We see hundreds of advertisements every day of our lives all claiming to clean better, go faster, cost less and give you more. We are told why we should use a particular product or choose a particular brand. Illusions are created, heartstrings tugged at and egos appealed to. And most of the time the product we receive simply does not measure up.

When was the last time you got a burger in a famous fast food chain that actually looked like the burger you saw advertised on TV? I’ll take a punt here and say never.

I’m tired of being disappointed, I want the things I buy to exceed expectations or at the very least match them. But, how can businesses make this happen?

In 1962, Avis president Robert C. Townsend hired DDB to help turn around his ailing company’s fortunes. After Mr. Townsend was advised to get the business in order and increase its appeal to potential buyers, DDB set about its job and asked its client “Why would anyone want to rent a car from you?”

The reply was: “We try harder, because we have to.” The ad pictured here was released, based on this same honest, no-nonsense message and within one year Avis went from being $3.2 million in the red to $1.2 million in the black.

So, a bit of honesty seemed to work here. There’s a genuine consideration of what’s being sold, what experience a customer would like and how to best set about telling customers exactly what they could expect. Judging by the upturn in fortunes, Avis’ customers seemed to approve.

Another great example of honest marketing is often described as the gold standard for advertising. It was created by DDB again, but this time for Volkswagen.

The beetle’s a little car that had the not-so-little job of breaking into the American car market in the Sixties, at a time when it was dominated by large family vehicles. DDB created a campaign that would match customers’ expectations with this small car by proclaiming it was just that: small.

It didn’t make any outlandish claim or hide behind any design trickery. It was simple, honest and has helped forever establish the charm of the car we affectionately call the ‘bug’. Lauren Sorenson sums it up nicely in her article – The 10 Greatest Marketing Campaigns of all Time: “people appreciate honest just as much as they appreciate hot girls in beer commercials!”

So, whilst smoke and mirrors might help sell a few extra units, conscientious and clever creative agencies will draw upon the simple truth to build a brand that lasts and make a product great.

The post Advertising Does Work, Honestly appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.

“Preparation is key to fun!”

A good friend of mine once said this to a group of about 15 of us whilst trying to organise a group trip to a festival in Croatia.

“Yea yea yea…” we all thought and rolled our eyes. “Relaaax, it’ll all be fine!”

However, without her, we would have been totally lost and would have probably ended up spending all our money on last minute bookings, only then to enjoy a rather sober and hungry weekend. Not so fun.

Preparation is key to fun… well, of course it is. When things go smoothly and everything’s going to plan then everyone’s having a good time, right?

I feel the same way about receiving a good creative brief. It’s such a load off my mind when I’ve got my hands on a good piece of strategy. (WOW… did I really just say that?!)

But really, having a solid foundation, upon which you can build an idea, is not just a logical approach to solve the problem; if the strategy is strong and inspired, so is the creative. Nowadays, with a plethora of communication mediums, the relationship between brand and consumer has only become more complex. And because of this, it’s now even more crucial that creative briefs cut through all the bull and find the insights that inspire and drive the creative work.

To quote French philosopher Blaise Pascal, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.” There is a lesson to be learnt from this; it takes time to cut out unnecessary noise. A concise and insightful brief is probably one of the most valuable tools in the creative process as it sits right in the middle of the business side of things and creative. It pinpoints the main factors that act as a catalyst to drive the whole creative process.

I’m not going to sit here and tell anyone how to write a brief; just type ‘creative brief’ into Google and I’m sure thousands of other people will quite happily do that. I’m simply stressing how important to everyone that these little gems are. It helps the client to understand their own brand further and it sets the creatives on the right path to coming up with beautiful ideas.

Everyone’s a winner!

The post Preparation is Key to Fun. and a Good Creative Brief Can Be So Much Fun appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.

What I really like about Mad Men from a professional perspective (sorry, I know you just wanted to hear me talk about my favourite telly programmes) is watching how they approach creative strategy and pitches, compared to how agencies work today.

Back in Mad Men times, the channels were advertising, TV and radio. None of this digital stuff to worry about. The world wide interweb was more than 20 years away so integrated campaigns didn’t really exist. You didn’t need to think about SEO, blogging, social media and all the other channels we utilize nowadays to reach as wide an audience as possible. You just had to come up with a great creative idea that consumers liked and responded to accordingly. It was more about the brand, I think.

Ok, I know it wasn’t quite that simplistic, but you get the idea.

