After the Creative Pitch Ends…

Providing Feedback – Hallway Consensus Building and Other Pitfalls

During my career in client side advertising, marketing management and sponsorship agency work, nothing is harder to master than evaluating creative work and providing meaningful feedback. Sure it is fun and exciting to work with the creative guys in developing ideas that bring your brand to life. Unfortunately, most brand marketers are better trained in developing customer understanding, developing strategies and executing plans than evaluating creative.

Is this familiar? The room is full of marketing folks, anticipating to be wowed by ideas. The agency account team sets the stage – strategy, plan and timetable. Next the creative team launches into an animated, energetic review of three ideas. Suddenly they stop talking and turn to you, expectantly wanting affirmation, agreement, smiles, applause, something, anything.

If it is your task, don’t make it harder on yourself (and others around you) by falling into a few common traps. Below are some ground rules for effective creative review sessions that should be followed, if you value your agency relationship and want good work:

- Make certain the ultimate decision maker is in the room. Don’t waste the agency and your time.
- Don’t be ‘inclusive’ when inviting people to the review. It may add confusion on roles and everyone feels compelled to add comments.
- Make sure you or the agency or you revisit the brief for the room. Make certain everybody involved understands and agrees to the strategy, audience, objectives, etc.
- Prior to the meeting, clearly define who will run the meeting on the client side, especially when time comes to provide comments and reactions. The awkward silence and eye averting behavior is unnerving and not needed. If you run the meeting, DO NOT pick the most junior person in the room to go first. Either the brand manager or their boss should kick off.
- Give feedback IN the meeting. It is unfair to expect them present work and wait for several days for input.
- Always start with a positive acknowledgment, regardless of what you think. Creative teams work hard and passionately on your business. Clients have to keep them motivated to get good work.
- Be honest, but ease into problem areas. Start with your initial, emotional gut reaction. That gives them something to work with and provides a bridge to problem solving.
- Stay big picture and away from tactical or technical nits. Is it on strategy? Does it fit the brand? Is it campaign-able? Does it work across media?
- Don’t play “Gar-animals” – picking pieces of multiple ideas and creating a new ad or campaign. You pay the agency to this, let the pros handle it. There are plenty of opportunities to art direct and copy write,later that are more acceptable.
- Don’t use the ‘Hallway Test’! Consensus building does generate good creative work. It puts people on the spot and generates safe, middle of the road ads. It also undermines your stature and authority, diminishing your esteem with the agency.
- Trust. 1. Your agency. They have more experience creating customer motivating communications. 2. Your gut. That initial reaction is HUGE. Take some time to think about it and the implications.

For some folks the creative review process occurs infrequently, so it is challenging to develop that skill. It is also a potentially stressful situation when it is your turn to speak. Where do you start, how do you organize your thoughts, how do you look smart in front of your boss?

To be effective I suggest that you prepare well in advance of the meeting, how you will handle that moment. It can be a critical moment. Don’t make it tragic.




PS - For the new advertising or brand manager, I highly recommend the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Course – Creative Advertising. It takes one through the entire ad development process, including agency feedback and direction.