I can’t remember when I first heard about/saw the creative triangle but I remember being impressed.
“Here it is, the golden bullet to client relationships on creative projects. Show everyone from marketeers to company directors this simple triangle diagram; fast, cheap and creative. Explain that you can only have two out of the three options. Then we will all have the same expectations of a project, and the creative ship shall sail forth into the tranquil sea of success.”
*End of blog.
Except there is a bit more to it than that. So I am going to do my best to summarise each of the three routes available.
Route 1 – Fast and creative
This route is the main road that we all want to ride down on our metaphorical Harley Davidsons, casually looking left and right at our travel companions (clients and creative team) whilst singing ‘Born to be Wild,’ arriving at our destination (let’s say hotel Kernowfornia – sorry) in double quick time with an epic road trip to reminisce on whilst sipping cool pints of success.
In the real world, this means the rapid creation of teams who are able to attend meetings, spend dedicated time undistracted on the creative intricacies that will make a project shine for years to come and, of course, go out and produce the thing. Essentially it will need a whole bunch of resources thrown at it and take priority over less time sensitive work. This is why it cannot be cheap.
It’s worth noting that all the best creative projects are born out of solid partnerships between the creative team and the customer. It’s all very well chucking money at brand new Harley’s and leather jackets, but if we haven’t agreed the route we could end up somewhere no-one wanted to go (like Devon *shudders*).
Route 2 – Fast and cheap
Heading back to Metaphor-ville; the bikes might now be peds and not Harleys, the crew could be smaller, the distance travelled is probably shorter and the hotel definitely doesn’t have an infinity pool – but the pints of success still taste great and we had a bloody good time getting here.
Route 2 relies on having been down this particular road (or a similar one) before. It’s where setting off with a well-travelled companion makes for a smooth but still exciting road trip. The more creative projects a team has undertaken in the past, the more experience they will be able to lean into and therefore save a client in creative time.
Like any creative journey (you may be beginning to spot a theme here…) good companionship is essential. Making sure the client has a trusty ped and reliable road map to come along for the ride will mean everyone will be sipping those frosty pints in double quick time.
Route 3 – Creative and cheap
The most elusive of the road trips is route 3. The road is long, the hotel beyond luxurious, the crew excited about heading into the unknown, except now we’re all trying to get there on bicycles…
This route requires a healthy dose of patience, energy and discipline. The patience is obvious; it’s gonna take a long time to reach our destination and there will be many obstacles along the way requiring considered planning and inventive methods to overcome. The energy will come from having an idea that everyone has bought into, are all excited about and truly believe will be a success (did I mention collaboration is important?)
The discipline is what will keep this project moving. When faced with a heavy head wind of small crews, minimal resource and big expectations, the discipline to just keep pedalling is what will get this mini peloton over the finish line. Those refreshing pints of success will taste even sweeter when we eventually get there.
In all honesty it doesn’t matter wether you’re donning a tasselled leather jacket and aviators, skinny tie and Chelsea boots or fingerless gloves and skin tight lycra; if you take the right companions with you, it will be a hell of a trip!
We love all types of journeys – tell us about yours.