The creative opportunity no one wanted
Did you read last week about the clerk at a convenience store in North Carolina who mistakenly printed out one too many lottery tickets for a customer, and was stuck with the ticket?
She tried all day long to get others to buy the ticket. She found no takers. So she bought the ticket herself and won $200,000.
When I read this I thought it would be a good platform for a blog topic - taking a creative opportunity that no one wanted and converting it for big rewards. Theory, sure, yet I’m certain there are situations in all of our lives where we simply miss creative potential right under our noses. But I tend not to do topical stuff in my blog, so I just let the idea go,…
Then last night, during a conversation with an art director who had worked at my former ad agency, that theory took on some form. When I complimented this ex-employee (who will remain nameless) on some very nice work he’d been doing for a traditionally stuffy marketer, he told me about his experience “getting stuck” with this conservative, risk-averse advertiser… Yeah, how he “got stuck” holding a creative ticket, no one wanted, then went on to win the creative opportunity lottery. Interesting…
It seems his agency was about to lose this very large account, an advertiser that was know for years as a creative bloodsucker. For decades they burned out team after team at many agencies. The people who worked on this account became beaten dogs. “Why present anything good, they’ll only kill it.”
Well, in a fit of desperation the creative chief at this agency that had all but lost one of its cash cows (why else does a decent ad agency keep such a creative black hole on the roster?) asked my former AD to pitch in on a goal-line stand to save the business.
My pal, who had a light plate at the time and couldn’t play the I’m-too-busy card, rolled up his creative sleeves, and with nothing to lose, produced some work that not only saved the account, but also put this client on a new creative trajectory. I dare say it also didn’t hurt my friend’s career.
Now, while this advertiser will never be confused with Nike, the work today is the best it’s ever done, some of the finest advertising in its category. And the company’s business is on a pretty good track, as well.
The lesson? Don’t be so quick to walk away from a potentially winning lottery ticket or a business situation that “will never be a creative opportunity.” At least not before looking at it with a fresh perspective.
