come from client involvement in the creative process. Based on the tweet: It’s great to get the client involved in the creative process as long as you have a process for keeping it creative.
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Today we discuss managing to stick to the expectations you finally managed to set. Based on the tweet: If the client “just really needs to see something right now,” show
them the schedule they agreed to.
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Today we give the lie to the belief that something can contain too much creativity. Based on the tweet: Work is either the right creative or the wrong creative. It is never “too creative.”
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Today we barrel headlong into dismantling everyone’s favorite not-so-strategic phrase. Based on the tweet: Zigging when others zag sounds nice until you realize how reactionary it is.
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Today we explain why your work does not qualify as a four-quadrant summer tentpole movie blockbuster extravaganza. Sorry. Based on the tweet: An ad with a little something for everyone is rarely embraced by anyone.
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Today we encourage all involved to make exceptionalism a two-way street. Based on the tweet: Dear Clients, It’s okay for you to exceed our expectations, too. Love, LCB
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Today we celebrate the twelfth anniversary of @leeclowsbeard and ruminate about lessons learned.
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Today we discuss how attempting to impress clients with pseudo-smartness often backfires. Based on the tweet: Plain speech works great in ads and even better in presentations.
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Today we discuss the difference between being merely consistent and being consistently good. Based on the tweet: Guess what? Your style guide isn’t your brand, either.
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Today we remind the great throng of communicators that we should all practice what we claim to be. Based on the tweet: For what it costs in time wasted, ideas stunted and work undermined, talk is anything but cheap. Speak wisely out there.
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Today we discuss the importance on keeping your eyes on the people you should prize the most. Based on the tweet: Your target is not the overzealous client, it is the ambivalent consumer.
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Today we discuss the need for agencies to be as keen on infusing wisdom as they are inflaming passion. Based on the tweet: Conflict arises from passion or ignorance. The former can be fruitful. The latter, diffused. Combined, paralyzing.
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Today we discuss the importance of creating the calm before the storm of value. Based on the tweet: Great work stills before it excites.
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Today we honor the SAT and use words to encourage people to set higher standards. Based on the tweet: Adequate is to inadequate as flammable is to inflammable.
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Today we discuss resisting the temptation to keep on adding on. Based on the tweet: It’s an empty canvas in need of artistry, not a vacant lot in need of junk.
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Today we remind ourselves that a problem well-solved is often the best defense against watered-down work. Based on the tweet: If it’s a good solution, it’s not a compromise.
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Today we discuss why a certain type of agency behavior never works out in the end. Based on the tweet: There are few things more dangerous to an agency’s health than substituting appeasing behavior for pleasing results.
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Today we wish eternal damnation upon a certain, all-too-common kind of advertising. The bad kind. Based on the tweet: When someone claims advertising as we know it is dead, the best reply is an enthusiastic “thank goodness.”
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Today we discuss how the little things can leave lasting scars on your brand. Based on the tweet: Three clicks to get to a login screen is two brand-eroding clicks too many.
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Today we celebrate those clients who, even when they take issue with the work, still let you do that thing you do. Based on the tweet: I love clients who know the difference between input and a mandate.
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Today we discuss the importance of maintaining artfully attractive articulation. Based on the tweet: Make sure your brand’s voice is one people outside the company actually want to hear.
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Today we encourage one and all to don their ceremonial rally caps. Based on the tweet: Consumers don’t give A’s for effort. Fight on.
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Today we remind all involved that it takes much more than marketing to make a brand worthy. With a special guest appearance by The Four Ps. Based on the tweet: Dear client, Glad you believe advertising can do a lot for your brand. Just remember “a lot” is a far cry from “everything.”
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Today we say a bit too much about keeping things short and donuts are used as a time-keeping device. Based on the tweet: Brevity is the soul of status meetings. And that soul has been hunted down and beaten with a stick.
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Today we discuss why mere goodness can only be your enemy when it becomes your benchmark and not your holy grail. Based on the tweet: Actually, stupid is the enemy of great.
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Today we discuss a seemingly paradoxical yet highly practical principle for advertising. Based on the tweet: Effective advertising makes the familiar seem new and the new seem familiar.
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Today we remind the decision makes among us that creating successful work actually requires you to, yes, make decisions. Based on the tweet: The biggest waste of time & money in most agencies is the inability to make a decision. Lead yourselves. Lead your clients.
