The eternal struggle. Marketers and creatives. How often do I see posts on LinkedIn how ad creatives should be relied on more to do their thing and for marketers to stay in their respective corner. That it would lead to better and more daring campaigns.

The thing is, we’re not living in the 80s anymore. Ad agencies don’t have sole ownership on knowing about creative. Marketers days these have eyes of their own, are inspired by films, theatre and art museums. Plus, with the availability of it out there, some have acquired quite some knowledge on the matter. Next to some doing this for quite a while, one could argue they have some sort of experience. And maybe have a sensible opinion worth listening to.

I once had to point out to a well-known big London agency you couldn’t just put faces of famous athletes on social with your branding all over it. I got the reply: “Hey, it’s the internet, it’s different.” I got our legal counsel involved, who agreed with me, saying spending a fortune on IP lawsuits wasn’t what he was looking forward to. The agency was still not convinced (I kid you not). Then I said: “Okay, we go for it, but you put in writing that if any legal action comes forward, you take entire responsibility for this.” All of a sudden the agency abandoned their “daring” idea.

I would argue it takes two to tango here, starting with a proper brief, where the client explains the vision behind the campaign objectives, takes the agency people on a journey. On the other hand it’s the agency that need to challenge their marketer with ideas that translate into amazing concepts.

Where this sometimes tends to go wrong, is where everyone in the room forgets they’re making advertising. It’s not art. It needs to be effective. It needs to appeal to the audience and move them from A to thinking B. Everyone is responsible to upholding one another to this. Agencies need to get what their client is trying to sell, and clients need to go beyond feedback as: “I don’t like it.” They need to get acquainted with basics on creative – design, fonts, etc…

In the end, you need to work with people you trust to have the best interest in you and your brand. Sometimes not every first idea hits home, that’s reality. It’s a process, not a cola instant post mix vending machine. All the ideas that didn’t make, fade away like a Greek party island polaroid.