It’s a little like how we operate here at MGOT. We position ourselves as a creative agency with the brand and ‘the big idea’ at the heart of everything we do, as opposed to digital specialists or DM specialists, for example. Naturally we utilise similar channels to those that everybody else does, where appropriate. But the priority has always been to come up with a truly great piece of creative that makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

Nowadays, you can go some way towards winning a ‘creative’ pitch with all of your detailed planning, SEO strategy, email campaigns, PPC & ROI processes, and so on and so on. And god knows we do that.

But, if the idea’s not good, does all of that stuff really matter anyway? From a new business perspective, I know it’s the worst thing in the world trying to sell a creative idea that doesn’t excite you to begin with – it’s written all over your face for everyone to see, if that’s the case.

What’s needed is a well-rounded presentation. Present a fully integrated strategy, make sure you show how you’ll measure success, how you’ll evaluate and evolve your campaigns using detailed analytics and how you’ll manage the account. But don’t bother with any of it without a strong creative foundation; that has to be the starting point.

Plus, as the balance shifts ever further towards consumers becoming marketeers, surely it’s exciting and honest creative we need to give them as their tools.

Ok, so Don Draper’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but when he’s good he’s bloody brilliant. And ultimately, isn’t it our job to entertain people? You can’t deny he does that.

I think if some agencies were transported back to the Mad Men era, they’d struggle to compete due to the lack of importance placed on the big idea.

Thankfully, I think we’d be ok.

The post Getting a Lesson from the Old School – Creative Strategy and What Mad Men Can Teach Us appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.

These three announcements, from the business called show, caught our eye this week:

• Justin Bieber is making a cameo appearance on an episode of The Simpsons, as Bart’s piano teacher. Despite having only one line, his involvement is generating headlines and eclipsing the involvement of stalwarts like Jane Krakowski and actor Patrick Stewart as part of the same tale from Springfield.
• Harry Hill is filming in Blackpool, as part of his big screen debut, which will see him and on-screen twin brother Matt Lucas visit the resort and come to terms with the fate of the comedian’s terminally ill hamster. (Yes, the only thing in the least bit unexpected here is the filming of a full feature presentation.)
• The Kumars are to be unleashed upon Hollywood dreamboat Hugh Jackman when Sanjeev Bhaskar’s unique chat show format is revived for Sky later this year. Despite each interviewee being grilled by a whole family at once, which is unusual in itself, Jackman will be kept even moreso on his toes, by a trampoline routine he’ll complete as part of the show.

Fans can expect some pretty rich and ridiculous outcomes here, although there’s possibly only one of the three that might seem a little unexpected.

In my humble opinion, Beliebers and Simpsonites will probably take this news in their stride, as will everyone else.  The show’s welcomed a series of guest stars in the past, including the likes of Michael Jackson, so seeing two cultural heavyweights (Bart & Justin) come together is simply a right of passage for any star operating as a zeitgeist. Similarly for doctor-cum-comedian Harry, the evolution of a small-screen act to a big screen audience seems perfectly natural, especially after Keith Lemon’s success last year.

The truly questionable one out of all three has to be a trampolining Hugh Jackman. Best known as an X man, bearing adamantium claws, or as outcast Jean Valjean in the film-of-the-musical-of-the-book Les Miserables, it seems a little odd. Although many celebrities are encouraged to come down from a perceived ivory tower and be ‘more relatable’ by their agent, it always comes at the risk of their profession.

And it’s not just their career as an actor, a teen pin-up or a bespectacled stand-up.

Celebrities are, often unfairly, scrutinised for every choice they make whether it’s a meal, a dress, a haircut, a romantic partner, anything.  It’s not necessarily just their fans alone that act as judge and jury; marketers and PR professionals are often looking to align their client with a high-profile celebrity that they consider to be a true personification of a brand.

With Charles Worth first encouraged Princess Von Metternich to try out his latest concept – ‘haute couture’ – celebrity endorsement dates back to the 19^th century. Being supported by one of the ringleaders in a media circus has proved to be an effective marketing and PR tool for hundreds of years; as expert Okonwko surmises, an endorsement helps “the brand’s message stand out among the clutter of advertising from competitors and convincing customers of the credibility of the brand’s offerings.”

However, a brand and an individual have to be carefully aligned, the ‘credibility of a brand’ is only conveyed effectively if the celebrity is considered an authority, is a true embodiment of the brand’s personality and retains their integrity (by maybe resisting the urge to trampoline.)

