Unpacking the Whole Idea

This episode of The Whole Idea Podcast by DCG ONE, Executive Creative Director JP Flores joins host Greg Oberst for a discussion about the Whole Idea itself. What do we mean when we say that “Whole Idea thinking” is essential in today’s fast-moving and ever-changing marketing landscape? Listen and learn how we use The Whole Idea to drive impactful campaigns and engage audiences more effectively.  

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Transcript

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Greg (00:00):  

Welcome to the Whole Idea Podcast by DCG ONE. Here we tap experience for insight from marketing, technology, and creativity experts at the agency and across DCG ONE, and from our many partners with whom we create solutions that are memorable and meaningful. I'm your host, Greg Oberst, senior writer here at the agency. My guest today is JP Flores. He's the executive creative director at the agency at DCG ONE and the wearer of many a fine hat, I must say. Thank you. You've just got a, uh, 

JP (00:32):  

I've got, I've got a tiny beanie. A beanie? Okay. Yeah. That's been the topic of discussion for several days. 

Greg (00:37):  

A beanie's a little different for you. You know, 

JP (00:39):  

It's beanie season. It is. It's always beanie season for me. It's headwear. I love headwear. 

Greg (00:44): 

Well, you wear it. Well, JP, let's start with this. What is it that an executive creative director does at the agency? 

JP (00:51): 

That's a great question. And I think if you asked anybody, they would, they would tell you sort of a different take on what I do. Some people might say, I poke holes in a lot of ideas, you know, kick rocks at things, see how it holds up. Uh, I think for, for this audience, you know, thinking about, uh, our clients, the, the sort of value that I bring to projects is, uh, you know, I partner with the account team, uh, on writing briefs that guides our team. I, I have the privilege of working with a really fantastic group of creative folks, yourself included, um, really smart people who can make some really amazing things. And really, they don't need me getting in the way. They just, they just need some guidance. They need some shepherding toward, uh, some strategic objective that's going to, to move the needle, uh, for our client. And that's really, really what I get focused on. Uh, you know, I try not to get too much in, in our team's way. 

Greg (01:44): 

Great. Thanks for that. Our agenda today is to talk about what it really takes to market effectively in today's business landscape, our approach through Whole Idea thinking. We'll dissect that a bit, talk about the important creative experiences that fall out of Whole Idea thinking, and then we'll touch on our creative philosophy to keeping ideas current and fresh. Sound good? It does. Okay. Let's start with that. The Whole Idea, for years, it was all about the big idea, but in this, uh, fast moving age of, uh, information and change, many agencies, including ourselves, are reevaluating their approaches to, to engagement. I wonder if we could start with distinguishing between the big idea and the Whole Idea. What's the difference? 

JP (02:30): 

Sure. You know, and I, I don't think that there's, uh, there's that big of a difference. I think one is an extension of the other. Uh, the big idea hasn't gone away. There are still moments where you need a solid campaign. There are moments where you need really strong, actually all the time. You need really strong brand positioning. But these are where big ideas come in. Whole Idea doesn't replace big idea. Big idea is still needed, but the Whole Idea is that you then extend that out to all of the places where, uh, the brand is gonna be experienced. And, and that's not just in, in broadcast. Um, it's not just in a, in an advertisement somewhere. It's gonna end up in social, and then social. The dynamics are different. Um, people share things. People comment on things. People post their own stuff based on the content that you've, that you've put out there, the content changes because people, you know, people are taking it and making it their own. 

JP (03:23): 

In an, in an augmented reality experience, uh, a big idea applies even less because there's, it's, it's almost a game. You've almost designed a game out of your brand or your message. Uh, and it needs to be a game because that's what that media is best at. And this is where, uh, you have to then take this. It's not about uniformity. It's about being dynamic in all of these different channels, but retaining the spirit of that big idea. Um, that's, that's how, that's how I've seen Whole Idea play out. And one of the ways that we're, that I think we're really good at this is that, yes, we have digital tops. We've got people who are, you know, are living and breathing augmented reality, um, and, and virtual reality, all kinds of extended reality as well as traditional design, interaction design. But we also have a bunch of experts here in, uh, in structural design, um, in, in print, uh, that touch a lot of these really traditional marketing streams. Uh, so we have a lot of expertise there. On top of that, or, or I would say better, uh, foundationally, we've got our strategy discipline, which is telling us we need to be paying attention to these people. This is what they're thinking, and this is where they are. And that's gonna inform what sorts of technology we're using, what sorts of substrates we're using, uh, and, and, and what sorts of mechanisms and levers we're pulling in order to, to get that message out to people. Well, 

Greg (04:47): 

At the end of the day, it's all about dealing with an audience that lives in a very complicated world from an information standpoint. 

