Ba-dah-ba-ba-bah, Visual Solutions for an Open Brief

McDonald’s was a dream client for an aspiring copywriter like myself in 2010. 

Everything about McDonald’s is legendary. Just the sight of those iconic red and yellow colors makes me reminisce, as does hearing its nickname, “McD’s.”

When I received the McDonald’s ad brief, it felt like winning a golden ticket. However, my partner and I knew we needed to deliver the goods for one of the agency’s top clients. The first step was to present our concepts to two seasoned Creative Directors who’d already done impressive work for the brand. They certainly didn’t want to disappoint, and neither did we.

What’s the product? I asked.

Doesn’t matter.

Doesn’t matter?!? Did I hear that right? Did I receive an open brief for McDonald’s?

Yes, I did. I did receive an open brief for the Golden Arches.

Our deliverable was to create out-of-home billboards for McDonald’s college sports sponsorships, but the product was our choosing.

My art director and I hit the conceptual stage hard. We knew their iconic French fries were an irresistible sell with low baggage. I also remembered how fun it was to just grab fries as a snack after a sporting event or practice as a kid.

We didn’t rush off to our computers, or even use photography to get started. Even though we had all of that at our fingertips in the Leo Burnett building.

Instead, we began the process with hand-drawn sketches—an old-school way of concepting called Marker Comping.

Marker Comp (n) - a hand-drawn Sharpie sketch inside of a simple border

In fact, one of my first advertising student assignments was to draw one hundred marker comps in one week for one product. It can be incredibly time-consuming if you go into too much detail in each drawing. This exercise teaches quick sketching and to not get too consumed with one idea in the early stages.

It also helps the brainstorming process to physically use your hands to create. There’s just something about clicking on a mouse and a screen that doesn’t always bring about the best concepts in the beginning. Even for writers.

Marker comps also give creative directors and other stakeholders the opportunity to get involved early. This keeps projects focused, and it prevents wasting time on unfeasible ideas.

The point is that attention too much design or attention to detail can be the enemy of early concepting. That effort can be saved when strategic ideas have found alignment.

For example, when we landed on this Visual Solution for McDonald’s, getting the dimples of the ball and the stitching done correctly was a crucial element (hard to see in this computer version).

Visual Solution (n) - Uses imagery to tie messaging together

Our concepts were a huge hit with our Creative Directors, and they’ve often received compliments from other creatives in the field. It goes to show how powerful this type of concept can be for brand advertising—even timeless. My Creative Directors affectionately referred to Visual Solutions as “stuff made of stuff”, and that always stuck with me as very funny. (More of my thoughts on visual solutions here: The One Advertising Idea That’s (Almost) Always Clever)

It’s easy to find Visual Solutions shared across social media or in the archives of advertising magazines.

I got to attend an NCAA tournament game where this work launched. It was such a fun experience; the student section went wild, and we had a blast cheering on the team. We also got great photos thanks to my wonderful Art Director/Designer, Matt Feloni.

The experience was a pinch-me-to-make-sure-I’m-not-dreaming moment. Advertising occasionally does that. I loved the feeling of seeing everything unite together—the passion of our team, our client, and the Valparaiso basketball fans.

My final thought is this: Clients, challenge your creative teams with an open brief once a year.

Maybe it’s just one small media buy. Or a thirty-second radio ad. But your creatives need to spread their wings and fly. And at the very least, you’ll get an entertaining presentation made with that one magic ingredient: love. 

Bah-da-da-da-dah…I’m lovin’ it. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself)

Check out my thoughts on visual solutions here: