David Lubars是我的老板汉斯经常挂在嘴边的两个David之一。他高高在上，是BBDO北美区首席创意官和Chairman，得奖无数，声名在外。两年前上任的BBDO美国区策略总监Paul Matheson竟然也需要向他汇报。一开始这消息让我们诧异，很难想象要让这里的planner向创意老大汇报会是什么情状！但是，好好地读一下下面这篇David Lubars的文章，你就知道这种素质的创意绝非等闲，就像他说的，“好的创意就是半个策略”。看一看Mad Man里面的Don Draper，绝对不是只会做创意的创意，他了解客户的生意，懂得创意只是手段，所以绝不会牺牲结果去实现手段。这种创意既有狂想也理解现实，既坚持又善解客户意，既有创意思维，又启动于策略思考。就像David Ogilvy说的，We Sell, or else；这才是广告的真义。

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摘自www.jiaoban.org

文/David Lubars

You and your buddy are just starting out. You're a couple of juniors from ad school, or wherever. You both have killer books; maybe you've scored in the One Show college competition. You're excited and juiced. You have tons of potential.

Flash forward fifteen years. One of you has become the creative director of a brilliant agency. The other is brain dead in Punxsutawney.

A fascinating scenario, and one I've tried to make sense of in the twenty years I've been at this. If you're a kid, this is written to try to help you avoid the mistakes some of your talented but misguided predecessors have made.

Here, then, are nine attempts at understanding why some people fall off the face of the earth:

First, it seems that these people somehow get it in their heads they're artistes and poets. A wrong headed and dopey notion. We're businesspeople who use creativity as a vehicle to deliver brand messages. This is different from being someone who uses advertising as a vehicle to deliver pretentious crap.

Second, some people speak about their clients with condescension and loathing. Again, dumb. Not to mention counterproductive. Think about what it's like to be a client for a second. You worry that you're paying the agency big money to help, knowing it's your ass if they don't. You worry about whether they'll create work everyone inside and outside your company can feel good about. You worry about whether they'll penetrate the issues as solvers of business problems or just ad makers.

But then when the agency people come through for you, you become less worried.You begin to see them as a secret weapon. As time goes on, you allow them to guide you into new territory because you trust them. The point being, it's hard work to earn and maintain client trust, but it's been the foundation of every great campaign ever created.

Third, some people don't seem to recover well when their first or second batch of work is killed. After a couple of rounds, they decide the assignment isn't good anymore and return with garbage. Bob Moore, our Fallon/Minneapolis creative director, points out, "This is a sure way of becoming a hack. Five years own the road you've got no book and you're bitching about how lousy your agency is. Who made it lousy? You did."

This is an important point. You should know that most creative directors don't assess you simply by how creative you are. We also consider how deep, how fast, and how willing to return to the well you are. And how much of a pain in the ass you aren't.

A freelancer and early mentor of mine, Ernie Schenck, was telling me about someone he'd worked with who wasn't able to rebound: "This went on for a few years, so nobody was surprised when he turned into this pathetic, defeated little puddle of awesome talent that never amounted to jack."

Sad.
Fallon account manager Rob Buchner says, "Stamina is a constant virtue I see in the best creative people; emotional and intellectual stamina. Without perseverance, their talent surrenders to the uglier dynamics of the business."

Fourth, while still developing their talent, some people decide to follow the scent of money instead of continuing to follow the trail of great work. One of my partners at Fallon, Mark Goldstein, says truly great creative people are able to recognize "quicksand" agencies. These are places where no matter how good you are, the internal processes and culture conspire to make you horrible. The lure is the short-term financial gain. Goldstein says, "That's because bad agencies are happy to overpay for badness; they don't know the difference." But you'll know the difference.

Fifth, some people become intoxicated with the idea of titles, puff pieces in the trades, and becoming "a manager." Fallon legend, Bob Barrie, warns, "The first time you do a decent campaign you'll get calls from bad agencies. You'll decide to 'move up' and join one of them and then you'll disappear. Never make a decision based on coin. Do brilliant work and you'll be rewarded more in the end anyway." As far as managing goes, Bob says, "You can't manage till you've done tons of great work yourself. How can you be a credible judge of other people's stuff when you're still figuring out how to do it yourself?"

This segues nicely into my sixth point. Some people appear to be unconcerned with building a body of brilliant work over time. A question: who's had the richer career, Neil Young or Donovan? Young has been making brilliant records for 35 years. Donovan had some hits in the mid-1960s. Many of you may be wondering, who's Donovan? Exactly. The point is, you can't put together a few good campaigns and hope to live off the fumes forever. You're only as good as the last thing you did, and you should've done that today.Current greats like [Lee] Clow and [Phil] Dusenberry are Neil Youngs. (Don't know the names but you get thepoint -- G.)