JP (04:55): 

I've used this analogy that there's a lot of noise. Uh, uh, people are bombarded with stuff all of the time. I, I personally don't do this, Greg, I hope you don't do this, and anybody listening, I hope you don't do this. But if you stop, I mean, you see people stop at a red light and, and they're, you know, they're checking their phone. And I mean, you've got, you have access to all of this information, which is great. Uh, but at the same time, you're being bombarded with ads, uh, on any of your favorite social media channels. You get home and you open the mailbox and there's more stuff there. You turn on the TV, and there's more stuff there. Uh, and there's, there's an endless stream of, of noise or potentially noise, unless you are strategically going after folks in a way that is relevant. Uh, and that's where those three converts, the, the strategy, technology and creative. 

Greg (05:43): 

So to be able to execute on a Whole Idea concept, you need to be equipped. So what's that equipment? 

JP (05:52): 

Yeah. So if we're thinking about that as a, as equipment, uh, when we look at our, our creative, our work that we do, uh, being founded, uh, or, or, or grounded in research and strategy, uh, we definitely start every project. Um, ideally we're starting with strategy. We're starting with research. We're starting with insights that informs where audiences are for our clients, uh, what they're thinking about, what they're into. Uh, from there we can take those insights and that's gonna inform, uh, the creative that we do, the technology that we bring to the table for this. Whether we're recommending that this group do something with an emergent tech, uh, technology, uh, that, that might be relevant to this audience. Uh, or it might be something more traditional like, uh, um, you know, structural design, a retail graphic, um, something that might make more sense there. Uh, but starting with those insights is gonna be the important piece that's informing the creative, and that's what's gonna make the creative so strong, is that it's rooted in those, in those insights. It's rooted in strategy. 

Greg (06:54): 

So at the end of the day, The Whole Idea is really about strategy, technology, and creativity as three pillars that drive the customer experience anywhere in the journey. 

JP (07:08): 

Yeah. You know, that's a pretty good summary if you think of, of, of the big idea sort of being, uh, your, your kind of traditional, uh, art director and copywriter. No offense, Greg, no director and copywriter locked away in a room and coming out with some magical, you know, unicorn of an idea. Um, I, I just don't think that, that, I think there's a, there's a place for that in a larger, uh, sort of structure. And that's the Whole Idea is where we take those types of, you know, we need that kind of creative, we need that kind of memorable creative that we can, that we can bring, but it, but it's the strategy and the technology piece that's going to execute it. And we have to think about those things ahead of time. Uh, not just, not just the big idea. 

Greg (07:48): 

I remember early in my career, it was very much like you described, it was not quite, but almost a siloed experience in a way, these days. My world starts with strategy. I'm often working with the strategists before any pencils are lifted for a creative effort. And then, uh, a strategy is established, and then we often look at what kind of technology is available to help us execute on that strategy. We can't create things that we can't execute on. Yeah. If we don't understand the technology or the strategy. So yeah, my world has changed and, and it needed to because the world has changed. 

JP (08:26): 

Well, as they say, you don't know what you don't know. And part of the thing is, is, you know, you mentioned the siloed experience. We try to get as many people at the upfront involved in these conversations as possible. Because somebody, it could be a, it could be a project manager, or it could be, uh, you know, somebody in, in, in structural design or, or someone with a packaging background that says, Hey, you know, what would be really cool is if you did this thing. And maybe it's not a fully formed idea. Uh, but that's gonna be something that a, that a, a, a creative director, an art director, a designer, a a writer can take and go build off of. It's a platform for them to, to go. And a springboard, I guess. And, and it, and it's super important to bring in that variety at the beginning, uh, to inform that stuff, including, including strategists. And we've got such a solid group of, of strategists, we think of content strategy, we think of, of market research. Uh, there's a lot of different types of ways that can, uh, or, or lots of different inputs that can inform, uh, the creative that we do it and should inform the creative that we do. 

Greg (09:24): 

And I can't tell you how much more confidence it gives me personally, but also I can see that confidence grow in our clients and in larger creative teams when we have that strategy baked and supporting us from the get go. And so we can create and execute on, uh, the Whole Idea with a lot more confidence when those pillars, that strategy, especially with the technology that supports. Its understanding it, knowing it, and then it just makes the creative so much better and the chances of success so much brighter too. 

JP (09:56): 

Yeah. I, I agree. Uh, you could also take it too far the other way, and this is why I think it's important that there are those three, the, the strategy, technology and creative, because you could go so far as to only focus on the data. Uh, and I'm, I, I think the data's important. Um, I think it, it's, it's foundational to the work that we do. Uh, but I like to look at it as being, uh, our work, being data informed versus data driven. We're not just going to do what the numbers say. There has to be, uh, a level a, a stake in the ground when we say, you know what? The brand doesn't do that, so we're not going to do that. We're gonna do this other thing that's gonna inform the work that we're doing. But that's not, you know, the thing that, that's gonna say, the, the data says this, data says, choose A, we're gonna go choose A, we're gonna think about it critically, and then we're gonna make a decision on what needs to happen. What's the right thing to do? 

