And their creative cousins had to find a new model for how they worked and how they charged their clients.
Apologies for the history lesson, but we’re still feeling – many would say suffering from – this media/creative caesura. It shows in the work. Too much of what we see is more about process than imagination.
"The ad’s been booked, just fill the space, please."
"But what if the idea would work better as X?"
"Forget it."
No doubt keeping everyone in their little boxes makes it easier to pump out communications. But it’s hardly a recipe for stand-out stuff.
Therefore, it was heartening to see the current British Heart Foundation campaign in the Metro. Before you get too excited, the ad is probably not going to rock your world.
But it was different enough to be the only interesting commercial message in the London freesheet that day. And that’s something.
Media first. BHF booked two spaces, facing each other on either side of the Metro DPS. Not revolutionary. But out of the ordinary.
Now for the creative. In the ad on the left is the story of a woman with heart failure who now has hope because of BHF’s research into the self-healing properties of the zebra fish.
In the ad on the right, the pescatorial character tells its side of the story and gives us the call to action.
Adding to the impact of the double act is a strong blue background to contrast with the logo, and some quirky typography. (Ads from O2 and Sainsbury’s on the same DPS might as well be wallpaper.)
Which came first? Media or creative? I don’t know. But for once, it looks as though the two halves of the advertising brain have been working together.
To any client readers out there, may I humbly suggest that they’ll get more bang for their precious buck when they turn the clock back and put media and creative in the same room at the very beginning of the process.
Simon S Kershaw is a creative consultant and a former creative director at Craik Jones.