Great ideas and campaigns don’t just appear out of nowhere.
It’s easier to create great if at every point of the job you try to make something better than what’s expected.
Something that surprises the clients, the accounts team, other creatives, the person sat at home that it’s all aimed at, and yourself.
It’s your line in the sand that says ‘I’m going to find a way to do something with this’.
‘The Line’ that splits the fine, the acceptable, the cliché and seen it all before from the good and the great.
On every point of every job try to do something that goes beyond that line.
Whether a little or a lot, it doesn’t matter.
Maybe it’s the idea that’s better.
Maybe it’s the insight.
Maybe it’s the craft.
Or all three.
And sometimes it’s not the work but the way you go about it. Solving problem like difficult timings, budget or getting a colleague out of a hole. So in the future they’ll want to help you in return.
At the very least what you do should give you a sense of personal satisfaction and pride. Confidence you can use going forward.
But it’s doing more than that, it’s setting a standard, creating a sense of ambition that becomes natural.
A personal work ethic.
Over time this constant push and the little wins you’re stacking up will all come together in the creation of something much bigger.
They’ll always be the odd turkey that falls below the line for some reason. I did. Just make sure they are few and far between.
