Tweet In my mail yesterday, I was reminded of the effectiveness of K.I.S. (Keep It Simple) or K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple STUPID - for the hardheaded). I got a postcard from my vet reminding me of my dog's needed appointment. It was a picture of a cat whispering in a dog's ear, "Time for a visit."  Not the most inspiring call to action.

The postcard reminded me of my dog's old groomer when I lived Detroit. She sent reminder postcards with some hilarious copy. It was written from a smartass dog's point of view — in my dog's voice, if she could speak. Each postcard was about a different mishap that would require the dog's need of a good cleaning, like the drunk uncle at your Super Bowl party who kept petting your dog with hands smeared in nacho dip. My wife and I actually looked foward to receiving the cards.  As a result, we drove 30 minutes out of our way, passing up 50-60 capable groomers to give this woman our business.

I told her how much we loved her postcards and she told me her niece wrote them, who was a student at the College for Creative Studies. Postcards got a lot of compliments and boosted her business. I handed the groomer my card, but I never heard from her niece.

Point is, this young woman created a very cheap direct marketing campaign (no art, just copy) that really caught the attention of dog lovers.

Budgets don't kill creativity. If your big idea dies because it needs big funding, then create the big idea that can live on something less. If you can't do it, do you really have the right to call yourself creative? I know, I know, sometimes (OK, most times) clients ask for a lot, but give you very little to work with. Still, I'm willing to bet you found a solution somewhere (after plenty of late nights and cursing your job). Was it award worthy? Portfolio worthy? Sometimes it's not, but it makes you worthy of the business and an asset to your agency.

K.I.S.

Or should I say, K.I.S.S!