Agencies are judged by their award show hauls. Evidence is all around us. Just look at how much your agency spends to enter the back-slapping contests. Or read the industry press.
Here’s a lede from a source I respect—Epica Awards:
Until recently, Foote, Cone and Belding felt like a fairly discreet agency, doing solid work for worthwhile clients. But this year FCB rocketed into the headlines, notably winning 51 Lions at Cannes, including its first-ever Titanium Grand Prix. That’s more metal than in its 146-year history. It followed that up with 32 Clios.
Epica is an award show.
Epic self-congratulation aside, the process that FCB uses to create better work is worth noting.
Epica. Do you have a way of benchmarking creative work so everyone is on the same page globally?
Susan Credle: When he was at Leo Burnett, Michael Conrad created “7plus”, a 10-point numerical scale to judge creativity. At the time I was shocked that a numerical tool was being used in a creative department. Later I saw it was a useful way of talking about work that wasn’t subjective and ego-driven: “I like it – I don’t like it.” But I thought one to ten was too many and that the points were too nuanced. So we have something called the “456” scale.
- 1 is “damaging”.
- 2 is “invisible”, which is work weakened by fear and over-testing.
- 3 is “noticed”, which is day-to-day work and may activate the client’s business a little.
- 4 is “provocative”, which gets your attention; it’s something you want to share.
- 5 “creates behavior”. Can we create a provocative idea that gets people involved? For example by giving them a way to play with the brand, like the “Whopper Detour”.
- 6 is “a never finished idea”, which our bespoke way of saying platform-building ideas.
But it’s not 4, 5 or 6. It’s a combination. On our best day, if we do provocative work that creates behavior on a never-finished platform, not only will we have a great relationship with our clients, build businesses and brands and have the best talent, we will also help put the industry back in an incredibly interesting place.