Many attribute the following stats from analysts Ace Matrix to an oversight of these golden rules. The group tested more than 2,600 television advertisements over the course of 2010 “and found less than 12% of ads using celebrities ‘exceeded a 10% lift versus average industry norms’ — in other words, benefited from the association — and nearly 20% of celebrity ads yielded ‘negative lift scores.’” Essentially, “the investment in a celebrity in TV advertising is very rarely worthwhile.”

Journalists and industry analysts have become increasingly aware of a series of poor fits between brand and celebrity ambassador – a payday loans service fronted by Kerry Katona encouraged most to raise an eyebrow rather than their phone handset.

Having said that, trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, or an XY into a traditionally XX space, can be a smart move that creates a clever juxtaposition. All the furore around Brad Pitt as the new face of Chanel earned the company “earned millions of dollars in free advertising.”

However, to circumvent the risk altogether, a truly happy marriage between an individual and a brand is also an opportunity to fuse a target demographic with a celeb fanbase, making it mutually beneficial. One of the most obvious and intelligent unions at the moment has to be Gok Wan with Activia; dressing to enhance a women’s self esteem is a logical foundation for recommending a product that promotes wellness and a healthy lifestyle.

It’s all about the confidence, in both cases – that which the consumer has in the brand and in the efforts of Mr Wan.

The post Bride of Frankenstein. When Brands Come to Life and Seek a Happy Marriage, Through Marketing and Public Relations, to a Celebrity appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.

The thing that’s different with Glass is that it’s the first mainstream introduction of ‘constant computing’. PC’s brought computing in to the home, smartphones took it on the move and now, thanks to Glass, humans will, theoretically, have access at all times to the world wide web. Here’s the promo video.

Some supporters believe that it’ll revolutionise the way we interact with each other and the world around us, whilst other believe that they’re nothing but a novelty gimmick, something for the tech heads and reminiscent of the infamous bluetooth headset of the early naughties.

Here are some ideas as to how this new technology could change the way that we live and work.

1. Real time customer support

If people are able to see what you see, a whole world of opportunity is opened up for real time customer support. Having trouble putting up that new wardrobe that you’ve just bought from Ikea? Has the car broken down on the way home from work? By allowing support teams access to share your point of view, all advice would be tailored accurately and efficiently. Not to mention the benefit to the emergency services, who would be able to provide on the spot first aid instruction to good samaritans.

2. Medical

It’s probably in the world of medicine where Google Glass could prove to be the most fruitful. So much so, in fact, that many large medical institutions are already investing heavily in the technology that Glass provides. Rafael Grossmann, a doctor in the States has
Use “face-recognition” to display a patient’s current medical data and history.put together this quick list of benefits:

• Have lab results, pathology reports or radiologic images displayed right in front of his eyes.

• Swiftly ordering new tests or procedures.

• Call in a consultant for a video chat.

• Give an update to a family member, if requested by the patient or through a Power of Attorney.

3. Facial & scene recognition

A computer’s ability to automatically detect a person or scene is almost there. At the moment, tests are yielding 80% accuracy levels. The fact is that this technology will come to the fore over the next few years, it seems especially certain following Facebook’s recent acquisition of Face.com - a company whose prime focus is on facial & scene recognition.

To get a feel for how similar technology could prove useful with Glass, lets take a look at the iOS app ‘Pic Translator’. Pic translator allows the user to take a photo of something written in a different language and translate the text in to your spoken language. Imagine routing this through Glass; street signs, menus, safety information etc. would all be translated in real time.

4. Gaming

Gaming with glass will help break down the barriers between reality and virtual reality. Remember the old games of the early 90’s, like laser quest? Simply download an app on your glasses, invite your facebook friends to join in and enjoy an all-new cutting edge version of   an old favourite.

5. Celebrity day in the life

OK, so, I’m not sure how much I agree with this concept but, never the less, it highlights how Glass could be utilised for marketing and promotion. Fans could win a competition to spend the day in the life of their idol, seeing the world through their Glass, whether it’s from the stage, on set or on the track.

Summary

Of course, the success of Glass will depend on a number of factors, price being one of them. At the moment, Glass’s RRP is around $1,000 which is quite a hefty price tag but, as the popularity grows, this will eventually decrease.  It will also come down to developers pushing the boundaries of Glass’ capabilities, creating apps that catch the public’s imagination. It’s hard to say at this stage whether Google Glass will take off but I believe it will definitely lay the foundations for the next paradigm of ‘smart’ technology.