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Today we discuss the importance of not positioning your agency as the fast-food equivalent of advertising. Based on the tweet: Dear Asst. AE, Please stop sending PDFs to the client with the closing, “Let me know if there are any more changes.” - LCB
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Today we discuss why producing great work means little if we don’t treat people well along the way. Based on the tweet: Advertising is always transitory and often disposable. We can only prevent people from becoming the latter.
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Today we advise people to #KnockItOff. Based on the tweet: #ThisIsAToolNotAnIdea
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Today we discuss the issues with having too much of a not-really-such-a-good thing. Based on the tweet: An ad that isn’t doing enough is almost certainly trying to do too much.
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Today we discuss avoiding the knee-jerk reaction of slapping a stock photo of a smiling jackass onto your layout just because your budget is constrained. Based on the tweet: If you only have the budget for a stock photo, try a concept that doesn't require one.
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Today we discuss the sad reality of skewed priorities within too many agencies. Based on the tweet: We long for brilliance yet settle for accurate billing.
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Today we discuss the deleterious effects of ennui among the agency ranks. Based on the tweet: Work that is merely endured inside the agency is rarely embraced outside it.
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Today we discuss the need to actually acknowledge good things when they happen. Based on the tweet: Agencies that do not celebrate good work eventually stop producing any.
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Today we discuss the importance of overcoming humanoid speed bumps. Based on the tweet: It takes just one person to derail a great idea and only two people to lock him in a closet.
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Today we discuss two grave risks that we run when we misread the room. Based on the tweet: Just because everyone at the table is nodding in agreement doesn't mean they've agreed to do something smart.
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Today we discuss why the ability to fire off snappy comebacks may lead to a life of copywriting, but is not sufficient to sustain one. Based on the tweet: Congrats on your ability to fire off witty headlines. You're .01% of the way to being a great copywriter.
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Today we discuss the strategery of acting less smart than your agency’s about page claims you are. Based on the tweet: I'll gladly play the dumbest person in the meeting if it helps
sell the smartest idea on the table.
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Today we discuss the importance of overcoming humanoid speed bumps. Based on the tweet: Value is a judgment, not a feature.
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Today we remind all involved to not fall into the trap of thinking simple things are automatically second-rate. Based on the tweet: Big thinkers don't mistake simple ideas for small ones.
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Today we discuss the dual plagues of chicken-heartedness and faux bravery across the advertising landscape. Based on the tweet: It's not caution we're throwing to the wind. It's fear.
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Today we discuss the unnatural disaster that is the forced brainstorming session. Based on the tweet: Scheduled brainstorm sessions too often end up as ignorant drizzling.
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Today we recall how the only thing really worth fretting over in advertising is a client who freaks out over everything. Based on the tweet: We have nothing to fear but fearful clients.
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Today we discuss the groundbreaking insight that people don’t appreciate being lied to. Based on the tweet: The easiest way to get folks to trust a brand is to always tell the truth. Which is, apparently, less obvious than you'd think.
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Today we discuss the importance of speaking in ways people don’t just understand, but actually enjoy. Based on the tweet: A brand's voice can be plainspoken without being plain.
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Today we discuss the importance of being the right kind of shocking. Meat dress not required. Based on the tweet: Shocking is easy. Shockingly brilliant, a bit more challenging.
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Today we attempt be interesting while speaking about a relevant topic. Just like your work should. Based on the tweet: Creativity can make any message interesting. It cannot, however, make every message effective.
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Today we long for the days when being different was actually considered an asset in the world of advertising. Based on the tweet: Once upon time, ad agencies hired actual misfits instead of cliques of like-minded people claiming to be such. How's that for storvtellina?
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Today we discuss the necessity and challenge of going your own way as a brand. Based on the tweet: Even the weakest of brands can jump on a bandwagon, but it takes a strong brand to actually build one.
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Today we invoke some economic theory in a discussion of messaging surpluses. Based on the tweet: In advertising, the law of diminishing returns for messages kicks in at number two, and for entertainment value never.
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Today we discuss why going it alone is sometimes to only way to keep something going. Based on the tweet: Act as if it is no one else's responsibility to defend the work but your own, and do not stop until proven – not merely told – otherwise.
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Today we discuss a practical principle that applies to advertising and life in general, but especially to creative briefs and pitch decks. Based on the tweet: Focus on what matters. The more you split hairs, the farther behind you fall.
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Today we discuss the fragility that defines the brand-consumer relationship. Based on the tweet: Real relationships can't be torn asunder by a coupon.
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Today we discuss why an ad’s ability to get attention is necessary but not sufficient for it to be effective. Based on the tweet: "Made you look" is miles away from "made you care."
