I was talking to one of the best young minds at the agency the other day and she described a recent experience with a strategic concept she’d been struggling with. She said she went from Oooh (“That’s cool, how’d they get there?”) to Aaaah (“I get it!”).
[Note from the author: The book – From Ooooh to Aaaah – is already in development. So don’t even think about it. I called dibs on the spot.]
Isn’t that what we’re – from assistant account coordinators to CMOs – all looking for? That moment of Aaaah? Or, as it’s also know, The A-Ha Moment?
The romanticized version of this includes a crazy-haired inventor. And an A-Ha Moment that changes the course of history.
The good news is we’re operating in an environment when the promise of “A-Ha” is everywhere. That moment of enlightenment that paves the way for all future decisions. We can measure more accurately, more quickly and across more platforms. Data is being collected as we speak. But that’s not the whole story.
Complexity and speed dictate the day. By the time you get to an answer, the question may have changed. Or another question has been raised. To paraphrase Miles Nadal, everyone wants to get to a point where they can say all of our dollars are going here, but there is so much change happening and going to happen that that point will likely never come.
That’s why we need to rethink the A-Ha Moment. It’s not that there are any less of them. In fact, we should have more. But they may be less permanent. Or their implications may be less far reaching.
We need to get comfortable with the new scope of A-Ha. Understanding what’s right. Understanding what’s right for right now. And understanding that things just changed. The exciting part – where success is ultimately found – is understanding the relationship between the three.
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Casey,
If things continue to change this quickly, us agency folks are in danger of becoming simply implementers and not big idea people. Thus, the real goal is to find the over-arching position, the big idea for the brand that can’t and shouldn’t change but only evolve over time. One that can be supported in many different ways even if those ways of supporting change week by week. In that vein there can be many A-Ha moments that support the client’s brand. Ooh – I just had an A-Ha idea related to a client’s marketing challenge. Gotta go.
Thanks Bob. Totally agree.
Russell Davies had a good blog post on the same subject called The Tyranny of The Big Idea. It’s a few years old now, but I still refer to it often. The elevator ride version: We shouldn’t be looking for big ideas. We should be looking for big buckets into which lots of small ideas can fit (ex: Nike’s Just Do It, Honda’s The Power of Dreams).
When our day-to-day is filled with more (if smaller) A-Ha Moments and opportunities, an organizing concept makes life much more manageable.
Do you really think what you write you will be taken seriously, using the photo you have selected?
Well, now I’m only a little self-conscious. But let’s embrace this two-way communications thing. I’ll open it up to all of you. If you think my picture detracts from my content, please tell me. I would appreciate it if you say it nicely, but I’ll take everyone’s feedback. If a change in picture would help with the believability of the message, let’s do it. I believe in market research. I believe in the wisdom of crowds. Comment away.
Hello Casey
Did not intend anything personally and I suppose doing saying so semi-publicly is odd in itself.
But you seem like a bright guy – and yes – I think the weird photo detracts from what you are saying. Sets the tone for what follows.
Craig
Those eyes can see around corners and tell us about the future. It works for me.