The post Through the Google ‘Glass’ – The Latest in Mobile Technology appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.

There, I said it – and God, I feel better!!

Yep, I’m addicted to buying online. The comforting fact is, I’m definitely not the only one. To put it in perspective, the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon, has a customer base of over 30 million, topping $61 billion in sales in 2012, with roughly 306 items being sold per second.

But today, any online retailer (big or small) knows that before any spending takes place, e-commerce addicts are using the Internet to engage with the brands we love the most. We can mostly be found traipsing through our inboxes on payday for the latest e-newsletters from our trusted favourites, as well as religiously following their branded Facebook and Twitter accounts for the latest news. Retail brands are having to work harder than ever to engage with us on a deeper level before we’ll put our hands in our pockets (or in this case, ‘go to checkout’). God I’m on fire…

But what to post to engage us? Well, the strategy more and more smaller brands are looking to adopt is content marketing. Branded, sharable, relevant content that encourages engagement with the brand and it’s products, online.

If you’re baffled as to what social ‘content’ us fans are likely to engage with, here are 5 tips from an online-savvy shopper that may help to get us hooked:

1. IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE THAT COUNTS…

What draws us to people in real life? Personality! OK… so maybe piercing eyes and a cracking smile help a bit, but mainly, good craic! So, take a leaf out of the human book. Your brand is constantly competing with all our other pretty-looking favourites; in our inbox, on our newsfeed, and whenever we refresh twitter. If your brand was a person, how would they speak? We want to get to know your brand as if you were a person– we want you to find common ground with us. Stand out from the crowd and inject a bit of personality! Personality-fuelled updates are more likely to catch our attention, and have us chatting back.

2. ME, ME , ME, ME, ME.

So unattractive! My fellow consumer geeks will agree that too much self-promotion from brands we like on social media platforms is a bore. A good social media strategy isn’t about bragging about how great your product is – we already think this. We wouldn’t be following you otherwise. We want interesting, relevant content that’s going to rouse our interest and help us strengthen that bond we already have with your brand.

3. IT’LL ONLY WORK IF IT’S TWO-WAY…

Just like in a real-life relationship, a connection requires energy and enthusiasm from both parties.

Provide us with industry insight, that’s relevant and sharable, but don’t post updates we can’t interact with. Silence is just as important in gauging what your customer wants. If people aren’t generating a buzz over something you’ve posted, use this as a cue to find out what the customer is thinking. We’re more likely to interact if you ask us questions at the end of your updates. We want to engage in conversation with you and other fans, and asking us questions encourages us to comment, contribute, and hopefully share your updates.

4. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST.

We want the behind-the-scenes goss! Are you casting for an up-and-coming campaign? Shooting a seasonal look book? Unpacking the latest lines just in, not available in stores yet? SHOW US! Post tasters and teasers to get us salivating over what’s ‘coming soon’. That way, we’re more inclined to get saving, and keep a look-out for that amazing gadget we saw on Facebook last week that’s due in the Spring…

5. ANYMORE FOR ANY MORE?

If we show interest in your company… show us more of it! I just ‘liked’ an update – suggest I sign up to receive newsletters, or send me a link to your latest blog post relating to what I just liked. Take the hint! If we’re engaging, you’ve got us hooked – we want more!

The more (relevant and timely) content you provide us with, the more likely we are to interact with your brand. And hey, in Facebook terms – the more we interact with your brand, the higher Edgeranking you receive on our newsfeeds, resulting yet again in MORE interactions and more engagement. In the words of Elton John, it’s the Circle of life….

The post THE SHOPAHOLIC’S GUIDE TO CONTENT CREATION appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.

I was sat typing on my laptop. A laptop that, for all intents and purposes, is the reason I am actually able to do my job, earn an income and provide for my family. A laptop that I bought in the UK, was manufactured in China and designed to exceed Good Eco-Product criteria by a well known South Korean electronics group.

A laptop that is an important part of my everyday life. I’m attached to it.

I thought, what happens to this laptop in the future when I have finished with it? When it finally gives in from all the abuse I throw at it, in the name of digital marketing? When advancements in software development request more from it than it can possibly cope with? What then for this familiar piece of plastic, metal and silicon that has helped me to earn a living?

An estimated 50 million tons of electronic waste are produced each year. The Environmental Protection Agency has suggested that only 15-20% of it is recycled, with the rest going directly into landfills and incinerators. The amount of electronic waste being produced is predicted to rise by as much as 500% over the next decade in some countries.