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Today we inspire and/or anger Strategy Twitter, as well as possibly confuse them with a broadcast production reference. Based on the tweet: You can't fix a strategy in post.
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Today we discuss staying focused on things that actually matter to the brands we serve. Based on the tweet: Given the choice, I'd rather push the brand than the envelope.
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Today we discuss how bad ads break the circle of trust between brands and the people they seek to woo. Based on the tweet: Bad ads feel like broken promises. Mainly because they are.
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Today we wax cranky about the joy of oppressive time reporting. Based on the tweet: If someone is creating things that make millions of dollars for your clients, maybe cut them some slack on keeping their timesheets current.
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Today we discuss why the search for novelty is often more of a stumbling block than a path to success. Based on the tweet: Just because it's all been done doesn't mean it's all been done well.
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Today we remind ourselves that our advertising competes against everything the eye can see, the ear can hear, and the finger can click. Based on the tweet: The question is not whether your ad is better than other ads; the question is whether it's better than a frowning cat.
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Today we discuss the risks and lack of rewards of small-sample creative testing. Based on the tweet: If you want to know what's wrong with your ad, show 10 people. If you want to know what's right, show 10 million.
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Today with discuss how great work is always inspirational to all involved. Based on the tweet: Great copy reads like words to live by. For both the consumer and the brand.
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Today we invite a certain type of brand (and brand manager) to take stock of themselves instead of constantly shorting their agencies. Based on the tweet: Dearest Former Client, Playing agency roulette won't solve the issue of your actions not living up to your ads. Love, LCB
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Today we discuss the challenges of advertising your Super Bowl advertising. Based on the tweet: Dear Super Bowl Advertisers, If you're going to let the cat out of the bag, it better be a tiger. Love, LCB
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Today we remind all involved that, when it comes to success, there is no such thing as a sure thing in advertising. Based on the tweet: Research, planning and testing may narrow the gap, but at some point every idea requires a leap of faith.
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Today we advise management on managing expectations related to their own cheapness. Based on the tweet: Don't expect people to think above their pay grade if you pay them below it.
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Today we discuss the importance of knowing when to say whoa. Based on the tweet: The art of compromise includes knowing when not to.
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Today we discuss the importance of being able to spot potential and not just keywords on a resume. Based on the tweet: If you want clients to hire your agency based on its potential to do great work, consider having HR extend the same courtesy.
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Today we struggle through the agony of defeat to discuss the top five commercials of Super Bow XV.
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Today we discuss why achieving universal agreement about the work is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing. Based on the tweet: An ad is only all things to all people when we all agree it's all bad.
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Today we discuss why no part of the work should ever be converted into a cemetery. Based on the tweet: If it needs to be buried in the body copy, it needs to be buried altogether.
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Today we remind ourselves that, when it comes to message strategy, singleness is next to godliness. Based on the tweet: Understanding that a single most persuasive idea should not
contain an "and" is apparently more difficult than I realized.
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Today we celebrate creativity for the sake of creativity even as we use it to make some dough. Based on the tweet: Creativity is a means and an end.
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Today we discuss why the strongest copy needs no format-related assistance. Based on the tweet: Fortune favors the bold over the boldfaced. Write accordingly.
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Today we discuss a very specific plague upon copywriting and good taste. Based on the tweet: This copy is not...dramatic.
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Today we discuss the folly of believing everyone wants something to do with your brand. Based on the tweet: Even God knows his message won't reach everyone.
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Today we discuss the joys of tuning out. Based on the tweet: Some truly great ideas have come from not paying attention in meetings.
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Today we warn all involved against easily disguised ways of taking the easy way out. Based on the tweet: Beware cowardice masquerading as strategy.
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Today we discuss the pitfalls of misplaced momentum. Based on the tweet: The greatest obstacle most agencies and clients must overcome is the inertia of their own internal ways.
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Today we remind those in the C-suite that the “C” does stand for “consumer” or “common.” Based on the tweet: One should always be sensitive to a client's needs and preferences when explaining why they don't matter to consumers.
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Today we lay waste to the notion that being clear is the same as being convincing. Based on the tweet: Being "direct" is not the same as being persuasive.
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Today we delve into the public domain to explain why a common presentation format immediately puts the agency at a disadvantage. Based on the tweet: You do not need to present one idea that's too edgy, one that's too soft and one that's just right. Your client is not Goldilocks.
