The newspaper is dead. Long live the newspaper (Part 1)
Oct 14, 2010 Ideas
Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, unveiled its new design and editorial format. Two things surprised me about the newspaper: the new printing quality of the physical paper, and the announcement they are streamlining the content to make it more graphical and faster to read. As part of their unveiling, the paper also mentioned that they would be spending over $1-billion dollars on a 15-year contract for the new printing technology. A bold move at a time when everybody is predicting the demise of the newspaper.
The question is, why would a newspaper’s board approve a massive redesign and significant capital expenditure at a time when the traditional newspaper industry is headed for extinction? Won’t the newspapers be replaced by Google and other online information services?
Before we write off newspaper, let me make a case for why the newspaper might be around for a little while longer, albeit in a different form and serving a different function than we see today. In order to do that, we need to look at how new media displaces not replaces and older media.
Radio vs. Print
Up until the 1950’s, radio was the primary way of receiving information and entertainment. People huddled around the radio set to not only get news and information, but also radio dramas and comedies. The information was fast, up-to-the- minute, and easy to digest. At the time, people said it would be the end of the printed word and ruin the fine art of conversation. But the newspapers kept on going, because they provide images and deeper content.
TV vs. Radio
Then along came television. Pictures and sound delivered vivid images of the day’s events. Why would you ever want to listen to the radio when television provided everything you would ever need? But the radio did not go away. It found a new place in our cars and on the go. With the advent of the transistor, radios became mobile and so you could take the information with you as went about your day. When I am in my car listening to a traffic report, I am reminded that radio is not going away anytime soon.
Internet vs. Television
But then along came the Internet. Today, the world’s information is a mouse click away. Google provides you with an index to unfathomable amounts of information. You are not limited to three daily newspapers, or 30 radio stations, or 300 television channels. The Internet ushered in a radically different way people consume information, and in spite of the Internet, television has not gone away. It has just found a new place on the media landscape. My daughter watches as much TV as I did as I did when I was her age, she just does it on her laptop. Modern Family is still produced by the same TV network, but now it has multiple ways of reaching its audience.
The reality is a new media does not replace an older media. It just displaces it and redefines its value. In the end, the audience wins because they are given more ways to receive their information and entertainment.
This brings us back to the newspaper. I don’t think it is going way soon, but I think it will change. I think The Globe got it half right. A faster, more graphical reading format is a welcome addition. As people in the business of making things clear, we love this move. The big bet on the fancy printing technology, not so much. It might attract some viewers, but its real purpose is to sell premium brand ads. This strategy will give them a short-term revenue boost, but will it be enough to sustain the printed word on paper?
The reality is there is still a market for good journalism and in-depth articles, but maybe not on a bulky piece of newsprint, and that physical newspaper might not be delivered to our door every morning. That will go the way of milk and bread delivery. What you might see is a smaller, faster, easy-to-read paper that we grab as we jump on a subway and skim for a few minutes. The rest of the day, the paper would live on your laptop or iPad. All supported by good old journalism and its necessary sidekick, advertising.
This is part one of a two-part story on the state of the newspaper industry. Part two continues.
A smarter, greener, and more personalized news (Part 2)
This is part two of a two-part story on the state of the newspaper industry.
The first thing I do in the morning is grab my phone and read the Toronto Star’s website on my bed. I love reading the news, both print and online versions. Recently, the Toronto Star persistently had been calling me to renew my subscription. I did renew the weekend subscription, but I regretted it by Sunday. My biggest headache is the amount of unread paper piled up for recycling, and, to my surprise, since acquiring an iPhone in 2007, my reading habits have changed and I have become used to instant access of the news on my phone. So, on a few occasions, I forgot to pick up the paper by the door in the morning.
During a recent commute on the subway, I noticed a small technology shift. I saw a businessman in his 30s reading the Wall Street Journal on his 10” Kindle DX, instead of the broadsheets (which are often a challenge to read in a cramped subway). He was doing the same as I do. Every morning commute, I read the Toronto Star on my phone, but often Internet reception is not readily available in the subway. This got me thinking that there must be a better way to read the paper. How about a personalized, wireless, device-agnostic, and location-based news service?
1) Personalized and social sharing content:
The physical paper is always designed to cater to a wide range of audiences, hence the paper is usually thick and prints everything for everyone. Half of my Saturday paper is often unread. New web content is created every hour, and the old paper becomes uninteresting by the evening.
