Everything is tailormade

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Tom

“Let’s do the same thing we did last year” or “Let’s do what company X did”.  Always great when these propositions popup during a meeting about the launch of something new.

Besides the fact that copying is just a sign of being lazy or not having the capability to be original and creative, it’s also not possible.  Everything is unique, otherwise, why would there be a need for its existence?  Even if the products are the same, it’ll still have (or really should) its unique selling point, whether it’s a lower price, better service or even prettier colours.

There’s no such thing as a magic formula to promote something and if there was, wouldn’t more people know it if there was and wouldn’t it be possible to properly measure ROI?  And where would the challenge and creativity go if it was all the same?  There would be no appeal at all for the customer, we would all compete on a boring, measurable level (price, target demographic,…)

Creating a campaing based on your experience is not the same as copying something you did before or saw someone else do before.  Knowing what to use and especially what not to use is what makes a creative and unique campaign.

There are some advantages with using your experience to create a campaign.  You never start with a blank page.  It’s always harder to fill a blank page with ideas than scratch ideas of a filled page.  The only danger is that you just scratch things of your list and don’t add any.  The danger is feeling comfortable with what you’ve done before and don’t take the time or the effort to keep adding stuff to your list.

You may want to read:

• A plea for traditional media
• Being alone together or how social media puts it all back together
• Be creative… be happy…