Dealing With Creatives in Business

Scientists claim that the two hemispheres of our brain process information in different ways. The right side is more random, intuitive or non-verbal while the left side is more linear, logical, reality-based. People are said to typically have a more dominant hemisphere.

To illustrate the differences here are some facile examples: Seeing lightning off in the distance, a left brained person would listen for the thunder, calculate the time-lapse, than triangulate the relative distance of the storm. A right brained person would watch the lightning in wonder, only to remember the experience years later channeling it into an interpretive dance.

The advertising world operates like a whole brain, dividing its two main processes in to halves. On one side you have the account executives and business managers. These are the people who deal with the clients, wooing them with expense accounts and crunching the numbers. Then the other side are the creatives, the copy writers and art department that creates the concepts that are then sold to the clients.

If you’re a company inexperienced with dealing with a creative business, here are some helpful tips so that you get all you can out of the experience:

Choose a company that can DO what you want:
Advertising can be achieved through many media. If you are dealing with a company that specializes in direct mail campaigns and you ask them to design an internet campaign, don’t be surprised if you’re disappointed with the final product. Ask to see samples of what they’ve done before for the media on which you want to advertise.

Be specific about how you want to present your company:
Do some research on your own of the companies in your field or others that you see as having a good ad campaign. Most agencies would gladly explore whatever direction you want them to go. You are paying for the advertising. It is your company in the end that is being represented.

Create a flow chart with regular progress updates:
To ensure that your vision of your company is not veering off course or over-budget, ask for project updates. You don’t want an agency running roughshod on your company’s dime. Setting specific meetings or dates for updates on the project can keep everyone on task.

Oh, and a side note; If you are a right brained person, you need not be frightened of dealing with the left brains of the advertising world.