To solve the problem of excessive printing, let’s look to the Internet for some inspirations. The beauty of Netflix and Twitter is that we are our own personal content selector. Imagine a newspaper that gives you the level of personalization like Netflix and suggests similar genres or contrasting articles. On Twitter, I can filter only the journalists whom I want to “follow” or “unfollow”. I can also pick and choose what genre of articles to read. For example, I can subscribe only to the columnist Michael Geist and the political commentator Chantal Hubert. The paper connects with my friends and they can recommend other articles and be notified within the app, instead of receiving it as an email or a Facebook status update.
This is not a proposition to substitute all the editors with computers, but rather to have the readers create their own unique experiences as compared to the current indirect relationship between editors and readers. With a more democratic approach, users can find more niche journalists or articles that the print paper cannot accommodate. Readers will see it as a service, when the news is interactive, completely personalized, and filled with relevant information.
2) Instant access, and content to be delivered to all my devices:
Convenience is the key. The newspaper should push me the latest news before I pick up the device in the morning. For example, I can set to have the content pushed to my devices every morning at 7:00am, instead of having to access the web and physically downloading the content in which I’m interested. Also, I should be able to read the news even when I am out of range, as it is synchronized on a regular basis.
Make the news device-agnostic so that I can read it on my phone, my computer at work, or on a tablet. So, the news should be available on Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, Kindle etc, and the content synced up across multiple platforms.
3) Combine existing reviews with location services:
Say I am on Queen West, a trendy Toronto street. Wouldn’t it be nice to read the Toronto Star’s extensive reviews on restaurants, boutiques, and condos based on where you are using the GPS technology? Currently with foursquare, a location sharing technology, the reviews are added by average users. What sets The Star’s version apart is their brand value and large database of trusted reviews. Imagine the news can suggest the top three restaurants in walking distance, or boutique reviews, or Christopher Hume’s condo critics. It can also partner with Groupon to push coupons or cross-reference it to the profitable classified database.
4) Break news, but make it relevant:
For any breaking news that’s relevant to me, it will be pushed with a flashing icon and linked to a short update or quick video summary. I often wish the Toronto Star was the first go-to point of breaking news, rather than Twitter.
5) “Surprise me” button:
There are times I like to flip through the physical paper randomly and find the odd article, and often those are some of the best experiences of newspaper reading. A “surprise me” button will suggest articles that are normally not my personal preference.
Charge like a drug dealer.
Make the paper so good that is addictive. Give it for free to get people hooked. The free version can only follow three journalists for instance. Premium features such as exclusive Toronto Star discounts and an unlimited number of journalists could be charged at $2.99 a month and billed through the carriers as an add-on. Follow Chris Anderson’s “Five Percent Rule” – five percent of users support all the rest.
Earlier signs of this version of news already exist in iPad apps called Flipbook (See YouTube video) and Pulse reader. However, they lack offline caching, location-based services, and push delivery. Before my fantasies materialize, I will continue reading my Toronto Star on my phone on the subway, saving interesting articles one at a time before losing 3G reception underground.
Like our previous blog about The Globe and Mail, newspapers have evolved and are getting smarter and more attractive. The question remains, will these changes renew the general public’s interest in reading newspaper? Or have people changed their reading habits completely? What would your future of newspaper be like?
Talent Relationship Management
Sep 14, 2010 Ideas, Project Management
Most people are familiar with customer relationship management, but for SJG, talent relationship management is equally as important.
Last month, while working on the taping of Richard St. John’s talk The 8 Traits Successful People Have in Common: 8 To Be Great, I had the opportunity to work with an audience co-coordinator for the first time (someone whose function is to ensure there are bums in the seats!) and it got me thinking about how we work with teams.
Our core talents are creative development and project management. This allows us to work with specialized talent for specific parts of a project, keeping us agile and flexible.
Working with a new team can be very challenging and enjoyable, so I thought I share with you some tips to developing successful teams and how to continue and build those relationships further.
Five phases of building a team for your projects
1. Jump into the deep end of the talent pool:
On any given day we’re working on websites, videos, live events and product launches. The wide variety of services means we have to have a vast talent roster, from illustrators to new media designers, from videographers to talent co-coordinators.
We are constantly reaching out to various creative disciplines to seek out the best and the brightest. We do this long before a project is even been conceived. We love finding great people to work with and we are always looking for new talent. We take the time to meet with them and find out what makes them tick, what they’re passionate about and how they can serve the projects SJG takes on.
