Creative Streak

Can I Have That Idea For Less?

This is a group of responses based on one of the most popular posts I've written in the three years since Creative Streak began. How To Make A Creative Director Cry outlines the ten most common responses I've heard as a creative director, with links to each subsequent post giving more thoughts and suggestions to address each statement. This is statement #10: "Great idea. Can I have it for half the cost?"

Experience has taught me to respond to this question in two ways.

1. Is the client asking the question because they simply want to negotiate?

2. Is the client asking the question because we didn’t explain the idea properly?

Negotiating or Haggling

It’s almost human nature to want something of value for less. If it ever went out of style, a recent article in the Washington Post suggests there’s a resurgence in haggling because of the recent recession.

For some people, negotiating is a game (me included, especially if it's an antique). It’s actually invigorating to bargain, especially when you get a concession, however small. For other people, a price or an estimate is nothing more than a suggestion, a perceived indication of an item’s value. Negotiating is a way to find the balance between want and need. For others, negotiating is a fundamental part of their philosophy or values. My first assignment at my first job was to get estimates from vendors. Before I began, the managing director sat me down and gave me her two cardinal rules: 1. Negotiating is good business. Therefore, never accept the first quote. 2. Because it’s business, don’t make it personal.

How To Make A Creative Director Cry

I can trace most of my career path back to one person: Darrin Stephens, the harried husband from the American TV sitcom Bewitched. Take away the attractive Elizabeth Montgomery as the witch who gives up her magical powers to marry a mere mortal, and the shenanigans doled out by the meddling mother-in-law Endora, even the glistening 1960s production values ... and you're left with a man who had the world's greatest job. He was a Creative Director.

I Am (Still) Proud of Burson-Marsteller

For the past week, I have cringed at the ugliness brought on to my former employer - Burson-Marsteller - by a very small group of people working on behalf of their client Facebook to smear its competitor Google.

I just got through reading the loooooong list of people condeming B-M on Facebook (a tad hypocritical, I thought). My, my - the opportunistic zeal to bring down an entire company for the behaviours of a small handful.

I don't know the details of the incident, but I do know this. As a creative director at Burson-Marsteller, I worked for nearly 400 clients over 10 years. I visited more than 60 of its (then) 75 offices worldwide. As one of its senior trainers, I personally taught a countless number of people. I can say without reservation that 99.99% of its employees - then and now - are ethical, decent and hard-working professionals. A percent I might add which could be applied to the entire PR industry, if not any profession anywhere in the world.

To close, a small piece of advice to those few vultures frothing with glee at Burson - or anyone else who stumbles (badly) in life. IF you feel compelled to slap a tar brush at someone else, apply it delicately because a little bit of it might come back to hit you square in the forehead.

Lunch, Woodworking and Creativity (and Not Necessarily in That Order)

I enjoyed lunch earlier this week with two colleagues when the conversation turned to creativity. I came away with a couple of thoughts for a new post, but when I tried to glue them together into a coherent theme, I realised I had already written the post – but on my other blog.

To re-cap, in the six weeks since I’ve been back in the US, I've spent time at my parent’s farm refurnishing stuff which sat in storage for a decade. That was a time-consuming task by itself, but I decided to add a creative project into the mix - turning some scrap lumber with 'Eklund history' into a headboard for my new apartment. When I started to make sense of my lunch notes, I realised the key points were essentially demonstrated in the headboard project. (And some others were riffs from others, alas.)

20 Things Every PR Pro Should Know How To Do

Here's a very worthy read on a Monday morning for both new and seasoned professionals in communications.  Susan Young, president of Get In Touch Communications (San Antonio, TX), wrote a post on the 20 skills - each with links - that every PR  practitioner should know how to do.  In the spirit of disclosure, I knew 14 of the 20 ... and I'm spending a good chunk of this week learning the others.

Any other skills you'd add to Susan's list?

Creativity en Plein Air

I have new office space – yet again. I’d hate to think how many different types of work environments I've sampled in 27 years, but suffice to say, I feel like I've tasted every morsel at the buffet.

This morning, an article in a local Australian newspaper explained that employees need etiquette training to deal with what I personally believe is the least productive type of work environment – the open plan.

I'm not surprised. I've done my fair share of business etiquette workshops, and most of them began with the issue that an open dynamic leads to all sorts of new behaviourial issues, 'noise' being one of those problems.