“The key to success is to make your content remarkable.”
I’ve heard this many times by people in blogs, TED videos, books, webinars, etc. I get it. But can I tell the Gurus and Visionaries something?
Duh.
Of course you have to be different to help yourself stand out from others. Easily said. Not easily done. Yet the people who say it with such ease create witty presentations with this sentiment, collect a check and gain a few more disciples.
I call BS on it. Because being remarkable definitely has merit, but it’s not enough. It’s been conveyed in a way that suggests all an idea needs is originality but as many people in Advertising, Marketing, PR and similar industries can attest to, we could fill graveyard after graveyard with remarkable ideas that should’ve been used but weren’t.
We even have award shows for remarkable ideas that never made it.
Strive for the remarkable. But remember the logistics of what you still have to navigate that brilliant idea through – it’s a Lord of the Rings-level journey to get your idea to fly. Twists and turns of presentations to higher-ups.
So how do you do it?
Part of what I’ve done in my career to help the “really different idea than what the client is used to” medicine go down with a client is really what they deserve – tying strategy back into the rationale for why I’m suggesting what I am. If I’d just gotten up there in a boardroom and said, “You have to be different, which is what this idea is, because there’s no reason to keep doing what you’re doing like everybody else,” that’s not convincing enough. Sure, maybe they do honestly want to change. But how can they be sure your change the right one?
You want to speak to how the concept can resonate with the specific audience it’s intended for based on the research you’ve done. And the metrics all parties intend to use to measure the idea’s success.
See, what you’re doing here is methodically peeling away the risk and building in greater comfort with concepts the client can relate to. There’s a method and a reason to why the change is good. Not just, well, because it’s change.
It’s time to demand more of ourselves than simply demanding others be different and calling it a day. We have to show them on a regular basis. With real research, real metrics, and real tools, we can select to guide others on the path that’s right for them.
Think different? You should. But if you want it to thrive for years to come, recognize that there’s still a lot of work ahead of you once you have the idea. It’s not going to be as easy as some make it out to be.
But then, achieving anything worth the label of “remarkable” rarely is.