2. “The Fit”:
Once a project map out the various tasks, and we also begin developing the type of talent needed to make that project a success. Next we assign talent to the tasks from our internal resources as well as the roster of freelance talent we have pre-screened.
When selecting your talent, be sure to keep in mind the priorities of the project and understand the value each expert can bring to the project. Like finding the right fit in a pair of jeans, you need to find the right fit in talent to deliver extraordinary results for your project.
3. Context and Communication:
In the mobile world that we live in, it’s possible for a project to be executed without physically meeting some of the key players on your team. Providing clear direction to your team members, helps keep them focused on your project, as well as fostering teamwork. It is important as the project manager to pull the team together quickly and get everyone on the same page.
Making all relevant information available to your team members is a great starting point to building your relationship. Using web-based project management software such as Basecamp is a great tool for collaborating with your team and your clients. Using this tool, you can store and share all of the necessary documents from the scope of work, to critical paths, to reviewing current versions of work.
4. Be prepared:
There’s a saying that states: “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”. So why not be prepared for that to happen? There is no such thing as being over-prepared. Being confident that a plan is in place for when that “what-if” event takes place is also a powerful project management tool. Having a planned reaction can make the “wrong” disappear altogether, allowing the team confidently to continue.
5. Releasing the team and continued communications:
As rapidly as teams come together, at the conclusion of the project the team disperses at the conclusion of the assignment.
Our freelance talent pool is a valued part of our extended SJG family. We may work with some people over and over again on specific projects, and other times it may be months or years before we need that type of talent again.
Continued communication beyond the project is a must to keep up-to-date with your freelance talent pool, to understand what their passions are and how their talents have evolved since the last project. This constant contact allows you to always know who is the best fit for the next project.
Using this methodology for acquiring and using talent proved to be successful with Richard’s talk. Not only did we have 200+ attendance. But the team worked effectively and efficiently to the same goal of a successful project.
Do you have a talent relationship strategy? Following these steps for acquiring and leveraging talent has proven to be a successful methodology with many projects at SJG.
The Art of Maximizing ROI (Return on Ideas)
Aug 27, 2010 Ideas, Project Management
In our recent leadership meeting, our team shared tips on executing ideas faster, while still delivering excellence. The topic was extensively debated. We talked about the pros and cons of speed versus perfection. At the end of the discussion, we agreed the team shows discretion on when to pursue perfection. Here are our six steps to maximize ROI (return on ideas).
Step One: Ideation
Let’s start with ideation. We gather lots of ideas and we gather them fast, without discriminating against good or bad. (The figure on the left illustrates the funnel approach, taking multiple ideas down to the development of one great idea.) We give team members an equal opportunity to develop their ideas. We then mash up different good ideas together to create even better ideas.
Step Two: Rapid Prototyping
After carefully selecting the top promising ideas, we then quickly develop them using a rapid prototyping model. The key is to rapidly develop rough working ideas. Rough working ideas are key, because we want to capture the essence of the ideas, rather than set them in stone.
The goal is for our designers to produce simple working prototypes, akin to an architect model. It’s important the prototypes work. We want our designers to look ahead and anticipate each production step, so we can foresee what challenges this idea might pose later in the production phase. For example, if it is a video project, storyboard artists pre-visualize a few scenes. If it is a website, our coders mock up a quick prototype. In short, the goal is to produce rough prototypes to prove the idea. Our clients have to participate in the prototype review and as a group we collaborate on selecting the best design.
Step Three: Visualization
Once we pick our top idea, we start a detailed visualization, which acts as our blueprint to guide us through the production. This is the opportunity to work out the kinks. The visualization is also where we continue to interact with our clients for review and approval. We have learned that quick, continuous client feedback is key to success on projects. Our creative process is not a one-way street.
Step Four: Production
In our production phase, it is about working efficiently and effectively. By now all the creative decisions have been made, and we can ramp up the quality and narrow the focus. This is critical in order to complete the project within the allocated timeframe and to avoid any overtime charges. The goal is not to take shortcuts, but rather to find the most efficient way to attain perfection.
Step Five: Mini Check-ins
To ensure the utmost quality, we perform daily mini check-ins, as pioneered by Pixar Studios. We talk to team members about their production status and their challenges, what works and what doesn’t. This is the best time to help a teammate who might be stuck on a production problem. Mini check-ins keep the team focused, while saving time and enhancing team and client satisfaction.
