Scroll scroll scroll. Pause-Sponsored ad. Scroll scroll scro-

Wait, hold up. 

We’re a digital marketing agency and before you scroll past that ad on your feed, allow us to take you through the steps it takes to make that post. 

Contrary to popular depictions, the creative process isn’t like an episode of Mad Men. 

Here’s how it usually goes: 

Step 1: The Client Brief (aka What The Actual Heck)

The genesis of the creative process, the Client brief is where it all begins. The brief is conveyed to a member of the Client Servicing team. In a utopian world, the brief is communicated clearly, with exact specifications for the final outcome. In the real world, this is…quite a rarity. 

Step 2: Concept and Copy Creation (aka So Many Synonyms)

The next stage of the process is concept creation. The Client Servicing Executive takes the brief to the Copy Team and instructs them to brainstorm for ideas. 

The brainstorm session then begins. This usually involves the Copywriters yelling out 3435 different ideas, ranging from terrible to incredible. Of these, about 20 are shortlisted and then filtered through again until the golden concept remains. 

This concept is assigned to one Copywriter, whose job is to come up with the right words (terms/phrases/expressions/appellations/vocables) for the ad. The copy has to be crisp, to-the-point, funny, catchy and less than 20% of the ad’s design. The Copywriter proceeds to pore over their laptop until they come up with the coolest, crispest, catchiest (and most alliterative) copy they can think of.

Step 3: Design (aka PS AI Luv U[I])

Once the Writer has completed working on the copy and is taking their proverbial (and stereotypical) smoke break, the concept and copy are thrown into the artistic hands of the Designer. 

The Designer gets his paints and brushes (read: His Wacom tablet and pen) out and gets to creating the most aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching visual possible. He confidently saves this work under the file name ‘Ad 1.psd’. 

The design is then shown to the Copywriter and Client Servicing Executive, who will nitpick and come back with a few changes. The Designer makes these and saves the file as ‘Ad 1 Final.psd’, which is re-sent to the Writer and the Client Servicing Executive who will suddenly spot 3 more errors. The Designer duly makes the required changes. The file name now reads ‘Ad 1 OkFinall.psd’. This is finally given the green signal by the Copywriter and the Client Servicing Executive. 

Step 4: Approval (aka Change Is The Only Constant) 

The brave Client Servicing Executive will send the final ad along with a caption to the Client. Once this is sent, the team awaits with bated breath. This is the moment, the clincher, the game changer. The Client reverts with no changes and roars and cheers are unleashed. The Designer runs a victory lap around the office with Chariots of Fire playing in the background, the Client Servicing Executive dances like the bag-pack kid and the Copywriter pops a bottle of champagne until he’s stopped by the boss because that’s not allowed during work hours. 

Haha, fooled you. 

What really takes place is the Client responding with more changes. The Copywriter and Designer are notified of these changes and work on them. The Designer’s file is now saved as ‘Ad 1 Finalfinalllomgfinalfinal.psd’. 

The Client finally sends across their approval.

Step 5: Digitisation (aka We Know What You Thought Last Summer) 

Ever felt creeped out cause the ad that showed up on your feed was something you swear you thought of last evening but didn’t say out loud? Ever thought Instagram was reading your mind? 

Well, those freaky psychics you’re imagining are actually just a bunch of people sitting behind a screen, setting target audiences. Once the audience and budget for the advertisement are set, it’s strategically uploaded and pops up on your social media. 

And there you have it. The advertisement process in a digital marketing agency. As highly stressed and disgruntled ad executives are made out to be, we’re actually just a bunch of people doing our best to make sure we make creative, memorable and socially conscious advertisements for this mad capitalistic world. Or maybe we’re just so good that this is our way of selling you an idea that we want you to buy in to?

 

About the author:

Diya Philipose is a lawyer by degree, a copywriter by profession and a supermodel by ambition. She spends her time napping, snacking and having existential crises.