Seventh, some people seem closed to new ways of doing things. Another Fallon partner, Rich Stoddart, says, "The successful creative is totally objective about his or her own work. If it's not working, if it isn't right, they just move on. Bad creatives only think "protect, protect, protect."

Eighth, some people don't exercise their brains enough. Our planning director, Anne Bologna, observes, "The awesome ones are extraordinarily curious and ask 'why?' all the time. They're part planners in that they're empathetic to the human condition. They don't see the world through their own eyes only." Stoddart adds, "They're sponges. They read everything they can get their hands on. Two or three newspapers, novels, business magazines, everything. When they sit with clients, they're better able to understand the context of people and business."

Ninth, some people actually believe their initial good press and listen when industry sycophants whisper in their ears.

Here's the thing, though. The guy who cured polio was important. Even though you created a great campaign, you're not all that important in the grand scheme of things. Yes, you're in a nice industry that can reward well. Yes, you're creative and people admire that. Yes, you may attain some level of status. But, I mean,
come on.

Here's what is important: humility. It's great to be around people like Pat Fallon, Laurel Cutler and Maurice Levy, who demonstrate every day that the greater the success, the greater the opportunity to remain humble. And if just being classy isn't reason enough to be humble, then consider the practical side. The guy who gave me my start, Jon Goward, says, "Once you start thinking too highly of yourself, your ears fall off. You stop listening to anyone who criticizes anything you do because you think you know better. And that feeds itself. Success tends to attract people who tell you how great you are. The tricky part is maintaining a strong sense of yourself; being sensitive enough to hear what clients and other people who disagree with you say."

If you're really great, let other people talk about you. Your job is fairly simple: be quiet, sit down and create some more work. (In fact, why are you reading this when you could be working on your craft right now? Put this down. You'll learn more by doing than reading about doing.)

I heard a guy say something a few years ago that sums up the whole thing for me. He said, "My best people come to work every day worrying that they're about to be fired, while the mediocre people are always shocked when they actually are fired."

How do you feel when you come to work?

你们都是刚踏出校门，准备一展身手的年轻人。你们是众多广告学院毕业生的一员，你们都有各自的葵花宝典，可能还在One Show广告奖的校园竞争赛中得过奖项，你们一腔热血，饱含激情，每一个都潜力无限。

让我们假想一下十五年后，你们其中一个成了顶级广告公司的创意总监。而另一个则以接近脑残的方式活在旁苏托尼（美国宾州一个只有7千人的小镇）医院里的一名植物人患者。

在过去的20年里，我一直试图让自己从这个场景学到点什么。如果你是一个广告新人，那么我现在写的这些就是想帮助你让你避免犯一些不必要的错误，而这些错误是当年和你们一样才华横溢最后却误入歧途的前辈所犯过的。

接下来的9点，我将会告诉你们为什么有些广告人会一败涂地

首先，有很多人总是把自己臆想成是艺术家或是诗人。这个想法是错误的，愚蠢的。我们都是生意人，我们的任务是把创意作为一种手段，从而传达品牌的信息。这和把广告当作自命不凡的吹嘘完全是两码事。

第二，一些广告人说起客户就满腹委屈和厌恶。再说一遍，这是愚蠢的。我们先不说这会产生什么反作用，你先试想一下假如你是客户你会怎么想。你一定会担心你花了一大笔钱让广告公司帮你策划，结果他们却不以为然。你会担心他们是否能做出让公司里里外外的人都满意的作品。你会担心他们是否有洞察问题并解决问题的商业头脑而不仅仅是一个广告创意人。

但是当你的广告公司来和你讨论这些的时候，你就会没那么担心。你开始把他们当成你的秘密武器。慢慢地，你会允许他们带你进入新的领域，因为你信任他们。关键在于，你要花时间和精力去争取到客户的信任并维持这种信任，虽然这很难，但这是每一个优秀的广告能够诞生的基础。

第三，有些广告人在自己的作品被一次又一次地枪毙后，便一蹶不振。再过了一段时间后，他们就决定辞职，回到了一事无成的状态。Bob Moore，Fallon/Minneapolis 公司的创意总监曾经说过，“要堕落总是有理由的，如果你在广告公司5年，却没有任何好作品出炉，你就抱怨公司怎么怎么烂，试问是谁让这一切发生的？是你自己一手造成的！”

这一点很重要，你要知道大多数的创意总监考量你的时候，并不只是看你多有创意，他们还会在意你看问题是否深刻，反应是否灵敏，遇到挫折，是不是能迅速恢复。还有一点，你是不是招人待见。

我早前的一个导师也是自由撰稿人Ernie Schenck就告诉过我一个关于他曾共事过的前辈的事情。他说，“这件事发生了这么多年，大家对他的遭遇并不感到惊讶，他曾经也是一个很出色的广告人可之后就像一滩烂泥一样，再也没有站起来”。