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Today we offer vital relationship advice to brands while resisting the urge go full Dr. Phil. Based on the tweet: The greatest unspoken brand personality attribute of all time is desperation.
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Today we channel Miyagi-Do and encourage those in charge to let the best around do their best and never try to keep them down. Based on the tweet: The chasm between simply wanting the best and letting the best do their best must be bridged daily.
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Today we we discuss the importance of timing, especially when it concerns scheduling others’ time. Based on the tweet: Scheduling a client presentation for Monday morning is grounds for immediate dismissal.
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Today we discuss how it’s difficult to effect change if you are unwilling to start with yourself. Based on the tweet: Dearest Client, Changing perceptions requires changing behavior. Starting with yours. Love, LCB
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Today we discuss why the only people we should care about whether or not they care is our ultimate audience. Based on the tweet: "Who cares?" is a question best heard from the agency and not the consumer.
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Today we discuss the realities of reactions among those we hope to persuade. Based on the tweet: There is no such thing as an indirect response.
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Today we channel the power of the almighty Werther’s Original to discuss why even emotional decisions need a rational hook. Based on the tweet: On your way to making an emotional connection, don't bypass the intellectual one.
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Today we discuss the importance of not sounding like a disingenuous shill. Based on the tweet: Always read your copy out loud to ensure it sounds like the brand and not the brand manager.
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Today we discuss the primrose path that is borrowed interest while accidentally inventing a new OTC medication no one will want. Based on the tweet: Never borrow interest when you can steal it outright.
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Today we discuss the three basic steps for creating effective advertising. Basic does not equal easy. Based on the tweet: Make a promise in an interesting way. Keep it in unexpected ways. Repeat ad infinitum.
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Today we discuss the sobering reality that most brands are not empowering, and Jif receives a free plug. Based on the tweet: While some types of brands do empower people, we must accept that most do not. No one needs their peanut butter to help them "Live Creamy."
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Today we channel our inner Doobie Bro and discuss just how much yacht rocking one should do in the context of agency life. Based on the tweet: May we always rock the boat more often than management likes but less often than the junior copywriter insists.
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Today we discuss the blight upon our industry that is the mindset of mediocrity. Based on the tweet: Only the sick crave the bland.
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Today we encourage the naturally jaundiced among us to cast a less caustic gaze upon the world. Based on the tweet: It's hard to not be cynical. But we do hard things every day, don't we?
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Today we give advice on dealing with client changes that may rankle your CD but save the work. And if you don't get the title's reference, get thee to Duck Duck Go. Based on the tweet: For each thing a client wants to add to a piece, take away two others.
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Today we discuss the importance of embracing apologetics and evangelism in the defense and selling of your ideas. Based on the tweet: Faith in your ideas should be neither blind nor silent.
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Today we discuss one of the fundamental principles of advertising that the gross majority of work willfully ignores. Based on the tweet: The only action you can bore someone into is ignoring you.
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Today we discuss why involving the people who actually get the things we want to make made should never be an afterthought. Based on the tweet: Dear Creative Team, "Getting production involved" does not count as stifling your "vision." In fact, it's quite the opposite. Love, LCB
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Today we discuss why confusing the execution for the idea is often and unfortunately limiting. Based on the tweet: A great idea always has legs. Now stop confusing the idea with the execution.
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Today we discuss the stupidity of oversimplifying. Based on the tweet: The only thing dumbing down an idea ever accomplished was attracting more dumb people.
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Today we remind ourselves that the point of an ad is not to advertise itself. Based on the tweet: People need to remember to buy what your ad was for, not
the ad itself. Here's a tissue.
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Today we discuss the crazy idea that if you want your agency to be different, you have to hire people who think different. Or even differently. Based on the tweet: It's hard to get out of your comfort zone when you only hire people who just make it bigger.
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Today we start and end the week with a special Thanksgiving edition of The Daily Beard. And if you don’t get the reference in the title, ask your favorite beagle to explain. Based on the tweet: Though often questioned or ignored, be thankful for the talent with which you are blessed. It's better than the alternative.
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Today we discuss the realities of life and how to set your expectations (and behavior) accordingly. Based on the tweet: Most people don't have enough time to interact with their kids, let alone your brand. Respect that.
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Today we discuss why making the call-to-action the only reward for someone’s attention is a terrible bit of bait-and-switch. Based on the tweet: If you only reward viewers of your work with a call to action, you're not going to like the action they feel called to take.
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Today we discuss why sometimes a little give and take gives away the farm, and I compare myself to the David. Based on the tweet: It's nice when the agency and client come together, make some compromises and produce a piece of work everyone can agree to ignore.
