When I present work, I have two objectives:

1. Give them what they want. That's work that sticks to the creative brief. Sometimes that means delivering the expected.

2. Give them something that makes them think. That's the unexpected stuff — work that takes some creative liberties with the brief and/or work that takes decision-makers out of their comfort zones.

Most of the time, the latter work gets killed. Either you strayed too far from the creative objective (which is a bad thing) or your idea is so different that it scares people (but that can be a good thing).

By taking people out of their comfort zones, you show them limitless possibilities to achieving their goals.

Many creatives don't want to put themselves out there like that, because they know their "wild" idea won't sell, so why waste the time and effort developing it.

Because you're a creative, that's why.

Maybe those ideas won't sell, but never lead your client to think you are not capable of fresh thinking. Maybe your big idea is not  a good idea right now, but it could be later. You want decision-makers to keep thinking about bigger and better solutions as much as you do.

Often when accounts go into review and the agency of record tries to defend the account, that's when they pull out all stops and offer a radically different approach to their work. Many times, clients then wonder why they never saw work like this in the first place. Then it's too little, too late.

If your client is killing the really creative stuff now, it's still important to remind them the edgier work is there for the asking. More important, you also keep your creative skills sharp.

Just never stop and never be scared to present your big idea.


Photo courtesy of stock.xchng. Photography by Anissa Thompson.