It doesn’t matter how talented you are, how many clients you’ve worked with, or how long you’ve worked together as a creative team (about five years for yours truly), the creative process is never easy. If it was simple, our creative brains would be bored!
Luckily, by the time most projects come to an end, a phenomenon called “creative amnesia” kicks in. We completely forget about all of the challenges it took to get reach the finish line as we line up for the next one.
Let’s reflect on the creative process for Yasso’s new brand campaign.
It’s official! We get to develop a creative way to tell the world about our new client, Yasso, and their ridiculously creamy frozen Greek yogurt treats.
How it feels: The possibilities are endless and the product is delicious. Life is good. Nothing can stand in our way!
The reality: What you envision at the beginning of a project is not going to be the final product. You’ll come up with something better anyway.
Or should we call it the brain freeze before the brainstorm? A quick bout of existential dread settles in about five minutes after kickoff. It’s part of the process.
How it feels: Wait. Hold up. Can we do this? How long until they figure out we can’t do this?
The reality: You’ll get there. That little voice inside your head is there to keep you humble and help you weed out the bad ideas.
Equipped with an absurd amount of Yasso, we start to get into a groove. Ideas come. We write them down. Comp them up. Talk them out. Throw them all away and do it again (and again and again…).
How it feels: Yep. This is impossible.
The reality: It always seems impossible. It’s not. But it always seems that way.
A handful of late nights, bad jokes, and about a million ideas later, we hone in on this insight: Yasso delivers the experience of eating ice cream without all the feelings of regret that come with it. Basically, ice cream needs to watch out because Yasso is here to steal the crown from the longtime dessert champion.
Next, we tackle taglines, mood boards, and a written manifesto that serves as our guiding light for everything we create moving forward. After multiple rounds of internal approvals and healthy discussions, our creative platform is officially called Audaciously Delicious.
How it feels:Before we continue, can we hold a funeral for the ideas that didn’t make it through internal approval?
The reality: Ideas die. It’s part of the process. Every great idea sits atop a pile of discarded thoughts.
The presentation goes off without a hitch. The client is just as excited about our ideas as we are. We’re feeling good. This is the part where inevitable roadblocks creep in. They can come in many forms, including new product information, urgent updates from the higher-ups, or fresh audience data.
How it feels: There will always be obstacles. When they come, we pivot. It can feel like a huge step back, but usually, it ends up being the best step forward.
The reality: Clients have feedback. Good clients push you into better work, even when it’s uncomfortable. In the end, we all just want to make something amazing.
We’ve laid the groundwork with our organizing idea, and now we bring it to life with campaigns, concepts, commercials, and even a custom music track!
How it feels: We did it! The work is killer. And it looks so good on this portfolio page! On to the next project. What could go wrong?
The reality: Lots. The next project won’t be easy. But it will be challenging and exciting and ultimately, worth it. Remember that, until the next round of “creative amnesia” kicks in.