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Today we discuss why people rightly perceive cheap talk as having no value. Based on the tweet: Merely telling people you care rarely inspires them to return the favor.
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Today we discuss why it’s good to walk the walk even better than you talk the talk. Based on the tweet: Say it well. Live it better.
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Today we remind ourselves that normal people don’t care about your ads unless you take the time to make them worth caring about. Based on the tweet: No one has ever gone to bed upset that they didn't see enough advertising that day. Slow down and create something worthy of people's time.
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Today we invite all involved to be more shot caller and less clock watcher. Based on the tweet: No consumer has ever needed any ad by end of day.
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Today we reveal why puns are the bane of The Beard’s – and a brand’s – existence. Based on the tweet: Even the cleverest pun, when used in a headline, commits the unpardonable sin of drawing attention to itself and away from the brand.
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Today we discuss why having something unique isn’t the same as having something useful. Based on the tweet: Just because it's different doesn't mean it should be your point of difference.
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Today we discuss why maintaining the brand’s tone of voice is more important than meeting an arbitrary word count. Based on the tweet: Copy should be as short as possible to explain the brand's message and as long as necessary to express the brand's voice.
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Today we discuss why trying to be a customer’s needy, clingy significant other is not a great brand strategy, and Fletcher the Noble Beast makes a cameo. Based on the tweet: Remember, no consumer has ever spent a single second wondering how to better connect emotionally with a brand.
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Today we don’t discuss why logorrhea is often lethal to the work. Based on the tweet: Often, the more you say, the less you're heard.
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Today we warn against throwing the baby out with the bath water. Especially when the baby in question is a century-plus of industry knowledge. Based on the tweet: The phrase is "adapt or die." Not "abandon everything you've ever learned and start from nothing or die."
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Today we opine that you don’t really need to be your “authentic professional self” all day every day. Based on the tweet: 'Tis the season to work on being a better person. Not a better
personal brand.
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Today we discuss why money is still an indicator of quality to your clients regardless of what procurement says. Based on the tweet: For agencies & freelancers alike: The more you discount your rate, the more the client discounts your ideas.
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Today we wish good tidings to all without once demanding a single spoonful of figgy pudding.
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Today we discuss why being good is always unexpected, thank the @MartinAgency just for being them, and bring back @BBDONY’s “Milky Minutes” for educational purposes. Based on the tweet: Usually, the surprise comes from being in any way delighted.
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Today we once again harass fellow creative directors about whose opinion they’re supposed to represent, and Steve Winwood’s hair gets a shout-out. Based on the tweet: A good creative director reacts less like an audience of one and speaks more like the voice of a million.
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Today we kick off 2021 with a gentle rant reminding all involved that other people are people too. Based on the tweet: People remain our only resource for great ideas. And while they are renewable, they are not disposable. Treat yours well.
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Today we discuss why telling the client less makes it sound like you know more. Because you do. Based on the tweet: Proving your agency believes in the power of simplicity begins with a pitch presentation that ends surprisingly early.
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In today’s special Super Election 2020 We’re All Going to Die Edition, we vainly plead for sanity from an industry built on hyperbole. And yes, I meant to say "Election Dad."
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Today we discuss why we should never confuse effort with effectiveness. Based on the tweet: If you can only sell the work by selling all the work that went into the work, chances are the work doesn’t really work that well.
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Today we discuss why certain things do not always bear repeating. Based on the tweet: Strategies need explanations. The work that follows should not.
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Today we discuss the pernicious belief that your audience really isn’t worthy of your best effort. Based on the tweet: Contempt for the audience always comes through in the work.
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Today we discuss why the best people and agencies aren’t the ones telling you they’re the best people and agencies. Based on the tweet: When you actually put the work first, there's no longer a need to tell everyone you put the work first.
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Today we discuss the importance of wisdom in separating the quasi-influential from the actual decision makers. Based on the tweet: Few things muck up the work faster than mistaking stakeholders for decision makers.
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Today we discuss why more time up front can actually lead to more success in the end. Based on the tweet: Time is money, so give the work enough time at the agency to be done right and enough time in the public to be effective.
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Today we discuss a delightful paradox that comes as one acquires expertise. Based on the tweet: Work that needs no explanation is rarely created by those who can't give one.
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Today we bust out the FAO Schwarz giant keyboard and discuss why all we are is all we’ve got, so maybe we should all cut each other some slack. Based on the tweet: We pour our hearts and souls into the work because they are the best raw materials we have.
