The creative onion could be what makes or breaks your next campaign, and honestly, you might not even know the layers are there unless you look for the signs. We’re here to guide you through the layers and unpick how to avoid the tear-inducing prep so you can get straight to your masterchef moment.
Read on to discover how stripping back the layers of a creative onion means getting to the good stuff sooner.
What do you mean by creative onion?
Not Shrek. Let’s just get that out of the way. This isn’t an ogre-themed blog post. The creative onion is a concept that we talk about internally at Heretics a lot. Essentially, it means getting rid of the layers that get in the way of good work. Like the layers of an onion, you can strip back the flimsy outer parts to get to the juicy core.
The layers in a creative onion
Think about a good project you’ve worked on. We bet it felt unique, achieved great results, and delighted your audience. But we also bet that there were aspects of getting that project live you didn’t love so much.
These are typically the layers, and it’s our goal to chop them up and get rid of them for you. Common layers we see on creative projects are when clients have to:
- Talk to sales teams exhaustively before you get to the creative team (it’s a bit like playing telephone)
- Wait weeks for quotes
- Fill out exhaustive briefs that skirt around the core problem you’re trying to solve
- Speak to different people in a series of lengthy calls before you see progress
- Receive sales pitches on a strategy you’re not sure of (and often involve out-of-scope spend)
- Go through excessive feedback loops because the core idea has become a bit of a Frankenstein (almost ogre adjacent, but not quite)
Each of these points is a layer surrounding your project, not necessarily serving it. When you’re breaking through multiple layers to ship something, it can turn what was once an exciting prospect into something exhausting.
What a stripped-back creative onion looks like
When we remove the layers surrounding work, the project rolls out much more smoothly. Here’s what makes a good advertising or marketing project without the layers:
- The brief was met and built upon
- The project was delivered on time
- The strategy was clear and didn’t warp the original intent
- The process wasn’t prolonged and blown out
- You weren’t met with hidden costs
- You didn’t have to micromanage through constant meetings
- You had direct access to the creative team
- The final work represents the essence of your brand
In general, when the layers aren’t present, there’s less chain-drinking coffee and stress-related hair loss.
Pretty layers can be hard to spot
Layers aren’t just process-related. There can be layers that get in the way of creative execution.
Often, when you’re discussing how to roll out work with someone, they’ll present an idea based on what’s worked for them in the past or with a different client. It makes sense; there’s efficiency in repetition. However, when we consider strategy, design, and narrative-building, this past experience can become another layer.
Let’s look at some scenarios to bring this point home.
Scenario one:
- You present an agency or freelancer with an idea for a content series that needs to drive conversions.
- You discuss the strategy.
- They come back with a recommendation based on a trend that’s popular and worked for them with a different client.
- It launches, but doesn’t feel right for your brand. Engagement is higher than normal, but throughput is minimal.
Scenario two:
- You present an agency or freelancer with an idea for a content series that needs to drive conversions.
- You discuss the strategy.
- They come back with a recommendation built around your brand narrative and audience pain points.
- It launches, and while engagement isn’t the highest you’ve seen, it moves the needle on conversions.
In scenario one, they added a layer to the work by decorating the problem rather than solving it. In scenario two, the work got straight to the core and delivered. Avoiding this kind of mistake comes down to digging into the thinking and rationale and getting straight to the core of the problem, rather than being distracted by the new shiny thing.
One of the best ways to go about this is to ensure you have a direct line to the creatives working on your project and discuss with them how the work ties back to your brand at every step. If things feel unclear at any point, it’s because you’ve strayed from your onion’s heart.
A stripped-back onion can mean constraints, and that’s okay
Looking at the scenarios above, you’d be right in thinking that there are some constraints in going all-onion core. First of all, there can be less room for exploration when you’re only working with the core elements of your brand and strategy. But that doesn’t mean you’re only ordering off a set menu. It gives good creatives room to sharpen the edges and land the work in a way that’s concise, beautifully crafted, and resonates.
Think of it like creating a Citizen Kane vs MCU movie #27. Attention to detail wins over trend-chasing, over-stimulation, and a giant green man, who is, now that I think about it, pretty ogre-like. Nearly got there…
If you want to work with a team that avoids layers but still serves up the oniony goodness that your brand needs, we’d love to chat.