Step Six: False Deadlines
Okay, we admit it. Creative people can be born procrastinators. Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. The last step to ensure production is done on time is by setting false internal deadlines. We panic early to allow time for changes and refinements in order to perfect the project as if it were the client’s delivery deadline. At this time, we recheck the work to make sure it is perfect. Having this buffer zone gives us time to evaluate what can be tweaked, or in the worst-case scenario, what needs to be redone.
For those of us who are perfectionists, we ask ourselves a simple question: Are we perfecting to serve the clients or ourselves? If we are just pushing pixels in an endless pursuit of perfection, we need to stop. If the pursuit of perfection is to serve our clients, we will continue.
The goal is to deliver excellence, with more team satisfaction, which leads to greater motivation and inspiration to get the next great ideas into fruition. Essentially, we can achieve the best results with less time wasted and happier clients and team. In the end, if we follow all the steps we are assured a maximum return on our ideas.
The Ethos of Skateboarding
Aug 13, 2010 Ideas
The other day I was out with my dog exploring my new neighbourhood, when I came across a skateboard park that I never noticed before. As I approached, I could see young people of all shapes and sizes exploring the park. I was struck by a couple of things, including that, although skateboarding is an individual sport, there was a lot of collaboration being played out in the form of encouragement and quiet competition. This made me think about how creative organizations operate when they are at their best. It seems to me that there is some common ground to explore.
Skateboarding is all about persistence and practice. Tricks are repeated over and over, with many spectacular crashes and falls along the way to mastering a move. Some riders are more gifted than others, but the majority of mastery comes from putting in the time to get it right. Learning comes from observing others and seeing how they do a move. In fact, most of the time the riders are waiting for their turn, but the time is well spent by observing what their fellow riders are doing. A second way they learn is by crowd feedback. When you come close, but do not quite master that new move, there are groans from the audience. When you crash, there are howls of laughter and trash talk from the sidelines. And when you finally nail that move, there is cheering and clapping from the sidelines.
Skateboarding is about doing it for your own satisfaction, but it also about doing it for the audience. Whether you like it or not, at the park, you’re being watched. This pushes you to do better, because you don’t want to let down your audience. In addition, you are always in quiet competition with your fellow skateboarders. Nothing is written down about who is the best, but it is easy to see that there is an unwritten hierarchy that is constantly evolving at the park. The boarders code is learn, perfect, and move up the invisible ladder.
Media played a big role as well. In addition to the boards and helmets, video cameras and mobile phones were part of the equipment. Video was constantly being taken to capture the moment forever and for all to see. YouTube is full of videos of the best and the worst of skateboarding. It helps propel the sport forward and provides a greater audience beyond the skate park.
The one thing I did not see at the park was a lot of instruction. Nobody was teaching another person a trick. Instead, you saw learning through observing, trying, failing, and repeating until perfection arrives.
As communicators, we need to push ourselves further by mastering newer and more difficult techniques. While continuing to learn our craft, we must observe those around so that we can master the fundamentals and innovate where others have not. We need to listen to the audience, because they quickly will tell us if we are on the right track. Lastly, don’t forget to show your work, both good and bad. By putting yourself out there you are showing the world where you stand and what you are made of.
I see the skateboarding world paving the way for new type of collaboration and innovation. As the boarders move from the park to the boardroom, a new age of business innovation and collaboration will arrive. Are we ready?
Meetings with Meaning
Jul 23, 2010 Ideas, New, Project Management
Meetings – everyone has them, everyone hates them, and they tend to take up more time than the allotted 30 minutes or one hour we have scheduled in our calendars. Internal meetings are the worst; you start to talk about everything on your plate, giving the purpose for the meeting less priority. Not only does this cause you to lose your focus, it also renders the meeting “a waste of time”. Losing focus in a meeting can be detrimental to the purpose of the meeting.
SJG is no exception; we have in the past fallen into this trap of internal meeting hell. Our meetings would spiral down into production details of our clients work. We would lose sight of the big picture. We would forget what the meetings purpose was. We needed a framework for our internal meetings in order to regain focus on our what was important to our company. In short we needed to think of our team as a client.
Here is a set of tools and techniques that we came up with to apply to all of our internal meetings:
- Have a published agenda: Publishing the agenda to the team shares accountability for the meeting. An hour is not a long time, and an agenda will ensure each topic is addressed.