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Today we remind ourselves that great effort in the execution of mediocrity is not a moral victory. Based on the tweet:
Consumers don’t care who did the work, how hard it was to get approved or why it’s watered down. Consumers do not grade on a curve.
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Today we declare that, while brashness is a question of taste, boldness is a matter of necessity. Based on the tweet:
If you don’t think your brand should be brash, don’t be brash. If you don’t think your brand should be bold, you’re wrong.
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Today we remind one and all that fight for the work must always remain about the work. Based on the tweet:
It’s easier to defend the work when you’re not busy doing the same for your ego.
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Today we invoke the spirit of Lotus Cars founder Colin Chapman and his mantra of “adding lightness.” Based on the tweet:
If the work feels lightweight, it’s probably overloaded.
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Today we celebrate client contacts who aren’t afraid to champion the work. Yes, they do exist. Based on the tweet:
When it comes to the work, smart clients prefer “selling it in” to “showing it around.”
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Today we encourage spouters of empty words to attach some measurements to their mumblings, and wax tragically nostalgic about Donkey Kong. Based on the tweet:
If you can’t define the next level, quit promising to take the work, the agency or the brand there.
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Today we discuss why the ability to read the client’s mind is nobody’s superpower. And even if it was, it wouldn’t matter. Based on the tweet:
Making anticipated client changes before actually presenting the work does not count as proactive thinking.
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Today we lovingly chastise creative directors who don’t know how to direct. Based on the tweet:
“I’ll know it when I see it” works for consumers. Not creative directors.
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Today we turn from focusing on one message to focusing on one audience. But please continue to do the former while addressing the latter. Based on the tweet:
If you keep second-guessing the work based on its appeal to your secondary audience, maybe they shouldn’t be secondary.
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Today we discuss how agencies that are truly “all about the work” structure themselves accordingly. Based on the tweet:
It’s hard to believe your agency is “all about the work” when the account team outnumbers creatives four to one.
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Today we discuss the importance of doing your job even when you don’t feel like it. Take that previous statement as you will. Based on the tweet:
Inspiration is random. Creativity, premeditated.
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Today we discuss why your particular brand of crazy talk should be music to your clients’ ears. Based on the tweet:
Great ads solve advertising problems. Great ad agencies solve business problems.
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Today we discuss the plague that is overthink along with Snickers’ strategic battle against hypoglycemia, and a key grip risks getting fired. Based on the tweet:
The phrase is “think before you act.” Not “overthink before you never act.”
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Today we use two tweets to encourage all involved to keep things brief. Based on the tweets:
The better the work, the shorter the presentation. & The better the work, the shorter the case study.
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Today we discuss avoiding a common copywriting trope and confuse basic parts of speech. Based on the tweet:
Never use two adjectives where none will do.
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Today we seek to remind ourselves that the public is who ultimately makes or breaks the work. Based on the tweet:
The client may be the judge, but the consumer is the jury and executioner.
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Today we discuss the importance of rhythm in both copy and design, and a brief demonstration of the 80s White Guy Dance may have occurred. Based on the tweet:
Copy & design create an ad’s internal rhythm. Even if they can’t describe it, consumers know when the beat is off.
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Today we discuss why your product’s mere existence isn’t nearly as exciting to most people as you think, and I ask my peanut butter to stop empowering me. Based on the tweet:
“What it is” explains. “Why it matters” sells.
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Today we beat people over the head with common sense. Based on the tweet:
In the ad game, “Well, we got it all in there,” should always be said with a deep sense of shame.
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Today we discuss the importance of knowing when you should take a break personally instead of making a campaign take a hike permanently. Based on the tweet:
Change something when its effectiveness wanes, and not merely your desire to keep working on it.
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Today we discuss why you wanting my money is not a good enough reason for me to give it to you. Based on the tweet:
With the time you spent begging people to act, you could have given them a reason to.
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Today we harass writers about abusing typographic emphasis. And, as you may suspect, we equate use with abuse. Based on the tweet:
If your copy requires italics, your copy requires rewriting.
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Today we go a-hunting for creative unicorns and, as expected, come up short. Ranting ensues. Based on the tweet:
Passionate people with no egos who defend the work without pushing the client while creating new things guaranteed to work don’t exist.
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Finally, we call out lazy, detrimental copywriting lead-ins and name-drop a 20-year-old Hollywood Video commercial. Based on the tweet:
Finally, you can stop using “finally” to begin headlines.