Greg (10:42): 

Well, there is still that human element that hasn't gone away just yet. <laugh>, thank goodness, not yet. So, JP, when it comes to creative experiences and our philosophy that drives this, this work internally, what is our philosophy? 

JP (10:58): 

Uh, yeah, that's a great question. So, I, I, uh, really like to think of our, our creative process here is sort of a democratic process, uh, at least at first, at least at the start of it, uh, at the start, you know, an ideation, uh, phase of a project. Uh, I like to get as many voices as possible. You've experienced this, uh, yourself, uh, where I think it's important, not only that the creative is driven at the beginning by a, a, a writer and a, a designer and, and myself and any of the number of, of, of talented folks on our creative team, uh, but also an account person and a PM and maybe even somebody in packaging or, uh, in a different part of the business, um, because they're gonna bring a different perspective. And I think that's the, that's really important that we get that sometimes as creative folks, we get in our own heads. 

JP (11:46): 

Uh, I think everybody does. Um, and really, uh, when we, when we have those ideation sessions, when have those brainstorms and we have, uh, that many people in there, um, I think you come up with a lot of really good stuff, a lot of platforms for, for creative to build on. Uh, and so then it's up to me at that point to say, okay, uh, or, or one of our ACDs, whoever's leading the creative on the project to be able to say, okay, these are all great. Let's go this way. Let's, let's pick this, this, and this, and let's go that way and see where that takes us. And, and it doesn't really matter where the idea came from. The, the fact that it's there, the perspective is there, um, just makes it richer, makes the ideas richer. Um, it also makes it fresher because there are folks, um, who aren't aware of the latest technologies or didn't know that something just happened that might be relevant, um, or a phrase that's going around that, that might need to, to be used because it's, it's just gonna make the, the creative just on point. 

JP (12:40): 

Um, and this, these are things that, you know, that's why we have to have that kind of a big group. Uh, so that's the first thing. The second piece of it is, uh, you know, being rooted in strategy, being rooted in, in, in data is important. Uh, but you don't wanna push that too far the other way where the, the data is, or, or we're using the phrase, you know, data driven, um, that it is driving the decisions that we're making to the point where it's the data says to do this, we go and do this. Um, I like to think of it as data informed. Uh, we have lots of data, lots of it is really simple. It's a no brainer. We're just gonna go and we're gonna go do that thing. Uh, but oftentimes we need to weigh what we're seeing with what's right for the brand, and we need to put a stake in the ground and say, we are gonna do this, or, that's great data. We're gonna take that and we're gonna go this direction. Um, and those are things that, that I, I think make the creative a little bit, a little bit stronger, uh, a little bit more relevant, uh, and, and not, not sterile, not artless. And, and that's, that's an important piece. I think, again, making memorable creative is, is making it artful, uh, but rooted in those, uh, in those solid, you know, that solid foundation 

Greg (13:52): 

Back to your group process. I think if anybody spends any time in a jury, <laugh>, you really get an understanding of how effective the group process can be. Yeah. So the Whole Idea, JP, feels like it really is, um, a big part of your wheelhouse in terms of what you do as an executive creative director monitoring that whole process. 

JP (14:16): 

Yeah, that's right. When I think of, uh, when I think of what our clients need from me, uh, here is, is, you know, it's taking our creative team, it's taking the work that we do and making sure that it's on strategy, that it's on brief, and that whatever we're making is moving the needle for, for our clients. That's really the most important thing that we're doing for them. Um, that we're making their job easier, uh, that we're making them look good. Uh, and that really comes down to making sure that we're doing our homework and we're being very thoughtful about the solutions that we're, we're serving up for them. Uh, and that's really, I mean, if anything, that's my main focus more than poking holes in creative. It's, it's making sure that we're on strategy. 

Greg (14:54): 

JP, this has been great. Thanks very much for, for talking with me today. 

JP (14:57): 

Yeah. Thanks so much for having me. 

Greg (14:59): 

My guest on this episode of the Whole Idea Podcast has been JP Flores, executive Creative Director at the agency at DCG ONE. Thanks again, jp. If you have more questions for JP or anything about our podcast, drop us a note at podcast@dcgone.com. Thank you very much for listening. The Whole Idea Podcast is produced by Mandy de Caesar. I'm Greg Oberst. Watch this channel for our next podcast and more expertise, insight, and inspiration for Whole Idea Marketing. Thanks again for listening.