- Set the timer: Deadlines are your friend and meeting them provides a great sense of accomplishment once completed.
- Action items: What needs to be accomplished for the next meeting?
- Ownership: Who is responsible for each action item?
- Commit to next meeting! Another deadline that will ensure your team meetings are successful.
One of the outcomes was our bi-weekly blogs. We now apply the knowledge we have with our clients to the SJG team. What can you do to make your meetings more profitable and enjoyable?
Playbook in App Marketing: Diversify the Portfolio
Jul 12, 2010 Ideas
Today one in four Canadians have smartphones, and the numbers are expected to rise dramatically in the coming year. Taking this into consideration, imagine a playbook for app marketing, the purpose of which is to target high-income, educated smartphone users. The popular choice would have been the iPhone. With 75-million in combined sales of iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, the iOS empire is a gold mine for marketers and developers. Marketers enjoy a single-distribution channel, while consumers enjoy a one-tap access to 225,000 apps. Big brands like Amazon Kindle and FedEx have developed their apps with success. However, if a marketer only focuses on the iOS, they risk losing out on the rest of the audience, for example, Android, BlackBerry6, Samsung Bada, Symbian^3, WebOS, and Windows Phone. Considering there were 1.2-billion smartphones sold in 2009, there’s plenty of room to be the No. 2 and 3 platforms. With such fierce competition, the marketplace is confusing, so it’s hard to make sense of it all.
In the midst of market confusion for both consumers and marketers, opportunities arise for those deploying a more diversified strategy. Consider it as a diversified stock portfolio to nurture the next high-growth platforms or the next cool spots. In fact, in a recent “Mobile Developer Economics Report” by VisionMobile, most developers work on 2.8 platforms on average.
Multiple platforms
Take the Amazon Kindle Reading apps, for example. It’s available on Android, BlackBerry, iOS, and as well Mac and PC, and the physical Kindle. Amazon has the advantage of being the first mover in the e-book world. It’s a numbers game to build the install base. Once Kindle hits the critical mass, it will be a home run for their book selling strategy. The upside is building an integrated experience on each platform, plus Amazon can cater specifically to people’s tastes based on their smartphone choices. The downside is multiple platforms are costly to build. Versioning and support can be cost prohibitive. In Canada, TD and CIBC have recently launched multi-platform apps.
Web apps
Alternatively, the lowest common denominator in smartphones is the browser, as most are now WebKit-based and HTML5 ready. Adobe Flash would have been a logical choice, but the Apple-and-Adobe kerfuffle makes it unattractive. Google Canada demoed their Gmail web apps with the user interface customized for the iPhone, iPad, and Android platforms. The advantage is that Google only has to deploy once on their servers, and it works on most platforms.
Diversification
In an ideal scenario, I would consider multiple platforms, which is the Amazon Kindle approach. First, pick ecosystems with high market penetration. Creative marketers can segment their target audience — the trendsetters, business users, geeks, and average Joes — based on their respective choice of OS.
Second, personalization is the key to marketing effectiveness. Make each customer feels like they are the only customer. It increases customer satisfaction and brand awareness. Apps are intimate experiences. With many users checking apps on a daily (if not hourly) basis, brands can develop a deep and interactive customer relationship, which was not available in the past. The end goal is to demonstrate brand leadership using technology, which can lead to stronger brand loyalty.
To be sustainable in the long run, this app competition will converge. Marketers who get to the converged platforms first will demonstrate marketing leadership and break through the noise. So, be the first to reach out to these smartphone users in one of the fastest growing segments of the marketing world.
So what’s your favourite smartphone? Here’s a free book sample of The 8 Traits Successful People Have In Common: 8 To Be Great. Try it out on your Android, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, or Amazon Kindle. I hope you like it.
Objects of Desire: A Marketer’s Perspective
Jun 25, 2010 Ideas
Okay, I admit it, I am an early adopter. If it’s new, if it’s shiny then I am probably hatching a plan for why I need it. The iPad was no exception. So it was really no surprise to my colleagues or family that I just had to have one. But the question is why? I am swimming in computing power at the office and home. Within my reach at any given moment is my laptop, my BlackBerry, high-speed Internet access, a myriad of hard drives, and peripherals that let me be a marketing strategist, or a videographer, or a musician. Then there are other times I am a learner, or a consumer, or an audience. Clearly I do not need another screen, right?
