Design Parameters Unleash Abundant Creativity

Today many marketers and companies are concerned about their limited budgets and reduced resources, and their ability to develop superb creative and marketing initiatives. How can they obtain the outstanding creative needed to move their brands forward and remain true to their brand’s integrity? Will the constraints placed on the project damage the quality of the creative desired? At The O Group, we are accustomed to working with a wide range of resources to deliver the best solutions for our clients. This discussion covers three principles to assist you in partnering with your design team to achieve compelling creative that exudes the brand’s essence and  core uniqueness — regardless of available resources.

Jason B. Cohen, Senior Vice President and Creative Director for The O Group, addresses the myth surrounding designing with constraints, and how marketers  with limited means can align themselves with their creative agency to assure  project success.

“I think it’s challenging for a client to understand the premise that the creative process can actually flourish under limitations. Conventional wisdom holds that you should allow the designer to be free to do whatever he thinks is best for your project and rein him in later. But when you lay out the guidelines, boundaries, restrictions – what the client wants — from the outset, these specifics become the parameters to operate within — not limitations. Knowing what to focus on frees up the designer’s creative psyche, so he can explore designs and solutions that fit the desired outcome. Telling your design team what you need, when you need it, and what you can spend will produce fresh, new ideas and a creative solution both the designer and the client will be pleased with — and the result will be amazingly on target. With every project and every client, there are always considerations and challenges to be understood, and the client needs to make sure the desired outcome is communicated upfront,” commented Cohen.

When working with the creative agency especially on a limited resources project, there are three things a client must do to have a successful outcome:
•    Establish a deadline
•    Create a realistic budget
•    Specify project parameters.

As basic and commonsense as it sounds, these three elements will keep a tight creative assignment on track and deliver the anticipated and successful result for the client and the designer.

The Importance of Establishing a Deadline

The Budget is Your Friend

Sharing Project Parameters

Read more about these 3 tactics with real-life examples from The O Group’s years  of experience.


The O Group

A Year-End Message from Orit and The O Group

As 2008 comes to a close, we pause to reflect with our partners and friends on the notable events of the year, and the many accomplishments and successes of the O Group and its clients. While this has been a chaotic year in many ways for all of us, we have so much to be thankful for during this holiday season.

As a leading mid-sized agency focused on strategy and design for the luxury market, the O Group remains committed to being the sophisticated tastemaker for brands of distinction. We’re often asked about how we define luxury. Unfortunately, the word has come to mean conspicuous consumption and excess, the ‘massification’ of brands, resulting in a dizzying array of generic stuff with some perceived ‘high-end’ logo slapped on the item or the event. It’s time that we redefine and revisit what true luxury really is. Luxury is about authenticity – about encountering that special gift, product, or experience of enduring quality.

When we talk about luxury, we are talking about savoring that exceptional cocktail and experiencing a full sensory moment. We are talking about that unique piece of jewelry a woman treasures and hands down to her daughter to pass on from one generation to the next. We are talking about that bespoke, designed and appointed room – so unusual it spawns ideas in others’ minds. Luxury created the right way lingers in the mind and remains forever. You’ll be hearing more about this concept from me in 2009.

Eco-Luxury: How Luxury Brands Can Go Green

As the onslaught of advertising for ecologically-sensitive products continues to grow, there is no doubt that the color of money is GREEN. However, despite growing calls-to-action, luxury brands have typically overlooked issues such sustainability, use of recycled materials and offset of carbon footprints. Keying in to ecological issues simply has not been part of their purview.

The tipping point has arrived. Luxury consumers are now actively seeking more responsible choices, and the motivation is clear. Ultimately, luxury consumers buy for self-gratification. As awareness of environmental issues continues to rise, it has become important for brands to prove that 'even' luxury brands are socially responsible.

Another business driver is celebrity endorsements, which are often critical to boosting the profile of many luxury brands. Celebrities are ever more sensitive to their own green profiles, and are eager to align themselves with like-minded brands. Fans are quick to follow their lead.

With this active and interested consumer base, what should luxury brands be doing about green issues? In short, how do they become eco-luxurious?

Align your brand with an ecological issue
Develop packaging with style and substance
Embrace eco-auditing

Read more about these three tactics with real-life examples as viable and compelling methods to green a luxury brand in a believable way. The drive to do so will soon become an imperative rather than an option. The wise brand will embrace these practices now.