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Today we discuss why the branding long game is preferable to an unlimited supply of starbursts. Based on the tweet:
Make your brand the strong call to action.
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Today we briefly discuss the biggest risk of seeking alignment over all else. Based on the tweet:
Lemmings have great alignment.
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Today we discuss why a well-built brand never experiences logo envy. Based on the tweet:
Do an ad well and people will look for the logo. Do a campaign well and you soon won’t need it.
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Today we advise everyone to show clients fewer options and use the time saved to go get a biscuit. Based on the tweet:
If there’s no such thing as a bad idea, why do we have to show the client three?
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Today we discuss why you’re not required to produce the advertising equivalent of Jonathan Goldsmith every time. Based on the tweet:
You don’t have to create the most interesting thing ever, just the most interesting thing at the moment.
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Today we rip the Band-Aid Brand adhesive bandage off the idea that bad work is always the client’s fault. Based on the tweet:
An agency cannot blame one difficult client for the poor work produced for eight.
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Today we dive shallowly into brand voice, quickly and painlessly parsing the difference between the occasional need for cleverness and the eternal need for being smart. Based on the tweet:
Be clever when it’s called for. Be smart even when it’s not.
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Today we discuss why one of the best things experience can ever teach you is what not to do. Based on the tweet:
In creativity as in life, the wisdom to discern the important from the inconsequential is rarely quickly or easily attained.
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Today’s topic of discussion is the pointlessness of trying to please everyone. We name-drop Mr. Whipple and The Martin Agency, along with Matthew and Gunnar’s dad, Rick. Based on the tweet:
An ad that’s universally liked hasn’t been shown to everyone yet.
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Today we encourage account folks everywhere to show off their work. Based on the tweet:
The correct answer to “can I see your book” is not “but I’m an account guy.”
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The Daily Beard is live. Today we discuss the importance of presentation structure. Which is more exciting than that previous sentence would lead you to believe. Based on the tweet:
After two hours of capabilities, strategy and media discussions, the work darn well better speak for itself.
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Today we discuss why the need to pay the bills should not outweigh the desire for good clients. Also, something about woo. Based on the tweet:
Good clients pay the bills just as well as bad ones.
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Today we discuss the importance of being able to think complicated thoughts for fun and profit. Based on the tweet:
Simplicity is usually the result of much complex thinking.
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Today we discuss why periodic awesomeness is better than a steady state of meh. Based on the tweet:
Better to be sporadically great than consistently overlooked.
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Today we ramble rhapsodic about making the so-called boring brands just as beatific as your dream clients, and advise certain people to quit the industry. Based on the tweet:
If you need to work on an inspiring brand to create inspired advertising, you picked the wrong career.
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Today we advise all involved to put up or shut up in a moderately more tactful way. Based on the tweet:
Please don’t complain about ROI if you are unwilling to actually I.
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Today we discuss the heartbreak of wasting two great ideas and one simple trick to avoiding such a fate that will leave you shook. Based on the tweet:
The only thing presenting three great ideas does is guarantee two great ideas never get produced.
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The Daily Beard is live and lonely. Today we discuss the importance of thinking far from the madding crowd. Based on the tweet:
When concepting, it’s best to get as many people as possible into one room. And then go somewhere else.
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Today we discuss the importance of creating an interesting, singular brand voice even if your audience is – even though it isn’t – everybody. Based on the tweet:
Even the most general mass advertising is targeted to a specific mindset. Make sure you do it on purpose.
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Today we discuss the pseudo-focus group blight upon creativity that is “showing it around the office.” Based on the tweet:
Consumers never show an ad around the office to decide if they should like it.
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Today we discuss why it’s okay if your mom likes an ad even if she can’t perform a wicked ollie. Based on the tweet:
No one ever stopped watching something interesting because they realized they weren’t the intended target.
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Today we discuss how to spot a potential client whose concept of a big idea is whatever comes from his tiny brain. Based on the tweet:
Beware the small mind that demands big ideas.
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The Daily Beard is live. Today we offer salient advice to CDs, clients, and anyone charged with making the work great: Consider shutting your pie hole. Based on the tweet:
Before suggesting changes, first ask, “am I making this better, or merely different?”
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Today we discuss when to fight for the work, when to grab the thesaurus, and when not to trust a wobbly-kneed warrior while working in a “Laverne & Shirley” reference. Based on the tweet:
When someone says, “I wouldn’t fall on my sword for that,” ask if they’ve fallen on a sword for anything. Ever.
