A few weeks ago, I was sat in the dentist's waiting room browsing the magazines when I noticed a business magazine. As I had just taken on a business ad project, I thought I would take a look at the ads it featured. Skimming through the pages, I saw numerous bland photos of spectacled men and women in business attire (why is it that executives are often depicted as wearing spectacles? Does thriving in the rat race affect your eyesight?). Out of all of the ads, only one stood out, and that was a large picutre of a lime green lemon squeezer. The ad was promoting a company that claimed to be able to help your finances if you are feeling the squeeze of the recession, and I thought it did it's job well...afterall, it was the only ad that caught my attention.
When it came to dealing with my client, I mentioned my concern about the lack of creativity in the business ads I had seen. I explained that by sticking to established and conventional corporate imagery, the ads were failing to have any impact. My client took my comments on board. The ideas the graphic designer and myself came up with were very varied and covered all bases, from safe (and boring) business style ads to more adventurous and risky concepts. We put them to the client and again reiterated the need to stand out from the crowd. After a few days, rather predictably, the client chose a safe option.
Which brings me to the point of this article - how do you tell a client they are wrong? It's a tricky situation. If you have a good rapport with your client, you can (as we did) try and explain to them that their idea just isn't going to deliver the results they need. You can try mentioning that they won't get a good return on their investment in your copy/design and that conforming to the established style of existing ads means their ad becomes ineffective. If that fails, you can try making a mock-up of your preferred concepts and explain the pros of that over their chosen idea - sometimes, seeing drafts side by side can convince them of the merit in your argument. Of course, making mock-ups may mean extra work for you, something that may not be in your best interest, especially if the budget is low.
If the client still won't be swayed, you have two options - provide them with the advert they want or bail out of the project. Your choice really depends on your situation - Are you able to take the money and produce work that is professional but uninspiring? Or are you only interested in work that excites you and is going to improve your portfolio? Is your reputation going to be on the line? There's a lot to be said for maintaining your integrity and only working on projects you have complete faith in, but personal preferences don't pay the bills!
