RETAIL: 6 Ways to Evaluate Creative Ideas
If you are like many retailers, you are probably in the midst of meeting with your agency or creative department to review ideas, creative and campaign components for this fall and beyond. It can be an exciting, but scary process. You brief the team on your objectives and target, you stay in touch and answer questions along the way, and you think you have a good sense of how things will unfold.
You are excited. The big day arrives and the work is unveiled. Clearly, the team has worked hard and come up with many expected and unexpected ideas. The boardroom table is swimming with concepts and applications. It's a sea of creativity, optimism, chatter. Everyone is looking at you to respond - decisively, thoughtfully and, hopefully, positively.
Your mind is swirling. You have a stream-of-consciousness that goes something like: "I get it, I like it, that's smart, nice, but wait - I don't really get it, haven't I heard that before, yellow reminds me of my ex-wife, my sales are dependent on this, the logo seems small, I'm not sure, did I really hire these people? The clock is ticking, this is hard - help!" It's at this point you may want to think about RETAIL or six key ways to evaluate ideas.
| R | R is for Relevance. Relevance is about making sure the creative reflects an idea that is important to the target - something that is meaningful and has a role in their lives. A relevant idea is the foundation for achieving your objective. |
| E | E is for Easy to understand. You should be able to "get" the idea quickly and easily. If you have to work at it, something's wrong. |
| T | T is for Truth. The statement or claim being made in the idea should be credible and believable coming from your organization or brand. Consumers are skeptical and cynical - they can spot an imposter quickly. |
| A | A is for Achievable. Is the idea achievable with the resources available? Do you have the budget, time and manpower necessary to deliver the idea in its best form? A great idea poorly executed quickly becomes a bad idea. Make sure the idea is within the realm of possibility. |
| I | I is for Insight. Does the idea reflect an underlying truth or understanding that is relevant to the target? Is it presented in a fresh, original manner? |
| L | L is for Likeable. Is the idea likeable? It's no big secret that people and consumers gravitate toward things that they find pleasing and appealing. Likeable is really a form of being relevant - and that takes you back to the top. |
We can guarantee that if you use RETAIL it will help you to sort through your thoughts, make decisions with greater confidence, have more productive meetings with your creative team, and ultimately help you get creative ideas that meet and surpass your objectives. Creativity will continue to be exciting, and a lot less scary.
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