Hive Health

All work is driven by ideas. For us, ideas drive numerous rounds of amends, spreadsheets, all-agency meetings and the odd product launch on a spinning boat in The Thames.

However, the value of these ideas is massively underestimated – it’s rare that agencies are paid on an idea basis. The reason? Ideas are an intangible asset. As vital as they are to business relationships, ideas can’t be easily measured. This is a pity, because great ideas take time to perfect. That lightbulb moment that tells us when an idea is worth shaping, is only the beginning.

I often realise the irony of the best ideas – stunning, clear thoughts received with surprise and delight – being the ones that take hours and amendments galore. But shaping ideas is surely more of a craft than generating them – so why don’t we like to admit that we spend time on the process?

I recently presented an prescription campaign which has taken us a few weeks to get to the standard we wanted, and mentioning this effort felt like an embarrassment. It was really difficult to admit to the challenge of delivering huge – not ad-big, but big idea-big – ideas. OK, it wasn’t a straightforward brief. But more than that, I suppose we fear that “the process” makes our ideas less pure, less special.

The truth is, marketing doesn’t often deconstruct stuff into a single grain of truth. We more often assemble and dissemble things into a desirable outcome. We often collaborate with each other in doing so.

Let’s not be ashamed of that. Let’s admit to the hard work of it, and be especially proud when it has taken several minds to get it right. Without wanting to hang on like a dog with a de Bono, I must add that ideas are never owned by one department. As a great art director once said to me: “Everyone should have an idea, or be able to make mine much better”.