I’d like to talk to marketers and communicators about why it’s important to protect your next video project from the rest of your company.
When outsourcing to a creative team, whether it’s design or video or whatever, it’s important to have a single point of contact or a small team through which all decisions are run.
This accomplishes a couple things. First, it manages the number of change requests to a project.
Now, I understand that projects may need to be run past the heads of different departments, and that can and should be done in the early stages of the project, but it doesn’t make those people part of that project.
So long as the information is accurate and the message is on brand, there’s no reason to bring in other voices.
All this would do is dilute the vision.
Decision by committee is the worst. It kills the vision with concessions until nobody’s happy, and then suddenly the awesome creative project you’re working on is no longer so awesome or creative anymore.
Ask for information, ask for accuracy. Do not ask for an opinion.
This is especially true in the later stages of a project. There isn’t much worse for creative vision than a random piece of input from someone who has not been involved in the process.
It is up to you to protect your project from the rest of your company.
Let me give you an example.
We were working with a client to communicate progressive levels of urgency, and we settled on the easy answer of green, yellow, red. But then in a bid to show progress, one of the executives got hold of the creative treatment and was of the opinion that the mid level of urgency should be light blue.
Now, I don’t know in what world light blue is a mid level of urgency. I mean, if it was flame, blue would be like the hottest, and then you would be be red, yellow, blue, but in this analogy, you would start on fire?
Anyway, despite our reasoning, the executive maintained that light blue should be the mid level of urgency, and I hope it goes without saying, the project didn’t end awesome.
I also hope this cautionary tale allows you to learn from the mistakes of others. Work with your creative team, protect the vision, and create something awesome.
I’m Trevor Jansen with Staggering Media, and we’ll see you in the next video.
