Chapter 8 “Big dog in the house”

This is in fact the only effective way to actually get something approved. Have the most senior client at the table to make the final decision. And yet it is not with its hurdles. First of all, your client is likely three rungs down the hierarchy. He gave you the original brief which of course has been massaged beyond any hope of actually being able to deliver any creative that will actually engage the target customer. The big dog of course never actually read the brief: he will know great creative when he sees it. And this is not to be your day.

Second, if the big dog client is at the table, rest assured that the big dog agency guy is going to be there as well. And since he has some many years of experience and gobs of knowledge, he actually doesn’t need to review the brief either. Yes, yes, he will know great creative when he too sees it.

A flash streaks through your mind: why don’t we let the two big dogs just meet over lunch and decide what they want to do. While this is what will eventually happen, it is unfortunately necessary to go through the charade of actually believing that any of the underlings actually have a pov that anyone wants to listen to.