1. The idea is God
"Every single thing we do, whether it's a traditional 30-second TV commercial, or something new and breakthrough in the digital realm, has to have an idea at its heart," says Holmes. "This is the minimum entrance fee for any piece of work that Y&R creates."
He says, ironically, the very machine we present our ideas on has posed one of the greatest threats to the creation of real advertising ideas. "The arrival of computer technology such as the Mac, or post-production tools like 'Flame' and 'Henry', has led to a proliferation of technique-led advertising."
This technology has allowed creative people to disguise the fact that they haven't actually thought of an idea. All those buttons tempt us to play around with the look of things and create something that's superficially attractive. "Eye candy", as the Americans call it.
"The healthiest sound to be heard in a creative department is the plaintive screech of magic marker on a layout pad. Ink makes you think," he adds. Ideas are what truly engage with the consumer. Advertising without ideas is like music without tunes.
Holmes says we should think of the creative brief as the single most important piece of paper in the building. Single piece of paper, note. Not a fat deck containing every single thing the customer service can find out about the product, which they then proceed to dump on the creative team's desk.
The more the planners and account managers agonise intelligently and thoughtfully over the problem, the more likely a great solution will emerge from the creative department.
"The process of arriving at a great brief is a creative act in itself," he says. "Should inspirational briefs be given their own creative awards? Y&R should maintain a 'control culture' founded on the imperative for outstanding briefs, and then ensure that the work stays true to them."
Classic advertising ideas are always single-minded and strikingly simple. Throw a tennis ball at somebody, they'll catch it. Throw five tennis balls, they'll drop them all.
"Kill your darlings" - a piece of advice to all writers given by William Faulkner, the American novelist. "Your piece of work is made better if you ruthlessly cut stuff out of it. Often the very things you've fallen in love with."
This is a heart-wrenching process for both agency and client, involving the callous elimination of much-loved product points. As Blaise Pascal, the French philosopher and mathematician, wrote to a friend in 1659: "I am sorry I have written you a long letter. I did not have the time to write you a short one." It's Y&R's mission as an agency to come up with that 'short letter'.
"It's dangerous when creative people's priority is making themselves look good rather than making the client look good," says Holmes. Your real audience is not other creative people on an advertising jury. It's the general public. Never forget that. Unfortunately, clarity has become an almost unfashionable virtue in some creative circles.
He cites a great discipline for all writers and art directors: "Write on a large piece of paper, and in the plainest possible language, exactly what the client wishes to say. Now pin it on your wall and try and beat it."
You may think your idea is clear, but it's quite likely that other people do not. Get into the habit of showing your work to the team next door. Don't ask them if they like it. Ask them if they 'get' it.
Being 'clear' in advertising is far, far more difficult than you think. Clarity is itself a form of cleverness.
Holmes says the best ads are built around some kind of ingenious and unexpected conceptual trick: the 'twist'. Sometimes also known as the 'a-ha' moment.
"There are five kinds of twist - collision, reversal, lateral leap, snowball and ambush." 'Intelligent twist' advertising is the kind most respected and enjoyed by our audience.
Consider the possibility that writers and art directors have a moral obligation to create work that's intelligent and doesn't patronise their audience.
Just as architects shouldn't inflict ugly buildings on the public, so we shouldn't pollute the media with cheap, shabby ideas.
The term 'campaign' is an often misused term. It is emphatically not one piece of advertising in isolation. To create a campaign, you have to find a thought or insight about the product that's so rich in possibilities, it will go on generating executions ad infinitum.
When a new campaign is created, successive executions are like verses of a new hymn. Unfamiliar to begin with, but by verse five everybody is 'singing along' with the idea.
"Long running campaigns are the most valuable properties we can devise on behalf of our clients," he adds. "It's often our role to make sure the client doesn't abandon a campaign too early. Just as the agency and client are beginning to tire of a campaign, that' s probably the moment when the public are beginning to tune into it."
Campaigns make life so much simpler, too. You don't have to 'reinvent the wheel' next time the client needs another round of advertising. Resist the allure of the one-off wonder. They may be much easier to create than long running campaigns, but they have little long-term worth.
"This is the most difficult of all our principles to stick to," he says. "A 'good' idea is a curiously dangerous commodity. It invites everyone to stop work and go out for lunch."
'Great' ideas only happen when the good idea is rejected. You just have to keep ploughing on for something better. A culture of dissatisfaction with everything we do is Y&R's driver to maintaining creative excellence.
For instance, are we absolutely sure that these are the seven best creative principles that we can think of?
