Speaker Series: Caroline Hadlock

Caroline Hadlock came to the Adcenter as a representative of Young and Laramore in Indianapolis, Indiana. In her introduction, Peter Coughter highlighted that she was here to prove to us that advertising happened in places outside of New York.

The offices of Young and Laramore are in a rehabbed elementary school, which looked very neat. Lots of open space and a youthful/learning/endless possibilities look. She first pointed out the power of editorial, explaining that Y and L had formed in 1993, but had been recognized by Creative Arts in 2005, which had done wonders for their business and reputation. She describes Y and L as being in the business of taking clients from local to national.

Caroline pointed out that we need better/braver clients. Clients have huge pressures on them. The average CMO's tenure is 23 months. In that impossibly short amount of time they are supposed to make their mark and make major changes. Creative people need to keep that in mind when designing campaigns. We now have a shorter time to establish ourselves and gain trust. Clients are also enamored with their products. They live and breathe them, and forget that not everyone else does as well.

Be intentionally ignorant. That, in a very small nutshell, is Y and L's process. Formally, they call it the 'unlearning curve' and will not take on a client without the agreement that they will all follow that process. In the unlearning curve process, client problems are looked into with no preconceived notions and by getting deep into people's lives (ethnography). The two to three month process goes something like this: go where the customers are, listen to what they say and what they mean, preconceptions start to fall away, creative work can then begin.

Other Y and L methods include showing only one campaign and not allowing the testing of their creative.

Caroline made a very good point that I think many people overlook. She encouraged us to start the agency process by talking to anyone who can say 'no' to the work. By doing that, you get to meet people you never would have met otherwise, get an upfront buy-in, earn the respect of your client, get new perspectives, and bring those powerful people into your process.

Lastly, she tried to impress on us the following ideas:
How you present is as important as what you present
Be multi-sensory
show don't tell