可悲
Fallon客户经理Rob Buchner说过，“毅力是我在优秀的广告人身上最为常见的一种品质，不论是情感上还是智力上。没有坚持不懈的精神，他们的才华一样会被活跃而残酷的商业竞争所吞噬。

第四点，在前进的道路上，有些人会慢慢舍弃自己一心做好创意的想法，转而跟着金钱的脚步走。我在Fallon的伙伴Mark Goldstein说过，一个真正好的创意人是能够一眼就识别“流沙型”公司的。在这些公司，无论你本身有多优秀，里面糟糕的内部流程和企业文化都会把你扼杀的一干二净，但诱惑在于短期内，你可以得到经济上的满足。Goldstein还说，“这些公司他们乐意为自己不堪的状况买单，因为他们根本不知道其中的区别，但是有一天你会知道区别在哪里”。

第五点，有些人一心想要往高的抬头上爬，觉得很骄傲，沾沾自喜的成了一个“经理级”。Fallon的传奇人物Bob Barrie一直警醒大家，“一旦你做了一个很出色的广告，立马就会接到许多差劲的广告公司的“热烈邀请”，如果这个时候你决定加入其中，那么很快你会在这个圈子“销声匿迹”。记住，永远不要让金钱左右你的决定。坚持做好的创意，总有一天你得到的会比这更多。正如管理一样，Bob说，“只有当你自己做出成百上千的好作品你才懂得怎么管理，不然你自己还没搞清楚，又有什么资格来评判别人做的如何呢”。

而这刚好又引出了我的第六个观点，一些广告人似乎不在意自己的作品是否能历久弥新。一个很简单的问题：你觉得Neil Young和Donovan，谁发展的更好？Young在35年里一直保持好的作品声誉，而Donovan仅仅在60年代有过几首不错的作品，可能你们很多人会问，Donovan是谁？问题就在这里，你不能创作了一个好作品就指望它能永负盛名。人们永远只会记住你最近的一次作品，而这恰恰是你们今天就应该开始做的。现在的广告巨头如 [Lee] Clow, [Phil] Dusenberry 都是Neil Young的忠实拥趸。（不知道这些名字没有关系，重要的是你能否明白这个道理）

第七点，有些广告人总是固步自封，不愿意尝试新的方法。另一位Fallon的合伙人Rich Stoddart说“成功的创意人对他/她自己的作品总能保持客观的态度，一旦发现作品有问题，或是不够好，就会换个角度思考，反之，有些觉悟尚浅的创意只会死死认定自己的作品，一心想着怎么保护，保护，再保护。

第八点，有些广告人没有养成时刻锻炼大脑的习惯。我们的策略总监Anne Bologna观察到，“出色的创意人总是对任何事情都充满着强烈的好奇心并一直喜欢问为什么，他们是半个策略人，因为他们善于把自己置身于整个人类的大环境来看问题，而不只是通过自己的眼睛来看。他们涉猎很广，两三份报纸，小说，商业杂志一切可以阅读的都能吸引到他们。这就刚好解释了为什么当他们和客户面对面的时候，他们能更好的了解客户的想法和他们做的生意。

第九点，一些广告人认为自己真的很优秀，尤其是听到有人对他们赞不绝口的时候。

事实是这样的，治愈小儿麻痹症的人才是真的厉害。即便你创作了一个人人称道的好广告，也并不代表你在整个事件中就那么的重要，的确这个行业会给你很多赞誉，大家都很崇拜你是一个优秀的创意人，你也会因此取得一定的社会地位，但我觉得，这些都是胡扯。

我认为真正重要的是：谦逊。能整天和Pat Fallon，Laurel Cutler和Maurice Levy这些人在一起我觉得很荣幸，因为他们天天在亲身诠释着什么叫“越是成功，越要保持谦逊”。如果你觉得这种非凡的气度并不能成为你保持谦逊的理由，那么你可以想想实际的好处。带我进入这个行业的Jon Goward曾说，“一旦你开始把自己看得很高，你的耳朵就不听使唤了，你会拒绝任何的批评因为你觉得你比他们懂得更多，但事实是，这只会滋养你骄傲的情绪。需要注意的是你必须时刻对自己保持高度的清醒，当客户或是其他人对你的意见产生歧义的时候，你要善于去聆听。

如果你真的很出色，让其他人讨论就好。你要做的很简单，保持安静，坐下来，创作更多好的作品。（事实上，这个时候你明明可以创作些什么却在看我写的这些话，相信我，去做会比阅读如何做来得更有意义）。前几年我听到有个人曾说过这样一句话，这句话恰好总结了我所有想说的，“我最好的员工每天上班的时候总会担心他们可能随时会被解雇，而那些差强人意的员工在他们被开除的时候总是留下一脸的震惊”。

当你们来上班的时候，你的感受是怎样的呢？