Testicular Advertising

The latest Old Spice campaign is the result of a company willing to take a risk. A company with a mind open enough to let a bunch of creative people have fun with their brand. The outcome is an integrated campaign that is completely appropriate, funny and memorable.

So many clients throw around the names of other forward-thinking brands they want to be like—the classic Apple example—yet never have the gumption to follow through. It’s like going skydiving but never jumping out of the plane.

What happens, exactly? There’s a range of reasons and I have heard many of them. Boss wants something less controversial. Won’t make sense overseas. Don’t think it aligns with our target. One person on the committee doesn’t like “that type of thing.” The list goes on.

But I believe it boils down to a simple and unspoken fear of the unknown. What if it fails and I get fired? What if someone finds it offensive and we get sued? What if it just doesn’t work?

But what if it does?

What if that risk you took was a calculated one? What if it was based on the experience of a team of professional thinkers? What if you push your hesitations aside and place your brand in the hands of people who want and are able to elevate it? What is possible?

Fear holds too many clients back and those questions are never answered. They choose the safe route and the brand continues to go unnoticed. And that is a sad realization, not just for the agencies who won’t get to let their talents truly thrive, but for the general state of creativity and intelligence in how brands talk to their consumers.

Passive communication can only create a passive response. Here’s to the few that put it all on black.

This post was born on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 at 2:28 pm. It lives in the Blog and is tagged by Advertising, Blog, Insight, Old Spice. Follow it with the RSS 2.0 feed.