Once again, the Creative department has knocked it out of the ballpark.
They’ve developed numerous concepts for the client to choose from.
One or more of them you believe are dead on.
But then there’s this one that just isn’t right.
Before you present the creative to your client, there’s one rule of thumb you’ve got to apply to determine which options to share with the client.
There Are Always Options
Whatever the stage of the creative process, Creative always develops multiple options.
Multiple concepts … multiple layouts … multiple logos.
And it’s great to provide the client with options.
But it never fails. There’s always one or two creative options that you do not believe are right.
It may be slightly off strategy.
Or it may require more budget than you have.
Something in the production may require too much time so you can’t meet the deadline.
Or you may just plain not like it.
Whatever the case, there’s one rule of thumb you should always apply when considering which options to show the client.
Do not show any option to the client that you don’t want to be selected.
This is incredibly important because 9 times out of 10 the client will select the option that is off strategy, or over budget, or over deadline.
They go for the dud every time.
Believe me; I learned this the hard way.
So don’t even show it to them. Bury it. Leave it back at the agency.
Only show the creative options that you and the team are completely comfortable with.
Exceptions to the Rule
There’s always an exception to every rule. And this one has three.
- The first is that if the reason you don’t want to present an option to the client is purely subjective, that may not be enough justification to not present it.
By subjective I mean, if it’s on strategy, it’s within budget and deadline, and the only reason you don’t want to present it is because you personally don’t like it, you should probably present it to the client.
After all, creative is subjective and the client–and the target audience–may respond to it. So be careful of purely subjective decisions.
2. The second exception is that if the reason the option is not good is due to budget or time, you may decide to present it to the client with that caveat. The client may decide the creative is worth expanding the budget or taking more time for the production.
3. The final exception is that if your process includes creative testing, then you may be safer presenting all options and letting the tests determine the most effective creative. But, if it’s just the client choosing … be very careful.
Make it a Team Decision
The final consideration is that the team should discuss the creative options and decide together which ones to leave behind and which ones to present to the client.
Be open and honest about your point of view. But also respect the point of view of the creative team. They may share some good reasoning behind the concept that helps you change your mind.
And because it’s so important, I must repeat the one important rule: Do not show any creative to the client that you don’t want selected.
Don’t Miss a Thing
Sign up now to receive next week’s training article in your inbox.