THE ADNEWS NGEN BLOG: Positive Tension

Last week on a domestic flight, I was interrupted by the Olympic themed Qantas In-Flight Safety Video. I find it charming. The Games lingering about, while the rest of the world forgets. Like Birthday gifts in Christmas wrap – out of context, yet a welcome reminder!

It impelled the thought; does winning Gold individually have the same glory as a team dynamic? Societies celebrate individuals. However, there is a specific momentum in collaboration- that can’t be matched alone.

The evening before, a campaign of ours won local awards. It was a six month sell. How it started was buried somewhere, yet passion remained at the fore of the journey. My GM and I often brace clients together. We wondered who hit the communications platform and in synch agreed “It just… dropped out”. Part-him, part-me, a true collaboration of two opposing minds.

There is a beautiful tension in working with a different mind. The Copy Writer and Art Director Duo make sense to these media heads. It seems when we broke away from our creative brothers- we forgot about the secret weapon of two inside the studio. 

We break briefs with fire in the belly and pursue our weapons of choice…

He goes for a walk outside.

I go on a rampage. Saturating the mind with information feeds. An all-consuming state of play! Humans are interrogated, Google gets grilled (retargeting that follows a mocking reminder) and there is a data dive. This gives you permission to speak. Especially, in a game where we can go from selling Tampons, Term Deposits and Tourism by Two on a Tuesday! You could compare it to a compost bin. Fill it up with endless shit, because you know “the goods” will fall out.

The numbers are done
“The goods” fall out

So…
We meet at a whiteboard
Or at Coffee

And there we are, with our process…

Like two birds at the beach both fighting to eat the same chip.

One champions the audience the other product.

One pioneers the outlandish the other drags numbers forward.

We don’t know when a hook will drop. Inspiration can come from cab drivers, caffeine seekers and carnies. My GM writes them in his calendar. I rely on my Sleeping Companion (iPhone) for the email ‘selfie’ or my Driving Companion (iPhone) for the voice recorder. They can drop into your vernacular sporadically. Two weeks earlier, my Grandfather turned to me and said ‘I hate banks I used to be a story now I am a number. The more banks push new tech platforms the more they make me feel isolated’. Days earlier, my Mum mentioned Seniors fear of Pay Wave. And here I am on this flight, with two women wrapping their bank cards in Alfoil. No longer paranoid about handbag theft, they are petrified people will walk past them with Eftpos machines.

Often you find yourself in the wrong direction. So face that dead end, start again and use it. Ideas come from ideas! This duo-dynamic is like a conflict group. When the dust settles, you find yourself staring at the solution.

It is remarkable when you say in synch ‘It just… dropped out’ because you know it was true collaboration. An idea that is simply an idea- no name suffocating it.

Buying ‘growth’ not ‘media’ is our future. And GREAT IDEAS and BIG DATA are the two “powerhouses”. We can’t ignore them. Choose just one. Have a preference. Overcomplicate it. Or do nothing and be ignorant. Because it turns out, data is great storytelling wrap and ideas can unlock new growth for data. Pretty simple.

Look at Super Bowl Sunday, volume indicates to take an ad out. The Old Milwaukee ad (staring Will Farrell), went to air that Sunday and it didn’t follow volume- it ran in Nebraska only! There it is on YouTube enjoying a longer-life than a 30second ad. It took long tail audience from ad Advertising powerhouse. Great ideas unlock new growth.

Did the maths kids hang with the arts kids at school? -Probably not. I have a research and theatrical background and my GM was an Accountant. And while our outputs create discomfort they often deliver.


Annabelle Rogers
Strategy & Content Manager
OMD