奥美全球创意总监：创意遭拒不可怕

    最伟大的创作往往游走于现实可能的边缘。我总说，如果用一个参考框架来评判工作，那你一定没有冒险深入无人之境。我们聚集在维也纳讨论的就是这种境界，但我却非常担心客户没有准备好和我们一起冒险。

    我的担心不是多余的。保罗把我拉到一边，提议说：“我们还是剪了吧。”我无法礼貌地回应他，克里斯更是怒不可遏。我们去酒吧买醉，尽管我们都很同情丹尼尔的处境，但我们还是逼着他打电话给客户，做最后一次努力。我们都等在那里，原定半小时的谈话拖到了一个小时。我早知道结果，但我们必须去尝试。我把团队引入了这个危险的创意领地，现在又掺杂进了政治，我必须为他们出头。我不只是在捍卫这部作品，我还在捍卫团队甘冒风险的精神。

    克里斯和保罗也绝不低头。他们和我一样深知，要对得起三年的艰辛努力，而不仅仅是又一部平凡的好作品，差的就是那几幅转瞬即逝的影像。那一幕会让影片得到大奖，那一幕会给客户带来更多收益。根据Thinkbox和英国广告从业者协会（Institute of Practitioners in Advertising）的一项调查，得到创意奖项的作品带来的销量超出比未得奖作品11倍。

    创意管理通常是一个充满巨大危机的无序过程。我们无法预知答案。通过千锤百炼的内心直觉和理性分析相结合，我们才能去试验，去发现最终的答案。当遭遇重大挫折之时，每一个创意领导者都必须勇敢捍卫作品，捍卫催生灵感的冲动。

    丹尼尔走出电梯，一脸无奈。克里斯大步走开，他心烦意乱，所有的冒险都付之东流。我们无法让客户接受那一幕，他的作品变得平庸。不久他就恢复常态，推出备用场景，再一次将影片推向边缘，再一次面对无情的考验。他还是不管不顾，坚持不懈，下定决心去追求完美。显然，客户的拒绝并没有让他学乖。我想了想，也许那就是创意人应有的态度。

    谭启明是奥美全球创意总监及其全球创意委员会主席，并在今年6月举行的戛纳国际创意节上担任平面与影视类评审主席。

    The greatest creative work exists on the edge of what was thought to be possible. If you have a frame of reference to judge your work, I tell people, then you have not ventured far enough into the unknown. We were all here in Vienna talking about that right now, and I was terribly worried that the client wasn't ready to march with us.

    My worries were not misplaced. Paul pulled me aside and said, "We've got to cut that scene." My reaction was less than polite, but it was downright chaste compared to Chris's. We headed for the bar, cornering Daniel to insist on one final appeal to the client by phone, not one of us envying him his job. We waited there as a half-hour dragged into an hour. I already knew the answer was no, but we had to try. I had to stand up for the integrity of the team I had led into this perilous creative, and now political, territory. I had to defend not just the work but also my team's willingness to take a risk.

    Chris and Paul were just as adamant. They knew, as I did, that those fleeting images were the difference between good work and work that was worth three years of effort. That scene was what made it worthy of an award, and that would make the film more effective for the client. Creatively awarded work sells 11 times more than non-awarded creative work, according to a 2010 study by Thinkbox and the UK-based Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.

    Creative management is often a chaotic process filled with tremendous risk. We don't know the answers in advance. A combination of honed gut instinct and analysis allows us to experiment to find what will work. When someone runs into a sharp elbow, every creative leader knows he or she must stand up for the work and praise the impulse that gave birth to it.

    Daniel came out of the lift with a face full of no. Chris stalked off, upset because he had risked so much and had been burned. We couldn't sell the scene we wanted, and it was his work that was poorer because of it. He came around soon after, with a back-up scene to slot in, pushing to take it to the edge, ready to get torched all over again. Insistent, he was back in my face, determined to find a way to make it great, consequences be damned. Clearly, he had learned nothing from the client's reaction. After a moment, I realized that was the perfect lesson to absorb.

    Tham Khai Meng is worldwide chief creative officer of Ogilvy & Mather and chairman of its Worldwide Creative Council. He recently served as jury president for the film and print categories at the Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity this past June.