The Power of Simplicity

Posted on | May 4, 2009

The second in a series analyzing seven new economy trends

“Let’s make it more complicated.” In 20 years as a creative director, I don’t believe I’ve ever uttered that sentence to my team or to a client. So it seems a little silly to spend time and energy writing here about the need to keep your communications simple.

Except that so few of us ever truly work the other end of the spectrum with intent. That is to say, how often do we look at a program and say “How can we make it more simple?” In the daily rush of deadlines and wildfires, we develop solutions, integrate layer upon layer of “collaborative” input (usually to get it approved quickly and easily), and as fast as is humanly possible, we deploy.

And where do we aim? Right at today’s new economy consumer, a person so emotionally overwhelmed he or she can hardly process critical information, much less a complicated marketing message.

My advice is this: The next time you develop a piece of communications, add to your process a step in which you take a moment, step back, and say with intention: How can we make this more simple? Then start stripping away. I guarantee your properly targeted audience will not only be more receptive—they’ll consider your offering a welcome lifeline.

- Cathy Monetti, RIGGS Principal, Executive Creative Director
cmonetti@riggsadvertising.com

Up Next: The Power of Control
The third in a series analyzing seven new economy trends

Category: Financial, Reducism
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New Economy Consumer Trends Localism

A rediscovery of, and intentional support of, all that is available where we live, work and play; an embracing of the diversity and options we hadn't noticed; a return to family (redefined); a focus on "home"

reducism

A distinct and intentional move away from excess, although not counter-cultural; the casting off of that which is superfluous; a focus on purity, essence; making-do, but with high standards for aesthetic design and functionality

Considerism

Supreme homage to value, redefined; every action an investment, whether time or money; the death of impulse / birth of comparative study; choice as a primary concept

D.I.Y.ism

Self-empowerment(!) creating a markedly different sense of control; an attraction to that which is experiential (and valuing the experience); creativity, renewed; the anti-immediate gratification movement

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