Photos by Andrew Pieroni
“Remember that we are in the business of behaviour change and therefore we must understand human behaviour.”
“Remember that we are in the business of behaviour change and therefore we must understand human behaviour.”
So instead of being in the business of “selling what’s sellable” and “clinging to what’s provable,” it’s time for strategists to forge a new path. As Jay explains, “The opportunity for us to provide value is not in predictability, it’s in creativity.” In other words, maybe it’s time for strategists and creatives to pair up just like art directors and copywriters. While artistic expression is still the domain of the art director and copywriter, strategists can help to focus the opportunity. In other words, this winning duo that goes together like avocados and toast.
“Identify the most creative way to solve a problem and inspire everyone to buy the vision”
“Identify the most creative way to solve a problem and inspire everyone to buy the vision”
To bolster his call for a new creative team, Jay brought up three “stories from the front lines” that show how a killer combination of strategy and creative has led to unprecedented success.
#1 McDonald’s “Our Food, Your Questions”
Starting with Google images research (seriously), the strategy team at Tribal Worldwide Canada uncovered a key insight about McDonald’s and how people actually felt about the company’s food (pink slime rumours anyone?). In turn, this sparked an idea among the creative team about what the company was willing to say out loud about its food. The result? An international campaign that won the agency and the team multiple Lions.
#2 Honey Nut Cheerios “Bring Back the Bees”
With cereal on the verge of extinction (we’re looking at you millennials), Cossette was brought in to help Honey Nut Cheerios reconnect with its audience. For Jay, this meant honing in on the popularity of the cereal’s (adorable) mascot Buzz and the inherent human desire to dominate, but definitely not destroy, the natural environment. His idea: take Buzz off the box and people will want to “bring back the bees.” Though an unusual move for a strategist to execute a creative, the risk paid off, big time.
Making the leap to client-side may seem unexpected for someone like Jay, but in actuality it’s the perfect opportunity for him to prove that you can break the rules and still achieve incredible results. Case in point, Koho has no corporate colours. Instead, the designs are fluid and dynamic, just like people’s real lives. Even more bold, the company is launching with a fully produced 13-minute movie. The takeaway? Give people an opportunity to be creative and you can break all the rules.
In short, it’s time for strategists everywhere to smash silos, break the rules, and inspire great creative.
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