Full of copper, steel, aluminium, and iron, surely these old devices should be classed more as commodities, and less as waste? Recycling the metal materials from discarded electronic devices is considered far better for the environment than mining them, after all.

By dismantling, refurbishing, repairing or reusing electronic waste, we are staving off the air and water pollution caused by dumping the devices, whilst also reducing the amount of greenhouse emissions generated by the manufacture of new ones. Not to mention the tens of thousands of extra career opportunities an increase in recycling would bring to the developing world.

Now, before you think I spend my weekends hugging trees wearing hemp based clothing, I have to tell you that I don’t. But, with a 4 year old already causing chaos in my house and another child on the way, it has finally sunk in. What we do (or don’t) take responsibility for now, will only have to be dealt with by the next generation. And with the world currently evolving the way it is, they could do with all the help they can get.

Some people sell their old laptops on auction sites, pawn them, gift them to friends, family or charity.

Me?

Mine are collecting dust in the depths of a wardrobe in the spare room. There’s a graveyard of previously loved laptops that finally threw in the towel. All important files were copied years ago onto numerous floppy disks, then CD’s, then DVD’s, now flash drives before each of their hard drives were erased.

These laptops may now be obsolete, outdated and retired, but without them I couldn’t have worked for the last 15 years. I am kind of attached to them and, to be honest, they deserve more than just being piled up and forgotten about. This brings me back to my Earth Day pledge, dear reader.

My Act of Green is to get them all recycled in a safe and responsible manner. Somewhere they can help someone else make a living, in whatever form that may be. I can only hope that this blog has inspired you to think about doing the same, or at least something similar.

For further information on Earth Day CLICK HERE.

The post Green Machines: All About Earth Day by Digital Marketing Director, Andrew Poole appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.

The thing is language can’t stay the same. We know that. We don’t speak like we did a few hundred years ago. And, as a copywriter, I need to know how people speak so that I can write in a way that connects with them. Plus, I’m all for moving with the times.

But I can’t help but feel like it’s a bit unfair that the 16th Century had Shakespeare changing their language and we have Joey Essex.

The amount of stuff we say today that we owe to Shakespeare is incredible. Everyday words like ‘bubble’, ‘bump’ even ‘eyeball’ didn’t exist until he wrote them. Phrases like ’love is blind’, ‘fair play’, ‘a sorry sight’ all caught on because of his creativity.

Nowadays we have Joey Essex and his crew inventing ‘reem’ and ‘well jel’. So, apart from words entering the dictionary from advances in technology like ‘Blackberry’, the future of our language is currently in the hands of people who don’t know where Wales is.

But I admire their creativity. No one else dares to do it. The people that love our language the most, the potential Shakespeares of today, are the ones who are most precious about it. They want to preserve it.

So here’s what I think: maybe we all need to loosen up a little. Accept that language is fluid and go with the flow.

Then maybe we can do a little better than OMG LMFAO. I want a word for that moment you think of something you should have said in an argument. Or our own version of ‘Schadenfreude’.

Until then, it’s totes about being reem with it all.

The post Is Joey Essex the Next Shakespeare? the Musings of Our Copywriter Emily Hague appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.

Ok, so you’re a business (for argument’s sake, let’s say you’re an online retail business) and you’ve furnished your company with the usual marketing collateral and website. It all ties together well (as it bloomin’ well should) and you therefore have the makings of a great looking brand.

With all this in place, imagine you’re now the customer looking for something new. You’ve scoured the Internet for loads of websites and quickly whittled down your options to three or four retail experiences, all of which have a bit of what you’re after. So how easy is it for your customer to truly make a decision about what your brand is offering, and are there ways to tell your story in a way that will engage and inspire the customer, and, in turn, keep them interested in your offering?

All day long, it’s going to be the website that engages you instantly. It’s a game of story-telling at speed. And whilst this might sound obvious, a company has a very short amount of time to tell their story and emotionally connect with the customer, before they get bored and wander off course.

And this is where the use of video can make a huge difference. According to The Next Web, online video content viewing in the UK grew by 42% in 6 months – clearly demonstrating that it just shouldn’t be ignored as part of your marketing strategy.

As annoying as it might be, there’s a reason why ‘Gangnam Style’ reached over 1billion global views earlier this year. It’s because video is simply one of the best and fastest growing ways to communicate with your customers in an immediate and engaging way.

