The Last Great Big Idea

The agency world is full of Big Ideas, however Great Ideas are at a somewhat smaller premium. Great Ideas do not necessarily have size or scope, and they are usually birthed as small ideas, which develop through sustained creative thinking. We are not in the business of creating Big Ideas; we want to create powerful and creative thinking, which expresses itself on a strategic level.

There are very few great ideas which started out as big ideas; they were almost universally, small ideas which grew, and which took form over time. The process of producing great things is organic, iterative, often convoluted and subject to change. The Big Idea makes good copy and bad reality.

I believe that the model simply does not address some of the most fundamental aspects of communication and brand identity. The agency model is full of bias; it’s a bias towards maximizing media, managing razor thin margins and responding to the tactical nature of operational marketing. If you can eliminate that bias, maybe you can eliminate the traps which accompany them.