PPK Client Creative Onboarding

At PPK, we have been working on our new client onboarding guide, which has allowed us to put our creative philosophy into perspective and clearly outline it. As a full-service independent agency, our clients define us. And creating award-winning work requires great clients, great talent, and great relationships between the two. Here’s what we tell new clients when they partner with us:

We strive to do work that is seen and talked about.

Congratulations on your decision to collaborate with PPK to create something amazing for your brand. You’ve entrusted us to tell your brand story in a fresh, new way, and we take that trust seriously. As your creative partner, our commitment to you is to never to show you work that doesn’t strategically align with your business objectives. We might show you work unlike anything you’ve seen before, which may be provocative or make you slightly uncomfortable. But we see that as a good thing. Trust that it will always be true to who you are and what you stand for.

It’s important to note, this pursuit of creative work that is true and original takes discipline.

For starters, a creative execution should only be tasked with solving one business problem at a time, or communicating one singular message. “One per ad” as we say, because research shows viewers can only retain one thing from the ads they view. And to that end, we will ask of you that every project is briefed in a singular manner to allow us to create work that’s relevant, that resonates, and that’s remembered. The best ads have all three of these qualities.

Relevant.

First and foremost, we are advertising. There’s no point in hiding it. Consumers are conditioned to sniff out the sell. So, we might as well lean into it. The work should be completely about your brand, relevant to your chosen message and crafted in a way that aligns with your audience and the times we live in.

Resonant.

Great advertising is likable. It makes a connection with the audience with its style and tone. Often this involves saying something about your brand that is also true about your audience and their human condition. We tap into real human emotions because that’s the only way we can talk to real people. This breaks down the barriers they put up. When we aren’t hiding the sell, we can execute in a way that sells joyfully.

Remembered.

This is the unexpected that catches the audience off guard. You can have all the relevance in the world and an idea with the potential to really connect, but if it blends into the sea of executions the viewer sees every day, it won’t be noticed. Familiarity makes for poor ROI. To stand out, it has to be weird, or wacky, or outlandish. It must do and be different from other ads out there. Recall levels depend entirely on it being noticed.

These components are the three-legged stool of great ads. Miss just one and it won’t function. But if you nail all three, you almost always have work that dramatizes your brand. Presenting it in a way that is embraced and shared.

We’re counting on you to partner with us to do this kind of work, and to keep us honest while doing it. If we bring you something that’s off strategy, shame on us. But know, that rarely, if ever happens. If it feels familiar and comfortable, send it back. We only want the most dangerous kind of work that drives your brand forward and your bottom line upwards. It’s how we Unite and Take Over.