The Big Idea. Who owns it? Where do you find one? What does one look like?
A number of speakers shared their thoughts on the Big Idea. Clients talked about the need to find it; agencies shared examples of Big Ideas from their portfolio, whilst auditors and consultants agreed that the Big Idea can be found in places other than the ad agency…
However, defining what it is seems to be a slight problem.
The phrase is used with such frequency, that it is losing its focus and importance.
Kimberley Kadlec, Chief Media Officer Johnson And Johnson, encouraged the media industry in her opening speech to be more creative. Fair enough so far, but then she offered up an example of what she sees as the Big Idea - A tall statue covered by a huge condom. This is clearly a Big Stunt, but is not necessarily a Big Idea.
As discussed in my previous post (Steve King has the answers), such a narrow scope of what the media industry can deliver is disappointing. Surely Ms Kadlec has higher hopes for innovative communications solutions from her media agency than Big Stunts? Or is this what clients desire for their brands?
A Big Idea is not a Big Stunt. Big Ideas effecting change in consumer habits, effect change in society. So, it was so refreshing to have heard from Esther Lee, Chief Creative Officer of Coca Cola Global.
In a hugely impressive speech, Esther referenced democracy or fast food as a Big Idea, rather than massive spinning Coke Can in a shopping mall.
In the citizensound session on music marketing (See here), I also gave my view on Big Ideas. Included were the Sony Walkman which made music mobile, the car radio which liberated kids, the Chart Show had everyone waiting to find out what was number one, the iPod has changed people's lives.
There is a place for media creativity at an executional level. We should celebrate it. Yet the media industry should be careful not to see such work as anything more than icing on the cake. Daryl Simm rightly stated that real creativity is the cake not the icing.
A celebration of more cake and less icing would help keep the momentum going forward for media agencies into the higher echelons of the client companies…Darryl’s words were wise and we should ignore them at our peril…
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