In a previous post on 3 ways to get better work from your advertising agency I briefly touched on how to provide better creative feedback.
But not having sat on the other side of the table myself, I thought I would canvass my creative friends to find out the top 5 things every creative hates to hear.
As usual for creative types they wanted to remain anonymous and were very candid in their responses.
Below are the top 5 they came up with. Feel free to contribute any others they have forgotten.
You want better work from you agency? Then simply avoid saying:
1. “I asked my wife and she likes this one…”
Dear CEO. I’m sure your wife is lovely.
She just might not be the best person to decide on the direction for your brand.
2. “I really like it but…I just want to see another 3 options.”
Umm, so you like it or you don’t?
3. “You know that budget that was $500,000. Now it’s only $50,000.”
You know that idea that was really good?
Well now it’s crap.
4. “Can we just do it in CGI?”.
No. You can’t.
Because people can tell.
5. “Make the logo bigger.”
After years of this it doesn’t even bother us anymore.
Make it any size you want.
F&*k it.
How about you just have a billboard with your logo on it and no creative at all?
A big billboard with your name on it
For more insights into the minds of creatives
Check out Tom Fishbourne’s Brand Camp cartoons.
Here is one of my favorites.
Brand Camp – 8 Types of Bad Creative Critics
INNOVATE OR DIE 
Really nice and it’s funny to know this applies every where. We face the same here in Nigeria and i wonder what can you do to change this now i know its universal so we just have to manage it lol.
Yep Sue, the problem is the same everywhere it seems!
Hi Chris, great post and very funny (because it’s true!). I’ve found that it’s usually a problem with the brief, or the lack of a brief. Argument and discussion for any creative project should be centred around a brief as it’s very easy to forget what the initial objective was. It’s also due to clients not having a creative ‘vocabulary’ as such and being able to articulate what they like/dislike. As creatives it’s our job to guide this conversation and explain that designs/campaigns/logos were created to satisfy a brief. Asking the client if there’s a better way to uphold that brief will help curb the need to ask spouses and children.
Cheers!
I totally agree Hamish, a clear brief can alleviate a lot of these issues. I think there should be a lot more brief writing training provided by agencies for their clients