by Lucas van Vuuren (@lucasvan) I love clients. Not in a ‘kiss-ass’ kind of way, but in a ‘they-make-me-better’ kind of way.
In my early career, I dreaded client feedback. I was always worried that they weren’t going to like what we presented. That they weren’t going to ‘get it’. That their suggestions were going to destroy my ‘precious’ idea, ad, social media campaign, tent card, in-store poster, or whatever. Of course, all the while I was being totally oblivious that this, and every other project, was more important to them than my little creative wank or preciousness around what we’d been working on all night, week, month and losing hair over — I mean, have you seen me?
Heal harder and stronger
I watched a documentary on mixed martial arts and Muay Thai fighters recently. In this documentary, there was this amazing fact shared about the physiology of the fighters. These fighters have harder bones than we YouTube-watching-tweeting-Facebook-scrolling mortals. The reason? These guys get kicked so hard that it causes microfractures in their bones and, when their bones heal, they ultimately heal harder and stronger.
What if we applied this logic to working in the ad industry?
In my experience, there are usually two ways of handling feedback:
- Rejection
- Acceptance
Rejection almost always causes a fight or some sort of animosity. I have heard people say, “You need to fight for the idea” or “Fight for what you believe”, and in some cases, this might work. I’ve even seen it work. It might be a victory in the boardroom or edit suite, but there is always a lingering uneasiness after an agency vs client conflict.
The truth is there’s no real winner in this one. It wastes energy and strains relationships.
Then there’s acceptance. More often than not, it’s a compromise, a roll-over-and-play-dead scenario with blind feedback that leads to an inferior product, idea, edit, layout, or strategy. This is my worst nightmare. It’s like making something kak, then later impotently saying “The client made me do it”.
Option no. 3
My suggestion? Option no. 3. Be like a Muay Thai $%&@#!. Take the beating and come back stronger.
If the client has a suggestion, I recommend taking it and making it better. This is their baby and they are as much a part of the battle as you. They are in your corner. If the client taps you in, tag-team that problem. Make the project better and better and better.
The best relationships are often forged through pain and suffering. If you look at it as an opportunity, you might approach the problem from a more-positive angle, and probably be able to come up with better solutions or more creative campaigns.
Lucas van Vuuren (@lucasvan) started his career in design, but made the switch to art director to satisfy his love for storytelling, film, and big concepts. With 13 years of experience in the ad industry, Lucas has worked at some of the best agencies in the country — the last seven at The Jupiter Drawing Room (Cape Town) — and has earned a raft of awards, nationally and internationally.
“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.
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