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Today we discuss why focus groups should not determine how shiny your shrimp is, nor if your work will actually be effective. Apologies in advance to anyone named Nancy. Based on the tweet:
You should always focus group creative, assuming your goal is creative that satisfies 30 people.
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Today we cover why the person with the most theoretical power should get the least amount of actual time to review work. Based on the tweet:
Show clients you respect their decisiveness by making client approvals the shortest segment of the production schedule.
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Today we discuss why consensus is nice to have, but is in no way an indicator of success. Based on the tweet:
Congrats on compromising your way to unanimous stakeholder approval and total consumer indifference.
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Today we continue ruminating on the odd, soul-sucking strategy of revolving-door-mediocrity. Based on the tweet:
Instead of going with something “we can all live with,” let’s try pushing through something we can all celebrate.
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Today we ponder the long-term efficacy of the just-get-it-done philosophy of project management. Based on the tweet:
Do enough projects that you just have to get out the door, and you’ll soon find those are the only ones coming in.
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Today we discuss why an interesting brand is better than an insipid plea to "act now." Based on the tweet:
If you want a stronger call to action, create a better ad.
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Today we ponder the preponderance of pointless, smiling people in so many ads and plead for the perpetrators to stop. Based on the tweet:
If at first you don’t succeed, a lifestyle photo is not the solution.
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Today we discuss the crazy notion that the people you hired to have ideas should be expected and allowed to do so. Based on the tweet:
Great ideas can come from anywhere. Even creatives.
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Today we discuss a soft skill that is hard to master but worth the effort. Based on the tweet:
Learning to phrase “doing that would be stupid and wrong” in a way that makes the client smile is a skill worth mastering.
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Today we discuss how to, hopefully, keep people from doing your job against your will and the world's better judgment. Based on the tweet:
Everyone really is a copywriter, art director, etc. So go on. Be better than everyone.
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Today we discuss why agency and client alike must judge work the way it ultimately is by those it is intended to reach. Instantly and mercilessly. Based on the tweet:
Clients are consumers, too. They just need to be reminded. Often.
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Today we veer from the norm to discuss the ad industry's odd infatuation with Pornhub and why it should stop.
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Today we mangle the word "similarly" and the family dog makes an auditory cameo.Based on the tweet:
New does not necessarily equal good. Old does not necessarily equal bad. Exercise wisdom accordingly.
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Today we discuss why a creative team (writer/AD) should be able to defend one another's choices to The Man. Based on the tweet:
Writers should be able to articulately defend design, and vice versa.
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Today we discuss a frequent, paradoxical challenge posed by clients who demand novelty couched in safety. Based on the tweet:
Every client wants something new. And three examples of where it's worked before.
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Today we give you permission to frighten and confuse small segments of the viewing public. Based on the tweet:
"But some people won't get this" is one of the first signs your ad might actually work.
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Today we suggest a so-crazy-it-just-might-work solution to the problem of real people not reading body copy. Based on the tweet:
Body copy gets read when headlines do their job.
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Today we reveal the one dog that is undeserving of belly rubs. Based on the tweet:
Hope you like that straw dog because the client just approved it.
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Is the client always right? Nay. But today we discuss the one instance where the client – every client – is 100% accurate in their opinion. Based on the tweet:
Most clients who say, “We could never run an ad like that,” are sadly correct.
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Today we discuss the need to deliver the goods when people pay us with their time. Based on the tweet:
Your ad begins as an interruption. Make paying attention to it feel like a reward.
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Today we discuss why people who price shop for ointments are smarter than all of us. Based on the tweet:
Never underestimate the intelligence of your audience. The subtleties of value-priced hemorrhoid cream are lost on few.
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Today we implore people to stop freaking out about things that aren't as complex as they believe while probably annoying a large percentage of them in the process. Based on the tweet:
Too many people think the things that are easy about advertising are hard, and vice versa.
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Today, we discuss why an ad shouldn't leave you curled up on the bathroom floor feeling bloated with failure and regret, based on the tweet:
An ad should be an appetizer, not a buffet.
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Today we discuss the tweet:
If you're not promoting a truth, you're accelerating a failure.
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Today we discust the tweet:
Media changes. The rules of good creative do not.
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Today we discuss the tweet:
You cannot become the person or agency you wish to be by doing the type of work you wished you never had to do.
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On this, the premiere episode of The Daily Beard (please excuse the reference to video as this is the audio from a vlog) we discuss the tweet:
Fight the proliferation of mediocrity.
Why? Because we should and must.
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