An animation/video is bespoke; sets you apart from the competition, is shareable but also difficult to copy (i.e. it’s entirely unique and own-able). More importantly, they allow you to refocus your product offering and simplify your brand message into something much more succinct, which can only be a good thing. It can also be a great way to humanise a more corporate brand, or just be a bit of lighthearted story-telling.

Take a look at onlybecausewecan and you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Not only is it an impressive way for a company to show off their products, but in a matter of two minutes you quickly get a feel about what they’re all about:

• Their target market (young, fresh, fashion-savvy)
• Their look and feel (rebellious, free-spirited, care-free)
• Their tone of voice and how they like to sound (edgy, independent, fun)

All of this is immediate, and you’re made to feel very much part of the brand story along the way. Not only that, but in a short amount of time ONLY have built a fleeting, impulsive but a potentially long-lasting personal relationship with the customer, which you simply cannot achieve as quickly, doing anything else.

It’s also important to note that in a retail environment “Visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy than visitors who do not” (source: invodo.com). So, not ONLY have they done a great job of covering off every angle to maximise potential traffic and sales, but they’re keeping people interested too.

It’s important to note then that it goes without saying that we employ the same rules of engagement when we create animations or videos. We create a core concept/idea, support it with the use of research/knowledge/facts about how best to engage the customer, and then, most importantly (and this applies to everything we do), we tell a story… and nothing can beat a really well told story.

There’s no denying that video content is literally everywhere and accessible on a global scale. So if you want to get your potential customers engaging and sharing, maybe it’s time to think about a brand animation, product showreel, or even a full-screen interactive look-book and start to make use of video in more innovative ways.

The post Rules of Engagement: Making the Most of Creative Video Content appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.

Wrong.

Designing for print and designing for the web – whilst both share some basic design fundamentals – have a very different set of considerations. And it’s over these considerations that designers and developers have struggled to find a common ground. These struggles usually begin, I’m afraid to say, with the designer. As a designer, I admit that it’s all too easy to retreat to my design bubble in a quest to produce something beautiful, innovative, eye-catching and, dare I say it, award winning! I’ve then taken my designs to my developer colleagues like a proud father presenting his newborn child only to be told my baby is ugly! Er, what? I’m not having that. “Well,” they explain, “it looks good now, but try looking at it on a tablet, iPhone, android and a 10 year old Acer with a 600px wide screen. Still look beautiful?”

I’ve then had to sit through hours of explanations on best practice, pixel widths, HTML and Flash! These conversations usually get heated as my developer friends point out every fault as strenuously as I defend them. I would never go down without a fight – my baby is beautiful!I used to see developers as the spoilers of design, the traffic wardens of the creative world (apologies to all decent, fair traffic wardens.) And I thought I was being lied to. I thought if something was a bit too difficult, or would require some research and learning on their behalf, they’d stonewall me, baffling me with developer speak. PHP this, CSS that.

I decided after a particularly difficult project to take action: if I know what they know, they can’t pull the wool over my eyes anymore. I set about familiarising myself with the basic rules of HTML, CSS and PHP. I built a few of my own websites and then built a couple for friends. I learnt how to turn my HTML sites into fully content managed sites and started building for clients.

Now, with my new knowledge, I was fully expecting to be primed and ready to unleash my designer frustrations upon any unwitting developer who dared to tell me that “it can’t be done.” However, what actually happened was that I began to appreciate exactly how a flat design is transformed into a fully functional website. I started to design my sites with one eye on the build process right from the start, as I now knew the implications down the line. I started to see just what a pain in the arse I must have been!

From then on, in my everyday work, I found my developer colleagues didn’t say “no” to me nearly as much. Development meetings became a lot more pleasant with a sharing of thoughts as opposed to a battle of wills! I don’t profess to be an expert developer, far from it. However, I now have a useful working knowledge that I try to keep up to date. The fact that I pulled my head out of the sand and embraced another side of the business has made me a better designer and ensured that projects run smoother, faster and with a more considered, integrated outcome.

I strongly recommend that any print designer working with web developers becomes familiar with the practice of developing. Now more than ever, with the plethora of platforms available to view our online content as well as the trend for responsive designs, it’s important to plan and consider each project in depth before a finger even hits a mouse. Learning from colleagues and seeing the creative process from another perspective – which is the benefit of working within an integrated agency –  is something that every creative professional should embrace.

I’m still working on understanding account managers though. One step at a time…

The post Developing Design: An Ongoing Battle of Wills appeared first on McGrath Rainey Laird Agency | MRLA.