Applying Photography Darkroom Principles to Strategy

V Raw's Grand Prix win at last Thursday's MFA awards was an example of how a good idea can get marketeers excited about what is fun about our industry. Media and Creative agencies will always support good ideas, as this is what the history of the communications industry is based on.

What is interesting about this process, is that when an idea is first ignited, it is important to surrround the idea with people who care about it. Only by having a tribe of advocates who believe in the idea, are commited to it and are able to think of a 100 ways to sell to the people who can make it happen, does it really have the chance to grow and prosper.

Like photography darkroom principles, it's imperative to keep the image (idea) away from daylight until the image has evolved, been fixed and washed from impurities.

From a recent blog...

'A really good idea is simple, unexpected and relevant. And it unites extremes: it should risk a lot but nevertheless be easy to implement.” http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/brandautopsy/2008/10/what-is-a-good.html

By it's very nature, a high-reward strategy will be inherently risky, because it hasn't been done before and may have the possibility to fail. If the success of the idea or strategy is hard to measure, then influence and passion plays a big part to sell it into the client. Any resource possible which can be used to actualise the vision to the decision maker is absolutely crucial. So for example, if it's a brand experience, get an art director who can visualise the campaign, if it lives online, mock up a simulated site which you can navigate the client through.

My last word; many big ideas often fall down in the execution phase of the process. I genuinely believe that the production values applied to deliver on an initial thought are as important as the thought itself. So before you rush to create a mood board asssembled from Google images to try to give a sense of idea you want to sell, really think about the messsage you are giving the client - is this really the last thought you want to leave them with before they decide to invest their money on a risky strategy?