Well, the iPad has got me thinking about what business Apple really is in. It is not computers or phones or MP3 players. Apple is in the business of seduction. It creates beauty. It creates objects you desire and want to possess.
It starts before we even see the product. Off in the distance we hear rumours of something new from Apple. There is talk of a new device, and Apple’s history of innovation feeds the rumour mill. “What will it be?” is the chat around the water cooler, or its digital equivalent, Twitter. Then there is the announcement, straight out of the P.T. Barnum playbook, complete with its own ringmaster, Steve Jobs. Steve is a master marketer because he gives the audience what it wants to hear. Hope. Hope that there is a computer out there that will lets us live happier and more productive lives. He breaks the story down to a simple clear message. You can feel his passion for the new and his frustration for what current technology does not deliver.
Next is the reveal. The iPad is elegantly simple. It is seductively sleek and seems to be missing everything you think a handheld computing device would need. Steve Jobs hates buttons – he never wears buttoned shirts and you don’t see many on his devices. It looks more like an object of fashion and less of a technology device.
The packaging is great, simple and to the point. It shows the product and little else. You do not see features and benefits, system requirements, and marketing hype. The packaging is as beautiful as the product. In short, you want to keep the box.
Opening the iPad box was like Christmas Day. Each layer of the package was simple and beautiful. The power cord and the owner’s manual were clear and self-evident.
Getting it running was simple. Three minutes was all it took for me to get it running, another two minutes and I was buying my first movie and application from the iTunes. Seamless from start to finish.
People want to hold it, as seen by my daughter who ran in from school and grabbed it out of my hand and disappeared into her bedroom. She emerged an hour later and handed it back to me with five more applications loaded onto it. She had Facebooked her friends and told the world she had a new iPad. Well, it was nice while it lasted.
All this to say that marketing is more that just telling your audience what your product or service can do for them. It is about creating an end-to-end experience that starts long before the product is launched and continues long after the product is sold.
The Journey to Clarity
Jun 2, 2009 Ideas
The flash of brilliance, the light bulb going off, the big “ah ha”, are what we at SJG call moments of clarity: the magic point where everything becomes clear and understanding rushes forward. Seems simple. Archimedes “eureka” moment took place while sitting in the bathtub. But what they don’t tell you is, the bathwater had long gone cold and he was a wrinkled as a prune.
You see, getting to a moment of clarity is not a simple task. It is a journey, and it starts before the creative flows and long before the cameras roll or the designs begin to take shape.
Clarity Starts by Getting Curious
When you get curious you’re going to be asking lots of questions. The right questions, the tough questions. You’re going to deep dive for the nuggets of truth. Get ready to swim in a sea of content. You will be immersed in the flotsam and jetsam of messages, specifications, facts, figures, reports and competitive analysis.
Content is King
After thoroughly saturating your brain in a tidal wave of information it is time to sort and organize. Okay, it sounds boring, but stick with me. It is going to pay off big time. More than just a quick creative brief by an account manager, it is an in-depth enquiry into the entire content landscape. This is going to build a foundation for your moment of clarity. Content is one of the cornerstones to achieving clarity. It is the blueprint for creative development and the document we use for reference as we come up with ideas. The better the content is, the better your ideas will be.
Creative Collaboration
Isn’t it great to sit alone in a room and come up with brilliant ideas? Well, sometimes it is, but we have found it is a whole lot better to collaborate with other people. We have a saying here at SJG: If your idea sucks it was probably created in a vacuum. Get up from your seat and start having conversations with your colleagues. Don’t worry about where the idea came from. Just care that you generate lots of ideas and make sure they are documented. On any given day here at SJG, we will have quick phone calls with our clients; have hallway idea exchanges with our colleagues; we have run an idea past a barista at our local coffee shop (White Squirrel Café is our new local); or even get input from our families. We scribble on pad boards, Skype our way to a solution, or jam in a boardroom. It really doesn’t matter – the key is to roll up you sleeves and collaborate.
Compress to Clarify
The last step on the journey to clarity is to distil your creative into the smallest possible package. Get out the red pen and ask, what is the minimum amount of information possible without losing the entire concept? Einstein said everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. We love this idea and are constantly asking each other if there is a simpler way to get this idea across.
That’s it. The journey to clarity starts by listening big and ends with a big idea that your audience will love.
Tags: clarify, clarity, collaboration, compress, content, creative, curious
